Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Books
References
Timeline
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Heather Gardner

Heather Gardner

Greater Boston Area

Summary

Product leader with extensive experience in scaling organizations from Pre IPO to 20,000 employees at Workday. Drove $2B in revenue growth through strategic team scaling and budget optimization. Expertise in AI-driven innovation and enhancing customer experience, with a focus on cross-functional collaboration and high-performance culture.

Overview

27
27
years of professional experience

Work History

Vice President Products CHRO / CFO

Workday
01.2022 - Current
  • Scaled and led global team of 100+ across Product, Engineering, and QA, delivering enterprise-grade Finance and HR solutions.
  • Established key performance indicators to monitor strategic progress and outcomes.
  • Established rapid experimentation framework to accelerate AI-driven product innovation and reduce time-to-market.
  • Enhanced cross-functional collaboration, boosting product delivery speed by 20%.
  • Managed $10M annual budget, optimizing investments in innovation and scalability.
  • Directed customer-centric product innovation by aligning roadmaps with client needs and market trends.
  • Mentored senior product leaders to cultivate high-performance, outcomes-focused team culture.

Sr. Director Strategic Growth

Workday
08.2021 - 01.2022
  • Partnered directly with the COO to drive strategic growth initiatives shaping the next phase of Workday's expansion.
  • Advised C-suite executives on the design and execution of crossfunctional initiatives, proactively identifying opportunities, gaps, and key actions to accelerate growth.
  • Delivered strategy for $2B in revenue growth through objective analysis that enabled informed, data-driven decision-making.

Sr. Director Product Management - Payroll & HCM

Workday
01.2016 - 01.2021
  • Developed and expanded a diverse global team of 30 product managers during hyper growth stage
  • Oversaw a $1.5B ARR product application serving over 3,500 customers.
  • Defined vision, strategy, and roadmap to achieve product-market fit and portfolio growth.
  • Aligned strategy across three portfolios to enhance product market fit.
  • Accelerated time to value through evaluations of strategic HCM acquisitions.
  • Established advisory boards with over 50 strategic customers to boost satisfaction.

Principal Field Readiness Architect

Workday
01.2014 - 01.2016
  • Established first deployment methodology for Workday ecosystem, standardizing quality benchmarks for all customers.
  • Defined go-to-market strategies for UK and French launches, driving product growth with Sales and Marketing.
  • Collaborated with Adoption team to develop and launch new features, enhancing customer value.
  • Created centralized pre-configurations for customers and consulting teams, reducing deployment time and improving tenant quality.

Senior Consultant

Workday
01.2012 - 01.2014
  • Lead Payroll Consultant, enhancing payroll processing efficiency by twenty-five percent.
  • Facilitated workshops to identify business needs and propose strategic technology solutions.
  • Supported the sales team by providing technical expertise in pre-sales activities such as product demonstrations or proposal writing.
  • Streamlined system integrations to enhance operational efficiency and user experience.
  • Facilitated development of future state business processes to drive organizational improvement.
  • Built configurations aligning with industry best practices to optimize business impact and operational efficiency.

Head Teacher

Westside Montessori School
New York, USA
01.2007 - 01.2011
  • Served as lead teacher for in preschool classroom for 3-6 yr olds.
  • Improved student engagement by developing personalized curriculum in Language, Math, Cultural Studies, and Art.
  • Led volunteer team to train teachers for new school in Kpando, Ghana.

Manager

Arthur Andersen Business Consulting
01.1999 - 01.2006
  • Company Overview: Acquired by KPMG.
  • Led teams to deliver strategic consulting solutions for diverse clients across Healthcare, State Government, Tech, Media and Manufacturing Industries.
  • Managed project timelines and deliverables to ensure timely completion.
  • Facilitated current and future state process design sessions to incorporate industry best practices.
  • Mentored junior consultants, fostering professional growth and skill development.

Education

BS - Economics

Boston College
Boston, MA

Skills

  • Product strategy
  • Customer experience
  • Multi-level communication
  • Implementation of HCM
  • Payroll
  • Business process design
  • Product management
  • Enterprise product leadership
  • AI-driven product innovation
  • Experimentation
  • Cross-functional team collaboration
  • Strategic roadmapping
  • Talent development
  • Customer-centric design
  • Performance metrics
  • Market analysis
  • Budget management
  • Data-driven decision making
  • Team leadership
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Human resources management
  • Competitor trends

Accomplishments

  • Top HR Products of the Year by Human Resource Executive 2021
  • Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards 2021: Software Honorable Mentions
  • Workday Outstanding Contributor Award

Books

  • Radical Candor by Kim Scott
  • Inspired by Marty Cagen
  • Trillion Dollar Coach by Author(s)

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Vice President Products CHRO / CFO

Workday
01.2022 - Current

Sr. Director Strategic Growth

Workday
08.2021 - 01.2022

Sr. Director Product Management - Payroll & HCM

Workday
01.2016 - 01.2021

Principal Field Readiness Architect

Workday
01.2014 - 01.2016

Senior Consultant

Workday
01.2012 - 01.2014

Head Teacher

Westside Montessori School
01.2007 - 01.2011

Manager

Arthur Andersen Business Consulting
01.1999 - 01.2006

BS - Economics

Boston College

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