Syneos Health® is a leading fully-integrated life sciences services organization built to accelerate customer success. We partner with innovators at every point across the drug development and commercialization continuum, helping them navigate complexity, anticipate change and accelerate progress.
Every day we perform better because of how we work together, as one team, each the best at what we do. We bring together talented experts across a broad spectrum of business critical corporate functions. Every role plays an essential part in enabling our customers to achieve their goals. Our teams are agile, collaborative, and committed to delivering—for each other, for our customers, and ultimately for the people who rely on the services we support.
Discover what your 25,000 future colleagues already know:
Why Syneos Health
• We are passionate about developing our people, through career development and progression; supportive and engaged line management; technical and therapeutic area training; peer recognition and total rewards program.
• We are committed to building an inclusive culture – where you can authentically be yourself. Central to this is our purpose – Driven to Deliver – which captures the passion of our colleagues to show up each day and shape solutions that have the ability to dramatically impact someone’s life.
• We are continuously building the company we all want to work for and our customers want to work with. Why? Because we know that when we bring together smart colleagues from across the world, we can shape the future of healthcare, driving impact for customers and defining the pace of patient progress.
Job Responsibilities
Job Summary
The Principal HRIS Analyst serves as a strategic and technical leader within the HR Technology function, responsible for driving the design, execution, and optimization of Workday solutions across the full employee lifecycle. This role acts as a trusted advisor and hands-on systems expert, bridging HR
Centers of Excellence (COEs), IT, and business leaders to ensure Workday supports organizational strategy and operational excellence. The Principal Analyst combines deep Workday expertise with strong business acumen to deliver scalable, data-driven, and compliant solutions that enhance the employee and HR user experience.
Core Responsibilities
• Workday Strategy & Execution
• Lead configuration, testing, and deployment of Workday functionality across multiple HCM modules (e.g., Core HCM, Compensation, Absence, Time Tracking, Talent, and Recruiting).
• Translate business requirements into scalable Workday solutions that enhance process efficiency and data integrity.
• Partner with HR Tech, IT, and COEs to prioritize, troubleshoot, and optimize Workday functionality.
• Support system governance, roadmap planning, and release management to ensure continuous improvement.
• Workday Expertise
• Serve as the subject matter expert for Workday configuration, reporting, and business process design.
• Build and maintain eligibility rules, calculated fields, condition rules, and security groups.
• Develop dashboards and reports that provide actionable insights to HR, Finance, and business leaders.
• Monitor Workday releases and assess new functionality for business applicability.
• Business Partnering & Collaboration
• Serve as a strategic partner to HR, IT, and Finance teams to align system capabilities with business goals.
• Advise stakeholders on Workday functionality, process design, and best practices.
• Educate HR partners and business users on system capabilities to promote effective and consistent use.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to support enterprise initiatives.
• Governance & Data Stewardship
• Maintain data integrity, compliance, and audit readiness across Workday modules.
• Support enterprise job architecture, security design, and data governance frameworks.
• Ensure alignment with organizational policies, global standards, and local regulatory requirements.
• Technology Leadership
• Partner with HR Technology leadership on roadmap development, system enhancements, and vendor strategy.
• Lead business reviews with HR and COEs to identify improvement opportunities and leverage new technology.
• Drive innovation by exploring new Workday capabilities, integrations, and automation opportunities.
Qualifications
Education Requirements
Min/Preferred Education Level Description
Minimum 4 Year / Bachelors
Degree in Business, Human Resources, or Information Technology
Preferred Graduate Degree in Business, Human Resources, or Information Technology
Additional Qualifications
• HR Technology experience, including deep hands-on Workday configuration and administration.
• Advanced proficiency in Workday configuration across multiple modules (e.g., Core HCM, Compensation, Absence, Time Tracking, Talent, Recruiting).
• Experience with Workday release management and tenant strategy
• Proficiency in Workday reporting, calculated fields, and custom dashboards.
• Strong understanding of HR business processes and data structures.
• Experience leading or mentoring analysts within a complex, global HR environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to deliver both strategic system design and day-to-day operational support.
Critical Skills
• Enterprise program leadership – drives multi-functional initiatives with measurable business outcomes.
• Strategic governance – defines standards and frameworks for system design, change management, and roadmap decisions.
• Executive communication and influence – present recommendations and trade-offs to senior leadership.
• Technical depth and foresight – anticipate system needs based on organizational growth and market trends.
• Change leadership – leads enterprise-wide change management efforts and ensures adoption of new technologies.
Disclaimer
Tasks, duties, and responsibilities as listed in this job description are not exhaustive. The Company, at its sole discretion and with no prior notice, may assign other tasks, duties, and job responsibilities. Equivalent experience, skills, and/or education will also be considered so qualifications of incumbents may differ from those listed in the Job Description. The Company, at its sole discretion, will determine
what constitutes as equivalent to the qualifications described above. Further, nothing contained herein should be construed to create an employment contract. Occasionally, required skills/experiences for jobs are expressed in brief terms. Any language contained herein is intended to fully comply with all obligations imposed by the legislation of each country in which it operates, including the implementation of the EU Equality Directive, in relation to the recruitment and employment of its employees. The Company is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including the provision of reasonable accommodations, when appropriate, to assist employees or applicants to perform the essential functions of the job.
Get to know Syneos Health
Over the past 5 years, we have worked with 94% of all Novel FDA Approved Drugs, 95% of EMA Authorized Products and over 200 Studies across 73,000 Sites and 675,000+ Trial patients.
No matter what your role is, you’ll take the initiative and challenge the status quo with us in a highly competitive and ever-changing environment. Learn more about Syneos Health.
http://www.syneoshealth.com
Additional Information
Tasks, duties, and responsibilities as listed in this job description are not exhaustive. The Company, at its sole discretion and with no prior notice, may assign other tasks, duties, and job responsibilities. Equivalent experience, skills, and/or education will also be considered so qualifications of incumbents may differ from those listed in the Job Description. The Company, at its sole discretion, will determine what constitutes as equivalent to the qualifications described above. Further, nothing contained herein should be construed to create an employment contract. Occasionally, required skills/experiences for jobs are expressed in brief terms. Any language contained herein is intended to fully comply with all obligations imposed by the legislation of each country in which it operates, including the implementation of the EU Equality Directive, in relation to the recruitment and employment of its employees. The Company is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including the provision of reasonable accommodations, when appropriate, to assist employees or applicants to perform the essential functions of the job.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Human Resources, or Information Technology
- Deep hands-on Workday configuration and administration experience
- Advanced Workday configuration experience across multiple modules, including Core HCM, Compensation, Absence, Time Tracking, Talent, or Recruiting
- Experience with Workday release management and tenant strategy
- Proficiency in Workday reporting, calculated fields, and custom dashboards
- Strong understanding of HR business processes and data structures
- Experience leading or mentoring analysts in a complex, global HR environment
- Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills
- Ability to deliver strategic system design and day-to-day operational support
- Graduate degree in Business, Human Resources, or Information Technology
Syneos Health Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Syneos Health and has not been reviewed or approved by Syneos Health.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Unlimited PTO for managers and flexible time‑off options make time away accessible and support work‑life balance. Day‑to‑day usability can depend on team and workload, but the policy breadth is a clear strength.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match is frequently highlighted as a strong component of the package. Despite vesting details to confirm, the retirement offering adds meaningful long‑term value.
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Parental & Family Support — Partnership with Maven provides fertility, adoption support, parental‑leave guidance, and women’s health resources across multiple regions. This family‑building support enhances the overall total rewards appeal.
Syneos Health Insights
What We Do
Syneos Health® is a leading fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization built to accelerate customer success. We translate unique clinical, medical affairs and commercial insights into outcomes to address modern market realities. We bring together a talented team of professionals, who work across more than 110 countries, with a deep understanding of patient and physician behaviors and market dynamics. Together we share insights, use the latest technologies and apply advanced business practices to speed our customers’ delivery of important therapies to patients. Syneos Health supports a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture that cares for colleagues, customers, patients, communities and the environment.
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