diff --git a/manifests/phases/phases.yaml b/manifests/phases/phases.yaml
index 9483bd6f2..a97c6e329 100644
--- a/manifests/phases/phases.yaml
+++ b/manifests/phases/phases.yaml
@@ -91,3 +91,15 @@ config:
     apiVersion: airshipit.org/v1alpha1
     kind: Clusterctl
     name: clusterctl_move
+---
+apiVersion: airshipit.org/v1alpha1
+kind: Phase
+metadata:
+  name: workload-target
+  clusterName: target-cluster
+config:
+  executorRef:
+    apiVersion: airshipit.org/v1alpha1
+    kind: KubernetesApply
+    name: kubernetes-apply
+  documentEntryPoint: manifests/site/test-site/target/workload
diff --git a/manifests/phases/plan.yaml b/manifests/phases/plan.yaml
index b934b7bce..d07d7d630 100644
--- a/manifests/phases/plan.yaml
+++ b/manifests/phases/plan.yaml
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ phaseGroups:
       - name: controlplane-ephemeral
       - name: initinfra-target
       - name: workers-target
+      - name: workload-target
diff --git a/manifests/site/test-site/target/workload/kustomization.yaml b/manifests/site/test-site/target/workload/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..54b0ca97d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/site/test-site/target/workload/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+  - ../../../../type/gating/target/workload
diff --git a/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/helmrelease.yaml b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/helmrelease.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44b913f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/helmrelease.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+apiVersion: "helm.fluxcd.io/v1"
+kind: HelmRelease
+metadata:
+  name: ingress
+spec:
+  wait: true
+  timeout: 600
+  # This chart doesn't have any helm tests, but this still runs a noop
+  # helm test flow, to ensure we can do this.
+  test:
+    enable: true
+  values:
+    defaultBackend:
+      enabled: true
+    controller:
+      service:
+        type: NodePort
+        nodePorts:
+          http: 30000
+          https: 30001
+      kind: DaemonSet
+      hostNetwork: "false"
+      nodeSelector:
+        node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
+      tolerations:
+        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
+          effect: NoSchedule
+  chart:
+    repository: https://kubernetes-charts.storage.googleapis.com
+    name: nginx-ingress
+    version: 1.40.1
diff --git a/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/kustomization.yaml b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72552518f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+  - helmrelease.yaml
+namespace: ingress
diff --git a/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/namespace.yaml b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b40cd8b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/ingress/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: ingress
diff --git a/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/kustomization.yaml b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d360c0e38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/type/gating/target/workload/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+  - ingress
diff --git a/playbooks/airshipctl-gate-runner.yaml b/playbooks/airshipctl-gate-runner.yaml
index 90888b8a9..86f2984ec 100644
--- a/playbooks/airshipctl-gate-runner.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/airshipctl-gate-runner.yaml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
           - ./tools/deployment/32_cluster_init_target_node.sh
           - ./tools/deployment/33_cluster_move_target_node.sh
           - ./tools/deployment/34_deploy_worker_node.sh
+          - ./tools/deployment/35_deploy_workload.sh
 
     - name: "Run gate scripts"
       include_role:
diff --git a/tools/deployment/35_deploy_workload.sh b/tools/deployment/35_deploy_workload.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fd73a0929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/deployment/35_deploy_workload.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -xe
+
+#Default wait timeout is 600 seconds
+export TIMEOUT=${TIMEOUT:-600s}
+export KUBECONFIG=${KUBECONFIG:-"$HOME/.airship/kubeconfig"}
+export KUBECONFIG_TARGET_CONTEXT=${KUBECONFIG_TARGET_CONTEXT:-"target-cluster"}
+export TARGET_IP=${TARGET_IP:-"10.23.25.102"}
+export TARGET_PORT=${TARGET_PORT:-"30000"}
+
+echo "Deploy workload"
+airshipctl phase run  workload-target --debug
+
+# TODO: Remove this after migrating to HelmRelease v2 (helm-controller) which
+#      supports a Ready status condition, which `airshipctl phase run` above will consume.
+echo "Waiting $TIMEOUT for HelmReleases to become ready."
+kubectl --timeout $TIMEOUT --kubeconfig $KUBECONFIG --context $KUBECONFIG_TARGET_CONTEXT wait hr --for condition=released --all --all-namespaces
+
+echo "Ensure we can reach ingress controller default backend"
+if "404" != "$(curl --head --write-out '%{http_code}' --silent --output /dev/null $TARGET_IP:$TARGET_PORT/should-404)"; then
+    echo -e "\nFailed to reach ingress controller default backend."
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
index 6bf7aed01..b7f8e92d2 100644
--- a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@
         - ./tools/deployment/32_cluster_init_target_node.sh
         - ./tools/deployment/33_cluster_move_target_node.sh
         - ./tools/deployment/34_deploy_worker_node.sh
+        - ./tools/deployment/35_deploy_workload.sh
       serve_dir: /srv/iso
       serve_port: 8099
       log_roles: