Senior HRIS Analyst – Workday Payroll, Absence & Time Tracking
Department: Information Technology (IT)
We are seeking a Senior HRIS Analyst with deep expertise in Workday Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking to support and optimize our internal HR technology ecosystem. This role serves as the primary functional owner for payroll-related Workday configuration, partnering closely with Payroll, HR, Finance, and IT to ensure accurate, compliant, and scalable workforce operations.
This is a hands-on, senior individual contributor role ideal for someone who understands how payroll actually runs and can translate those realities into thoughtful, durable Workday configurations. While payroll processing is owned by a dedicated Payroll team, this role provides critical functional leadership, troubleshooting, and optimization support.
Key Responsibilities
Workday Payroll, Absence & Time Tracking Ownership
- Act as the functional owner for Workday Payroll (US & Canada), Absence, and Time Tracking.
- Configure and maintain payroll components including earnings, deductions, pay groups, period schedules, retro processing, balances, audits, and payroll validation rules.
- Support payroll processing cycles by partnering with Payroll on issue resolution, retro events, audits, and year-end readiness.
- Serve as the escalation point for complex payroll, time, and absence issues.
Time Tracking & Absence Configuration
- Configure time entry codes, schedules, calculations, overtime rules, validations, and compliance logic.
- Configure absence plans including accruals, eligibility, carryover rules, and balance calculations.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state/provincial, and local regulations (e.g., FMLA, sick leave, overtime).
- Troubleshoot issues related to time entry, accruals, balances, schedules, and eligibility.
Business Process Design & System Integrity
- Develop and maintain inbound and outbound EIBs for mass updates (time corrections, retro loads, balance loads, and job changes).
- Partner with integration teams on payroll-related integrations including tax agencies, time devices, benefit providers, and payroll vendors.
Stakeholder Partnership & Enablement
- Partner closely with Payroll to translate operational needs into scalable Workday solutions.
- Collaborate with HR, Finance, Operations, and IT to gather requirements and design sustainable configurations.
- Serve as a trusted advisor by identifying opportunities to improve compliance, reduce risk, and streamline payroll and workforce processes.
Documentation, Training & Continuous Improvement
- Document configurations, payroll calendars, operational procedures, and year-end processes.
- Develop job aids, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides for Payroll and HR partners.
- Provide knowledge transfer and informal coaching to Payroll and HR team members.
- Analyze Workday release notes and proactively recommend relevant enhancements.
- Participate in internal initiatives focused on process improvement, system optimization, and team development.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Information Technology, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 5+ years of hands-on Workday experience with deep expertise in:
- Payroll (US & Canada)
- Absence
- Time Tracking
- Strong understanding of end-to-end payroll processing concepts, even if not directly running payroll.
- Proven experience configuring payroll-related calculations, audits, retroactivity, and compliance rules.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and initiatives in a dynamic environment.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to partner effectively across functions.
Preferred Qualifications
- Workday Payroll, Absence, or Time Tracking certifications.
- Experience supporting complex, multi-state payroll environments.
- Exposure to OSV or other third-party payroll providers.
- Prior experience acting as a lead analyst or functional SME.
