Workday Expert

Scope: Embedded as FP&A Data & AI Architect within the Finance function of a major European refrigeration manufacturer, leading the transformation of manual, fragmented financial reporting into an automated, governance-driven intelligence platform. Driving the shift from Excel-based controlling to structured data architecture, Power BI analytics, and AI-assisted financial operations.

Financial Data Integrity & ERP Governance

• Initiated and led GL vs. subledger reconciliation investigations, identifying and resolving structural mismatches between General Ledger and subledger data that had gone undetected prior to engagement
• Conducted asset analysis to identify items missing from General Ledger postings, surfacing gaps in fixed asset tracking and period-end completeness
• Validated SAP reports, establishing baseline data quality standards for Finance team consumption
• Established systematic SAP data validation framework ensuring ongoing integrity between ERP postings and downstream reporting outputs

Finance Reporting Transformation

• Designed and implemented a structured Transformation Project approach for converting manual Finance reports into fully automated processes
• Created and owns the Data Reporting Audit Log; a centralized tracking system capturing report owners, stakeholders, data sources, manual effort estimates, and automation opportunity scores across the Finance function
• Mapped the full reporting landscape identifying quick-win automation targets and strategic Power BI migration candidates
• Actively reducing manual Excel and PowerPoint dependency across FP&A workflows; replacing point-in-time snapshots with live, governed data models

Power BI & Analytics Enablement

• Introduced and presented Power BI as the strategic reporting platform to Finance leadership, building internal buy-in for the BI transformation roadmap
• Designed initial Power BI architecture aligned with SAP, Salesforce and Oracle data structures and FP&A reporting requirements
• Established report ownership, governance documentation, and data lineage standards enabling sustainable self-service analytics across the Finance team

Transformation Infrastructure & Collaboration

• Configured and deployed Jira as the transformation project management hub, establishing structured sprint workflows, backlog management, and progress visibility for Finance IT initiatives
• Proposed and initiated a dedicated FP&A Communication & Transformation Hub, a structured cross-functional forum aligning Finance, IT, and business stakeholders around the reporting transformation roadmap
• Positioned the Finance function as an active driver of data governance and digital transformation within the broader organization

Outcomes

• GL/subledger reconciliation gaps identified and investigation framework established within first two weeks of engagement
• Data Reporting Audit Log deployed; first structured inventory of Finance reporting landscape in company history
• Power BI transformation roadmap presented and approved by Finance leadership
• Jira-based project governance live; Finance transformation now tracked with full sprint visibility

Technologies: SAP FI/CO · Power BI · DAX · SQL · Excel (advanced) · Power Query (M) · Power Automate · VBA · Jira · Microsoft 365 · SharePoint · Salesforce (Sales Data) · Oracle HCM · Python

Unified ITSM framework

• Definition of a company-wide ITSM target picture
• Introduction of a uniform service structure across all business units

SLA and OLA management

• Building a standardized SLA framework
• Definition of service classes (Business Critical, Standard, Low Priority)
• Introduction of OLAs between internal teams
• Building meaningful SLA reporting
• Definition of KPI and service dashboards for business units

Service portfolio management

• Definition of service descriptions
• If needed, preparing possible cost and service billing

Ticketing & processes

• Incident management
• Uniform ticket categories
• Standardized prioritization
• Escalation matrix
• Automations
• Self-service optimization

Request fulfillment

• Service catalog across all business units
• Approval workflows

Problem management

• Introduction of root cause analysis
• Known error database
• Problem review process

Complete asset management concept

• Hardware lifecycle management
• Software lifecycle management
• Leasing lifecycle
• Mobile device lifecycle
• Monitor lifecycle
• Phone lifecycle

Processes

• Procurement
• Goods receipt
• Inventory
• Assignment
• Return
• Disposal
• Leasing return Goal: single source of truth for all assets

CMDB design

• Definition of all configuration items:
• Workplace
• Notebooks
• Monitors
• Mobile phones
• Printers

Infrastructure

• Servers
• Firewalls
• Switches
• WLAN
• Storage
• Backup systems

Cloud

• Azure resources
• Microsoft 365
• SaaS services

Relationships

• User ↔ Asset
• Asset ↔ Service
• Service ↔ Infrastructure
• Location ↔ Asset
• Goal: make all service dependencies visible

Software asset & license management

• License management concept
• License balancing
• Compliance reporting
• Microsoft license management
• Adobe license management
• SaaS management
• Contract management
• Renewal management

Interfaces & automation Existing systems

• Workday
• Joiner
• Mover
• Leaver

TESMA

• Leasing data
• Contract data

Matrix42

• Asset synchronization
• User synchronization

Active Directory / Entra ID

• User management

Microsoft 365

• License assignment
• Group management

Dormakaba

• Access processes

• Lifecycle services

Monitoring platforms

• PRTG
• Palo Alto
• Cisco

Reporting & KPI framework

• Definition of a management dashboard
• KPIs
• Ticket volume
• SLA fulfillment
• MTTR
• First resolution rate
• Asset accuracy
• License compliance
• Change success rate
• Service availability
• Degree of automation

Network redesign support

• Governance
• Support of the network redesign from an ITSM point of view
• Definition of affected services
• Change management structure
• Communication concept

CMDB integration

• Recording of all network components
• Service mapping
• Dependency analysis

Validation of documentation and knowledge base articles

• Network documentation
• Operations documentation
• Standard changes

Monitoring & event management

• Target picture
• Central monitoring concept
• Event management process
• Alerting strategy
• Escalation model

Systems

• Cisco

• Palo Alto

• Fortinet

• Rubrik

• Veeam

• Matrix42

• Azure

• Microsoft 365 Automation

• Ticket creation from monitoring

• Escalations

• Standard actions

Audit, compliance & information security

• ISO 27001 consulting
• TISAX consulting
• NIS2 preparation - consulting
• Audit-ready processes
• Documentation structure
• Evidence tracking in Matrix42

Roadmap

• 12-month roadmap
• Prioritization of all measures
• Quick wins
• Medium-term projects
• Long-term target picture
• Documentation

I founded Nick's Advisory to make HR management, HR project delivery, and AI expertise available to companies on a temporary basis when internal capacity or experience is lacking.

Services:

• HR interim management: taking over the HR business partner or HR manager role during restructuring, growth, or a vacant leadership position, on a daily or hourly basis
• HR consulting: projects around reorganization, talent acquisition, separation processes, and building HR structures
• AI consulting for HR teams: selection, introduction, and use of AI tools in HR processes

• Primary point of contact for works councils
• Design & negotiation of company agreements & policies
• HR labor support during transformation, restructuring & organizational changes
• Coaching and training managers on works council relations and co-determination rights

• Designed and developed AI-powered document processing solutions using Python, OCR, NLP, and Large Language Models (LLMs) to automate extraction, validation, and classification of financial documents, reducing processing time by 75%.
• Built intelligent multi-stage workflow automation pipelines integrating AI services, machine learning models, and enterprise systems to streamline financial operations and improve data quality.
• Developed reusable AI-driven transformation frameworks capable of processing structured and unstructured document formats (XML, CSV, JSON, TXT, DAT) and normalizing them into unified business schemas.
• Designed and developed Python-based REST APIs and backend services supporting enterprise finance applications and high-volume data processing workloads.
• Built scalable data synchronization pipelines between Oracle CFIN and SQL databases, incorporating machine learning models for cash-flow forecasting and AP/AR anomaly detection.
• Architected and deployed Apache Airflow workflows to orchestrate AI-powered data pipelines, automating end-to-end processing from document ingestion through financial system integration.
• Led the migration of critical enterprise integrations from MuleSoft to Python-based services, improving maintainability, performance, and operational flexibility while preserving complete data integrity.
• Managed the full API lifecycle including solution design, implementation, documentation, deployment, monitoring, and production support for mission-critical financial systems.
• Collaborated directly with finance stakeholders to identify business challenges, define solution requirements, and deliver measurable operational improvements through automation and AI-driven workflows.
• Worked closely with cross-functional engineering and business teams to rapidly iterate on features, improve processes, and drive successful adoption of AI-enabled solutions.
• Provided technical leadership through architecture reviews, technology decisions, code reviews, and engineering best practices across integration and automation initiatives.
• Mentored developers, established coding standards, and contributed to improving software quality, maintainability, and delivery effectiveness across projects.
• Provided production support during critical month-end and quarter-close financial processes, performing root-cause analysis and implementing rapid fixes to ensure system reliability and data accuracy.

• Preparing HR documents
• Conducting employee meetings
• Managing employee master data in Workday
• Managing employee master data in SAP
• Works council work
• Participating in company meetings

Technologies: n8n, Notion, OpenAI API, Claude, MS AI Foundry, MS CoPilot Studio, MS CoPilot, LLM, Node.js, Vercel, LangGraph, PostgreSQL, pgEdge, pgvector, Docker, LangChain, Ollama, Open WebUI

• Continuous evaluation and prioritization of internal automation needs
• ~20 AI agents in active use: research, content pipelines, document processing
• 5 n8n workflows for automated data and process control
• Architecture built on the same principles as in customer projects: state management, event-driven orchestration, API integration
• Ongoing operation and further development

Assignment: Strategic consulting for managers

• Professional advice for managers in a defined business area on transformation and job grading topics
• Independent management of recruiting processes in close cooperation with the shared service organization to fill key vacancies
• Advising the HR team on finalizing and negotiating new works agreements and implementing sample guidelines (ERA Küste)
• Handling labor law matters such as consent replacement proceedings or disciplinary measures
• Advising on the standardization and improvement of HR processes

Tools: SuccessFactors, SAP/HR

• Analyze existing configuration
• Compare to HR process and organizational designs
• Develop redesigns and roll-out plans
• Adjust security concept
• Perform testing and implementation
• Prepare documentation and hand-over

Project: Neura Belden BHVA (Belden HI vision Virtual Assistance)

• Translated AI agent concepts into 4 distinct user workflows (General, Redundancy, Network, VLAN agents).
• Designed 6 game-changing features with technical specifications: Predictive Issue Resolution, Cost Optimization Engine, Compliance Automation, Cross-Agent Orchestration, Knowledge Transfer Mode, Root Cause Analysis 2.0.
• Contributed reusable UX patterns and lightweight standards for experimentation-first AI environment: single-file HTML/CSS/JS prototypes, semantic accessibility, responsive grid layouts, and clear component structure enabling rapid future POC iterations.
• Translated early AI concepts into intuitive user workflows and interaction models for 4 specialized agents, focusing on clarity, trust-building, and progressive disclosure to surface complex AI capabilities.
• Documented design trade-offs in accessible language for non-designers.

• Operational and strategic recruiting & talent acquisition in Finance, Global Sales & IT
• High-volume recruiting for professional and management positions domestically and internationally
• Support for country offices in Latvia, Lithuania, UK, Italy, Czech Republic & Germany
• Process-based end-to-end recruiting with new approaches in Employer Branding and Candidate Attraction
• Close collaboration with the Employer Branding team and HR & hiring managers
• Conducting interviews & evaluations together with the department
• Salary and contract negotiations
• Tools: SAP-SuccessFactors, Shopfloor, MS 365, VonQ

Responsibilities:

• Commercial assistance to management
• Project coordination
• Interface management
• Accounting and preparatory bookkeeping
• Quotation management

Interfaces with:

• Management
• Sales team
• Tax consultancy

Project language: German

• Developed backend for Audit Management Tool using Node.js/Express with Workday API integration.
• Built secure file handling (PDF, PPT, CSV) with AWS S3 and database support via PostgreSQL, Prisma, and MongoDB.
• Implemented validation, role-based access, and audit trails for compliance and data integrity.