Global Payroll Architect (Workday) & Automation Leader

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; North Carolina; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Durham, NC is seeking a hands-on Senior Payroll Manager with deep Workday Payroll experience to lead and modernize global payroll operations. You will own end-to-end U.S.

and international payroll processes, manage external providers, and drive audits and reconciliations. The role emphasizes automation, AI, and scalable workflows to reduce manual touchpoints while maintaining accuracy and compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of payroll experience for U.S. and international operations.
• Workday Payroll expertise with audit, troubleshooting, and optimization.
• Experience managing outsourced payroll providers and vendor accountability.
• Strong knowledge of payroll accounting, tax, SOX controls, and compliance.
• CPP or equivalent certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll operations, including timesheet oversight, payroll audits, discrepancy resolution, payroll processing, funding coordination, and final payroll approval activities.
• Lead payroll delivery across U.S. and international locations, manage external payroll providers, and coordinate effectively with internal stakeholders across multiple countries.
• Oversee payroll-related employee inquiries and complex pay scenarios while ensuring timely resolution and strong service levels.
• Lead payroll audits, reconciliations, SOX control execution, evidence retention, and responses to internal and external audit requests.
• Monitor changes in payroll regulations and tax requirements to maintain compliance and operational readiness.
• Partner closely with Finance on payroll funding, payroll accounting, variance analysis, payroll journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and month-end close activities.
• Own payroll-related benefit deduction reconciliations and partner with HR, Finance, and vendors to resolve discrepancies and strengthen upstream and downstream processes.
• Scrutinize payroll results, reports, interfaces, and reconciliations; identify anomalies and patterns; question unexpected results; and investigate issues through root cause before they impact employees, financial reporting, or compliance.
• Develop and execute the payroll roadmap for the organization, identifying opportunities to improve compliance, operational efficiency, and employee experience.
• Evaluate existing processes, eliminate unnecessary manual effort, standardize workflows, and implement sustainable process improvements.
• Use deep Workday Payroll expertise to improve business processes, reporting, auditing, integrations, data validation, and overall utilization of the platform.
• Identify practical opportunities to incorporate AI, automation, and emerging tools into payroll operations so the function continues to evolve and is not a late adopter of meaningful advancements.
• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve payroll policies, procedures, controls, governance practices, process documentation, and cross-training materials.
• Own payroll reporting, data validation, compliance monitoring, and ad hoc analysis.
• Build strong working relationships with HR, Finance, Legal, external providers, and other business partners to resolve issues and deliver sustainable solutions.

Skills

Workday Payroll

Payroll Audits

Outsourced Payroll

SOX Controls

Tax Compliance

Automation

Vendor Management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Workday

Job description

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Durham, NC is seeking a hands-on Senior Payroll Manager with deep Workday Payroll experience to lead and modernize global payroll operations. You will own end-to-end U.S.

and international payroll processes, manage external providers, and drive audits and reconciliations. The role emphasizes automation, AI, and scalable workflows to reduce manual touchpoints while maintaining accuracy and compliance.