Senior Workday Payroll Consultant – Continuous Value Services

Cognizant; United States; On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off

401(k) plan and contributions

Long-term/Short-term Disability

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Workday Payroll Senior Principal Consultant to lead post-production support and optimization across multiple clients in a dynamic environment. The role emphasizes customer satisfaction, managing competing priorities, and delivering high-quality payroll configurations.

The ideal candidate brings 5+ years of Workday payroll-related experience, strong problem-solving skills, and excellent communication.

Qualifications

• 5+ years Workday experience in an implementation or post-production environment support.
• Experience gathering requirements, designing, prototyping, testing, and deploying solutions to meet client requirements.
• Subject Matter Expertise in Payroll
• Proactive problem-solving abilities with the capability to identify issues, analyze options, and implement effective solutions.
• Passion for exceptional client service.
• Proven experience managing multiple clients simultaneously, balancing competing priorities, and delivering consistent results.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively manage client expectations and clearly convey complex information to clients and team members.
• Commitment to staying current with Workday updates, trends, and best practices through ongoing training and development.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Current Workday certification in Workday Payroll highly preferred or prior Workday experience in Payroll.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamental Payroll Professional (FPP) Certification Preferred.
• Minimal travel required, but must be willing to travel on-site if needed

Responsibilities

• Identify strategies, risks, and options while recommending approaches to meet client requirements.
• Work alongside vendors to configure and test to ensure no impact to production environment.
• Manage multiple tasks under limited direction and keep stakeholders updated on changes or progress.
• Become a Workday Payroll functional expert with deep knowledge across HCM, Finance, Time Tracking, Absence, Integrations, and future product direction.
• Mentor fellow consultants and analysts, including shadow assignments.
• Drive the project by making decisions and recommending best practices.
• Meet utilization goals and contribute to post-production initiatives for client success.
• Participate in update training and share skills with others in the organization.
• Execute day-to-day Workday projects for clients, including process design and lifecycle support.
• Support business development activities such as identification, proposal development, and other pursuits.
• Additional duties as assigned by manager.

Skills

Workday Payroll expertise

Requirements gathering

Problem-solving

Client service

Multi-client management

Communication skills

Workday updates knowledge

Willingness to travel

Workday certification

Payroll certifications (CPP/FPP)

Mentoring/leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Office

Job description

Cognizant is seeking a Workday Payroll Senior Principal Consultant to lead post-production support and optimization across multiple clients in a dynamic environment. The role emphasizes customer satisfaction, managing competing priorities, and delivering high-quality payroll configurations.

The ideal candidate brings 5+ years of Workday payroll-related experience, strong problem-solving skills, and excellent communication.