Sr. HCM Payroll Analyst

Job description

Overview Jackson Healthcare and our family of companies provide healthcare systems, hospitals and medical facilities of all sizes with the skilled and specialized labor and technologies they need to deliver high quality patient care and achieve the best possible outcomes — while connecting healthcare professionals to the temporary engagements, contract assignments and permanent placement employment opportunities they desire. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, we’re powered by more than 2,600 associates and over 20,000 clinician providers covering all 50 U.S. states. Our mission is to improve the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone we touch. This includes the patients, clinicians and healthcare executives we work with through our companies every day, as well as our communities, the nonprofit organizations we support and each associate who is part of our family. We’re always looking to add new talent to our teams. We value diverse professionals at all levels and across multiple disciplines and areas of expertise, who have strong leadership skills, align with our culture, and are committed to excellence. The Sr. Workday Payroll Systems Analyst is a senior-level Workday Payroll professional responsible for leading multiple Workday Payroll implementations into an established Workday environment, onboarding and transitioning companies across a multi-company payroll structure. This role partners directly with the Senior Director, Payroll, and is accountable for hands-on solution design, configuration, data conversion, testing, and go-live execution within the current Workday tenant across successive implementation efforts. The Sr. Workday Payroll Systems Analyst applies deep payroll knowledge, compliance expertise, and operational judgment to implementation decisions, ensuring each company’s payroll requirements are integrated in a sustainable, accurate manner that aligns with existing Workday payroll design standards. This individual serves as a senior resource across payroll systems, providing guidance to payroll operations staff and contributing to the development of team capabilities. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND BASIC DUTIES 1. Workday Payroll Implementation Leadership & Configuration – 40% Leads end-to-end Workday Payroll implementations, including discovery, design, configuration, testing, and go-live support for multiple companies transitioning from UKG into an established Workday environment. Conducts current-state assessments of legacy UKG payroll processes, configurations, and data, and reviews existing Workday Payroll tenant configuration to align new requirements with established design standards. Recommends and executes Workday Payroll solutions balancing compliance, accuracy, scalability, and sustainability through hands-on configuration of earnings, deductions, taxes, balances, retro calculations, and year-end processing. Leads payroll-owned Workday Timekeeping implementation, ensuring accurate time-to-pay integration. Extracts, transforms, validates, and loads payroll data using Workday EIBs, performing pre- and post-load data integrity checks and reconciliations. Leads unit, integration, and parallel payroll testing with reconciliation and variance analysis; identifies discrepancies and partners with stakeholders to resolve issues. Owns post-go-live stabilization and continued system optimization, including hyper-care issue triage and root cause analysis. 2. Payroll Operations & Compliance – 25% Partners with the Senior Director, Payroll to identify opportunities for process improvement and configuration optimization across the Workday tenant. Contributes to payroll calendar planning, compliance monitoring, and year-end readiness across all operating companies. Maintains working knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax laws, FLSA, wage garnishment, and benefits-related compliance requirements, applying them to system design and operational decisions. Leads cross-functional collaboration with Payroll, Benefits, HRIS, Finance, and IT teams to ensure seamless coordination of payroll inputs and outputs. Communicates with employees, managers, HR, Benefits, and operating company stakeholders in an empathetic and professional manner to research and resolve payroll inquiries with accuracy and efficiency. 3. Team Development & Knowledge Management – 10% Serves as a subject matter expert on Workday Payroll configuration and design standards, providing guidance to payroll operations staff. Mentors junior payroll systems staff and contributes to team knowledge-sharing and documentation standards. Maintains thorough implementation documentation including design specifications, test plans, processing guides, and lessons-learned summaries, upholding strict data confidentiality standards. Conducts job duties in accordance with the Corporate Values and Culture: Others First | Wisdom | Growth. 4. Continuous Improvement – 25% Identifies and recommends opportunities to streamline and optimize payroll processes through Workday automation and adoption of underutilized platform capabilities. Reviews Workday bi-annual release notes for payroll impact, performs sandbox testing of new features, and recommends adoption of applicable enhancements. Contributes to the development and maintenance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and processing checklists on an ongoing basis. SECONDARY FUNCTIONS May support payroll tax filing, reconciliation, and year-end activities (including W-2 and W-2c processing) as needed. May assist with Workday Time Tracking or Absence inputs as they relate to payroll calculations. May support new company and pay group setups within Workday Payroll. May work on special projects or other duties as assigned. SUPERVISORY / BUDGETARY / EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION RESPONSIBILITY This is a Senior Individual Contributor role with no direct reports; informal leadership and mentoring of junior payroll staff is expected. May communicate with third-party payroll and tax vendors, Workday AMS partners, and external consultants as needed to resolve issues or support project and processing activities. QUALIFICATIONS – EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE, CERTIFICATIONS Required Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field required; equivalent combination of education and experience considered. 7+ years of experience in payroll operations, payroll systems, or Workday implementation—candidates with a payroll operations foundation who have developed Workday configuration expertise are strongly encouraged to apply. Hands-on Workday Payroll configuration experience. Multi-company, multi-state payroll experience. Experience leading or significantly contributing to payroll system implementations, including data conversion and parallel testing. Above-average proficiency in Microsoft Excel and the Microsoft Office 365 suite. Preferred Workday Payroll certification preferred. Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) preferred. Experience implementing payroll into an existing Workday tenant. Experience with UKG Pro (UltiPro), ADP, Ceridian, or similar systems. Experience with multi-company or multi-EIN payroll structures. Experience supporting or managing payroll operations during and after system transitions. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES Payroll & Technical Skills Deep payroll operations knowledge that informs sound system design—understands why configuration choices matter, not just how to execute them. Ability to apply payroll judgment to system design decisions, balancing compliance, accuracy, scalability, and long-term sustainability. Strong Workday EIB and reconciliation skills; working knowledge of payroll-to-general-ledger mapping and costing. Ability to author and execute requirements-based payroll test scripts and to lead parallel testing and regression testing following releases or configuration changes. Familiarity with Workday Payroll processing, pay components, period schedules, run categories, and payroll business processes (proficiency required). Professional Skills Adaptability: Ability to embrace change and shift focus when unexpected work arises across multiple simultaneous implementations. Leadership: Ability to informally lead, coach, or mentor others in a team setting, with an interest in growing into a formal leadership role. Time Management: Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced implementation environment with strong discernment on where to focus for maximum impact. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy. Excellent written and verbal communication skills; dependable, reliable, honest, and respectful of others while maintaining the highest levels of confidentiality. Strong partnership and cross-functional collaboration skills across Payroll, HR, Benefits, Finance, and IT. Advanced Excel proficiency. KEY COMPETENCIES REQUIRED Action Oriented Optimizes Work Processes Decision Quality Manages Complexity Communicates Effectively Ensures Accountability Instills Trust Situational Adaptability Collaborates Develops Talent Customer Focus Plans and Aligns Self-Development PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS Workday Payroll implementations are delivered on schedule and meet quality and compliance standards across all assigned companies. Configuration decisions are well-documented, defensible, and aligned with established Workday design standards. Parallel runs and data conversions are validated and reconciled accurately, with pre- and post-load data integrity maintained. Post-go-live stabilization is achieved efficiently, with issues triaged and resolved with minimal payroll disruption. Cross-functional partners and internal customers report high satisfaction with payroll systems support, accuracy, and responsiveness. Payroll SOPs, processing documentation, and knowledge-sharing materials are current, complete, and accessible to the team. Junior staff report meaningful mentoring and knowledge transfer from this role. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS & WORKING CONDITIONS Up to 5% travel may be required, primarily for implementation project events or training. Typical hybrid or office environment – sedentary with typing, writing, and reading requirements. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. Disclosures Smoking/vaping and the use of tobacco products are prohibited on all Company premises, including indoor and outdoor areas, parking lots, and Company-owned vehicles. As part of our employment process, candidates who receive a conditional offer may be required to undergo pre-employment drug testing. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under the law.