Workday Digital Product Owner - Absence

About the role 

As a Workday Digital Product Owner - Absence within our Digital People Services team, you'll drive the end-to-end digital product lifecycle of Time & Attendance solutions across Sanofi's global footprint, ensuring reliable, compliant platforms that directly impact tens of thousands of employees worldwide. Ready to get started? 

You'll join Sanofi's Digital Delivery & Operations unit, a key enabler of our People & Culture strategy. Operating within a portfolio-based model, you'll manage diverse solutions including Workday Absence Management and a number of regional and local systems. This role sits at the critical intersection of HR operations and digital technology, where accurate time tracking and compliant absence management express our commitment to our people and legal obligations across complex, multi-country environments. 

About Sanofi  

Sanofi is a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges, committed to chasing the miracles of science to improve people's lives. Our team across some 100 countries transforms the practice of medicine — providing life-changing treatments and life-saving vaccines to millions globally, with sustainability and social responsibility at the center of our ambitions. Our values — Aim Higher, Act for Patients, Be Bold, and Lead Together — guide everything we do.  

Main responsibilities: 

• Own product decisions for Time & Attendance applications, including budget planning, service requests, and management across the global portfolio 

• Configure and maintain the Workday Absence Management module hands-on, including leave plans, time off plans and absence types for multiple countries 

• Manage stakeholder relationships as primary contact between HR, Legal, Payroll, and Digital teams, ensuring clear communication and effective prioritization 

• Oversee vendor partnerships with third-party time and attendance providers, managing SLAs, performance reviews, and contract negotiations 

• Ensure compliance with local working time legislation, labor laws, collective agreements, and data privacy requirements (including GDPR) across all supported countries 

• Lead change management for system upgrades, regulatory changes, and process transformations, including release notes, testing coordination, and adoption monitoring 

• Drive operational excellence through incident management, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement initiatives across integrated HR platforms 

About you 

• Experience: Proven background in HR technology, time and attendance systems, or digital product management in multinational environments, with demonstrated experience managing Time & Attendance solutions at regional or global scale 

• WD Pro certification: Workday Absence certification (and its prerequisite, Core HCM certification) - this is an essential requirement. Noncertified candidates that can demonstrate significant years of experience strictly in the WD Absence field will be considered. Candidates with General HCM experience and only occasional Absence configuration work will be discarded
• Technical expertise: At least 1 full-cycle Absence implementation project where the candidate served as an independent configuration consultant/subject matter expert. Strong knowledge of Workday HCM integrations and understanding of time-to-payroll data flows, across multiple countries if possible
• Configuration skills: At least one year of hands-on experience as Tier 3 (L3) Support specifically within the Workday Absence domain

• Stakeholder management: Ability to engage and influence diverse stakeholders across HR, Legal, Finance, and IT in matrix organizations, with experience managing third-party vendors and SLAs 

• Compliance knowledge: Familiarity with multi-country working time complexity, including local directives, shift regulations, collective agreements, and data privacy frameworks 

• Product management skills: Experience with Agile methodologies, backlog management, and end-to-end product lifecycle oversight 

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Information Systems, or Business Administration. Workday Core HCM Admin and Time Tracking and certifications required 

• Languages: Strong English communication skills for global collaboration. Working French language is a bonus. 

Why choose us? 

• Global impact: Shape Time Tracking solutions affecting tens of thousands of Sanofi employees worldwide, directly contributing to our mission of chasing the miracles of science 

• Strategic visibility: Work at the heart of Sanofi's People & Culture Digital transformation with exposure to senior leadership and participation in key governance forums 

• Career development: Access our global learning ecosystem, cross-functional exposure, and clear advancement pathways within Digital People Services and broader Digital Delivery organization 

• Meaningful challenges: Tackle complex multi-country working time requirements using cutting-edge HR technology platforms to solve problems that genuinely matter 

• Collaborative culture: Join a diverse, international team united by shared commitment to operational excellence and exceptional employee experience in a modern, hybrid working environment 

Pursue Progress. Discover Extraordinary.

Join Sanofi and step into a new era of science - where your growth can be just as transformative as the work we do. We invest in you to reach further, think faster, and do what’s never-been-done-before. You’ll help push boundaries, challenge convention, and build smarter solutions that reach the communities we serve. Ready to chase the miracles of science and improve people’s lives? Let’s Pursue Progress and Discover Extraordinary – together.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

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