Hybrid Payroll Architect — AI-Driven Workday Lead

Howard Hughes Medical Institute; United States; Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 301,000; Full time

Job summary

Howard Hughes Medical Institute seeks a Director of Payroll to redesign the payroll function from first principles, building a Workday-native, AI-first operation that delivers accurate, compliant pay. You will lead a cross-functional team, partner with People & Culture and Science, and drive end-to-end payroll excellence across diverse populations.

The role requires deep payroll expertise, Workday mastery, and the ability to translate complex tradeoffs for executive leadership while fostering a

Qualifications

• Deep payroll expertise including multi-state tax and wage issues.
• Experience redesigning payroll processes from first principles.
• Strong Workday payroll configuration and automation knowledge.
• Ability to partner with People & Culture and Science leaders.

Responsibilities

• Redesign the payroll process from first principles and rebuild around best practice.
• Owns payroll end-to-end including compliance and controls across populations.
• Make Workday do the work by reducing workarounds and spreadsheets.
• Apply AI to reduce manual effort and catch errors early.
• Build customer service into the payroll design for fast, accurate pay.
• Partner with People & Culture and Science; brief executive leadership.
• Lead the payroll team and develop their skills toward automation.

Skills

Payroll expertise

Workday payroll

AI in payroll

Process design

Cross-functional partner

Leadership

Tools

Workday

Job description

Howard Hughes Medical Institute seeks a Director of Payroll to redesign the payroll function from first principles, building a Workday-native, AI-first operation that delivers accurate, compliant pay. You will lead a cross-functional team, partner with People & Culture and Science, and drive end-to-end payroll excellence across diverse populations.

The role requires deep payroll expertise, Workday mastery, and the ability to translate complex tradeoffs for executive leadership while fostering a