Workday HCM Payroll Lead

Job Summary: Workday HCM - Payroll Lead

• Position Title: Workday HCM - Payroll Lead
• Location: Atlanta, GA (Hybrid Relocation Accepted, Local Atlanta Preferred)
• Duration: 12+ Months Contract
• Target Experience: 10+ Years IT/HRIS Experience
• Mandatory Certification: Workday Payroll Certification (Active/Certified)
• Target Industry Context: Higher Education or Government / Public Sector Client Delivery

Key Responsibilities:

• Workstream Leadership: Lead the functional team responsible for the design, build, configuration, and rollout of the Workday US Payroll workstream.
• Requirements & User Stories: Conduct functional alignment sessions, document configuration decisions, and translate client requirements into structured Agile User Stories.
• Payroll Compare & Validation: Plan and execute Payroll Compare cycles, analyze gaps between legacy systems and Workday, communicate root causes to client leadership, and mitigate configuration discrepancies.
• Testing & Deployment: Build and oversee End-to-End (E2E) testing scenarios, parallel processing cycles, and provide functional inputs into the enterprise cutover plan.
• Client Enablement: Provide functional knowledge transfer and system demonstrations to empower the client s internal payroll support team.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• Workday Payroll Certification (Mandatory).
• 10+ years of total HCM/HRIS experience, with extensive hands-on expertise leading Workday Payroll implementations.
• Deep functional mastery of Workday HCM core concepts, earnings/deductions calculations, tax setups, and settlement runs.
• Proven track record leading functional workstreams for Public Sector, Government, or Higher Education institutions.
• Strong background creating Agile user stories, leading E2E test execution, and conducting Payroll Compare parallel runs.