HR Systems Analyst

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!

Thanks for stopping by. We know job hunting can be a little time consuming and you're probably keen to find out what's on offer, so we'll get straight to the point.

Where and how you can work

Our flagship campus is in Sydney, and we strongly prefer a hybrid approach based in Sydney.

About the team

Our People (HR) Programs Team act as the conduit between our broader People Group and our internal partners across IT, Procurement, Finance, Legal and Security to deliver on our People Technology goals. People Programs partners with our People Systems team to centrally own and sequence our People tech roadmap, rallying everyone towards a big-picture, cross-team vision for our tech.  

About the role

The Workday HR Systems Analyst plays a crucial role in executing configuration, managing operational health, and enabling automation across Canva’s core Workday modules - Core HCM, Advanced Compensation, Employee Voice (Engagement), and Performance Management.

This role sits at the heart of Canva’s tiered People Technology operating model:

• Tier 1 (People Ops) handles frontline support and basic configuration.

• Tier 2 (People Tech / You) delivers safe, business-led configuration of medium-complexity changes, leads testing, and partners with IT.

• Tier 3 (IT / Technical System Owners) manages complex integrations, custom development, platform architecture, and compliance.

As a Tier 2 operator, you’ll configure and test safe changes within Workday, triage and troubleshoot issues, and partner with the People Ops team and IT to keep our platform stable and continuously improving. You’ll also lead the review, redesign, and optimisation of end-to-end workflows in Workday to reduce friction, remove unnecessary steps, and align with Canva’s evolving ways of working.

What you’d be doing in this role

As Canva scales change continues to be part of our DNA. But we like to think that's all part of the fun. So this will give you the flavour of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but this will likely evolve.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Keeping Workday running smoothly: Configure and maintain Workday business processes, condition rules, security groups, time off rules, and org structure, and module-specific features within Core HCM, Advanced Compensation, Employee Voice (Engagement), and Performance.  Own user role assignments and audit access controls in partnership with IT. Plan, design, and execute end-to-end testing cycles for Workday changes, including unit testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT). Develop and maintain reusable test scripts and scenarios to ensure consistency across releases. Partner with People Ops and IT to coordinate integration testing, UAT, gather feedback, and resolve defects before deployment.
• Automate and elevate processes: Identify manual or repetitive HR workflows and build automations using low-code tools like Workato to redesigning core business processes (e.g., onboarding, job changes, offboarding, approvals) to be more user-friendly, compliant, and efficient.
• Be the first responder: Act as the Tier 2 contact for Workday-related issues raised by People Ops or escalated from Tier 1. Conduct root cause analysis and document known issues and fixes. Escalate complex technical or infrastructure issues to IT (Tier 3) when needed.
• Maintain clean, compliant data and deliver actionable insights: Execute and validate bulk data changes (e.g., manager changes, org restructures, location updates). Ensure changes for compensation cycles, performance processes, or other events are accurately reflected in Workday and free from errors. Partner with People Ops to prevent downstream data quality issues and maintain compliance with policies and regulations. Develop and maintain dashboards, reports, and analytics in Workday to provide actionable insights for stakeholders.
• Liaise with vendors and partners: Raise and track support tickets with Workday or third-party vendors. Work closely with IT to support Workday platform upgrades and regression testing. Maintain documentation for configuration history, data mapping, and change impact assessments.
• Enable self-service and readiness: Create engaging, easy-to-follow guides, knowledge articles, videos, or in-system prompts for Canva users and People Ops teams. Support testing and change communications for Workday feature releases.
• Improve over time: Proactively map current-state workflows, identify pain points, and propose future-state designs that improve efficiency, compliance, and user experience. Participate in roadmap planning with Product Owners to prioritise changes that improve scale, accuracy, and usability. Contribute to building AI- and automation-enabled system capabilities that support operational excellence.

You're probably a match if you

• Enterprise SaaS experience: You’ve configured, supported, or maintained complex platforms, including Workday within medium to large enterprise environments with global footprints.

• Workday know-how: Comfortable navigating Workday modules. Core HCM and Advanced Compensation essential. Bonus for other modules such as Employee Voice (Engagement), and Performance Management , BP frameworks, supervisory orgs, and access roles.

• Workflow design skills: Ability to assess, redesign, and implement business processes that enhance system usability and operational efficiency.

• Problem-solving mindset: You’re comfortable triaging and resolving system issues and understand how to apply safe-change practices.

• Automation confidence: You’ve worked with low-code tools like Workato (or similar) and can build simple to moderately complex flows.

• Data fluency: Confident working with large datasets, validating accuracy, and ensuring changes don’t break downstream reporting.

• Cross-functional communicator: Able to explain configuration choices to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• AI curious: Interested in experimenting with smart tools and AI agents that can augment user experience or reduce human workload.

• Bias for action: You move things forward, solve problems, and take ownership of your space in the system landscape.

What's in it for you?

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but you'll experience lots of moments of magic, connectivity and fun woven throughout life at Canva, too. We also offer a stack of benefits to set you up for every success in and outside of work.

Here's a taste of what's on offer:

• Equity packages - we want our success to be yours too

• Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carers

• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more

• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personally

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Canva and our culture. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.