Principal Product Manager for Spend Management

Job Description

Principal Product Manager, Spend Management (Finance Applications) | Workday

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at Workday, located in Pleasanton, CA, with a hybrid work model. Workday builds a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential. This role is pivotal in defining and driving the AI-first strategy for the Spend Management ecosystem, transforming how finance works by integrating intelligent automation and generative AI into critical procure-to-pay processes. Your contributions will unlock measurable business value and create streamlined experiences for buyers, suppliers, and Finance.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid – Pleasanton, CA
• Pay: $167200–$294000 yearly
• Team: Business Technology under Product & Technology, part of the Finance Applications team
• Mission: Define and drive Workday’s AI-first strategy for the Spend Management ecosystem to unlock measurable business value and create streamlined experiences.
• Tech Stack: Workday Spend Management, ERP systems, supplier networks, payment providers, tax engines, enterprise data platforms, AI technology stack (agents, foundational models (LLMs), data pipelines, MLOps)

What You’ll Actually Do
• AI-First Product Vision: Architect and champion a long-term product roadmap for the Spend Management ecosystem, centered on AI, agents, and automation across the Source-to-Pay lifecycle.
• Intelligent Product Lifecycle: Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle for Spend initiatives, from ideation and business case development to requirements definition, delivery, and ROI measurement.
• Business Partnership: Serve as the primary Business Technology partner to Procurement, Accounts Payable, Expenses, and Finance leadership, translating challenges and securing cross-functional alignment.
• Customer Zero Innovation: Partner closely with Workday’s Spend Management product teams to influence the future roadmap, leading early adoption and actively shaping new features.
• Delivery Leadership: Lead high-performing agile teams of functional architects, engineers, and vendor partners, owning user stories, release readiness, and change management.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Senior-level product management professional with significant experience in enterprise-level, technology-powered products in a B2B or SaaS environment.
• Experience: 10+ years in product management; 5+ years of ERP implementation domain expertise in Source-to-Pay processes (Procurement, Sourcing, Supplier Management, Accounts Payable, Expenses); 3+ years leading and launching AI/ML-powered or automation products from concept to scaled production.
• Skills: Outstanding problem-solving (translating ambiguous problems into product requirements), outstanding verbal and written communication (technical concepts to executives), leading high-performing agile product teams (including offshore/vendor partners), and managing a Spend or Finance roadmap.
• Bonus: Workday Financials and Spend certifications (e.g., Procurement, Expenses, Supplier Accounts, FDM), familiarity with the AI technology stack, and proven experience integrating ERP systems with supplier networks, payment providers, tax engines, and enterprise data platforms.