Workday Analyst, Payroll

Global Sports Jobs Limited; Washington; On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development

Generous PTO

401k with matching

Health coverage

Parental leave

Commuter benefits

Job summary

THE TEAM in the United States is seeking a skilled Workday Payroll specialist to support, maintain, and optimize the Workday Payroll module in a high-volume US/Canada environment.

You will diagnose issues in real time, configure earnings/deductions, and build comprehensive payroll reports while collaborating with HRIS, HR, Benefits, Finance, and IT teams to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of combined payroll, HRIS, payroll systems or Workday Payroll experience.
• Hands-on Workday Payroll module experience is required.
• Experience supporting Workday Payroll in a functional, analytical or technical capacity.
• Experience with U.S. and Canada payroll environments, or direct U.S. payroll experience with Canada requirements.
• Experience supporting payroll for exempt and non-exempt populations.
• Experience working in a high-volume payroll environment.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, formulas, reconciliations and large data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the payroll-side functional and technical subject matter expert for the Workday Payroll module.
• Support Workday Payroll configuration relating to earnings, deductions, pay components, pay groups, payroll inputs, payroll calculations, retro pay, tax setup, garnishments, direct deposit and payroll business processes.
• Analyse complex Workday Payroll issues to identify root causes across configuration, data, integrations, business processes, upstream HR data, time inputs, absence data, benefit deductions, tax elections and payroll calculations.
• Diagnose and correct payroll-impacting issues in real time during active payroll cycles, including urgent issues affecting accuracy, timeliness or compliance.
• Build, maintain and validate Workday payroll reports, audit reports, dashboards, exception reports, calculated fields and ad hoc payroll data outputs.
• Support EIBs, payroll data loads and mass updates.
• Support payroll-related integrations, vendor files, interface monitoring, error resolution and data reconciliation.
• Participate in Workday release management, including impact assessment, regression testing, UAT, configuration testing and post-release validation.

Skills

Workday Payroll

Payroll troubleshooting

Payroll data integrity

Analytical thinking

Real-time issue resolution

Cross-functional collaboration

Excel proficiency

Job description

About the Role

This is a technical individual contributor role responsible for supporting, maintaining and improving the Workday Payroll module within a high-volume U.S. and Canada payroll environment. The focus is on Workday Payroll systems analysis, technical and configuration support, reporting, testing, integrations, controls, data integrity and process improvement. The position is not entry-level and is not intended to be a transactional payroll analyst role; it requires hands‑on Workday Payroll module experience and the ability to analyse, diagnose and resolve payroll system issues quickly, including issues arising in real time during payroll processing cycles. While primarily Workday-focused, the role also provides payroll analyst support when needed, including audits, reconciliations, variance review, gross‑to‑net validation, exception reporting and correction of payroll‑impacting issues across exempt and non‑exempt populations.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the payroll-side functional and technical subject matter expert for the Workday Payroll module.
• Support Workday Payroll configuration relating to earnings, deductions, pay components, pay groups, payroll inputs, payroll calculations, retro pay, tax setup, garnishments, direct deposit and payroll business processes.
• Analyse complex Workday Payroll issues to identify root causes across configuration, data, integrations, business processes, upstream HR data, time inputs, absence data, benefit deductions, tax elections and payroll calculations
• And diagnose and correct payroll‑impacting issues in real time during active payroll cycles, including urgent issues affecting accuracy, timeliness or compliance.
• Build, maintain and validate Workday payroll reports, audit reports, dashboards, exception reports, calculated fields and ad hoc payroll data outputs
• Support EIBs, payroll data loads and mass updates
• And support payroll‑related integrations, vendor files, interface monitoring, error resolution and data reconciliation.
• Participate in Workday release management, including impact assessment, regression testing, UAT, configuration testing and post‑release validation, and support adjacent Workday modules that affect payroll such as Time Tracking, Absence, Benefits, Core HCM
• Compensation and Finance/Accounting integrations.
• Translate payroll requirements into system requirements, test scripts, reporting needs, control points and process documentation, and maintain documentation for payroll configuration, system processes, testing results, issue resolution, controls and standard operating procedures.
• Identify opportunities to improve automation, reduce manual payroll intervention, strengthen controls, improve reporting and increase payroll accuracy.
• Provide payroll analyst support as needed, covering payroll cycle analysis, validation, audit review, variance research, exception reporting and issue resolution, and reviewing payroll results for discrepancies in earnings, deductions, taxes, retro pay, garnishments, benefits
• Time and absence entries, employee master data and payroll configuration.
• Perform gross‑to‑net validation, payroll balancing, reconciliation support, variance analysis and pre‑payroll/post‑payroll audit review, including off‑cycle, adjustment, retroactive, bonus, commission and termination payrolls
• And research and help correct payroll issues across exempt and non‑exempt populations in multi‑state, multi‑entity, multi‑pay group and multi‑jurisdiction environments.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 3-5 years of combined payroll, HRIS, payroll systems or Workday Payroll experience.
• Hands‑on Workday Payroll module experience is required.
• Experience supporting Workday Payroll in a functional, analytical or technical capacity.
• Experience with U.S. and Canada payroll environments, or direct U.S. payroll experience with strong ability to support Canada payroll requirements.
• Experience supporting payroll for exempt and non‑exempt employee populations.
• Experience working in a high‑volume payroll environment.
• Experience with multi‑state payroll and multi‑entity or complex organisational structures.
• Strong understanding of payroll concepts, including earnings, deductions, taxes, garnishments, retro pay, benefit deductions, direct deposits, off‑cycle payrolls and termination pay.
• Ability to diagnose and correct payroll‑impacting issues in real time during payroll processing cycles.
• Experience analysing payroll results, researching payroll discrepancies, validating gross‑to‑net calculations and supporting payroll audits.
• Experience creating, running, validating or maintaining Workday payroll reports or payroll audit reports.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, formulas, reconciliations and large data analysis.
• Ability to troubleshoot payroll system issues and distinguish between configuration issues, data issues, integration issues, upstream HR data issues and processing issues.
• Strong analytical, documentation, communication and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to work independently as a technical individual contributor while partnering cross‑functionally with Payroll, HRIS, HR, Benefits, Finance, Accounting, IT and vendors.

Preferred Skills

• Workday Time Tracking and Absence experience.
• Experience with Workday EIBs, calculated fields, custom reports, advanced reports, dashboards or payroll audit reports.
• Experience with Workday Payroll configuration support.
• Experience with Workday release testing, regression testing, UAT and post‑release validation.
• Experience supporting payroll integrations, vendor files or interface troubleshooting.
• Experience with payroll tax vendors or systems such as ADP SmartCompliance, OSV or similar platforms.
• Experience with GL payroll reporting, labour costing, payroll accounting, payroll funding or payroll reconciliations.
• Experience supporting acquisitions, new entity setup, new state/province setup, payroll conversions, payroll standardisation or Workday enhancement projects.
• Workday training or certification related to Payroll, Reporting, Time Tracking, Absence or HCM.

Salary

• Base salary range: $100-125K, plus bonus potential if applicable for the role.
• Actual base salary is dependent on several factors, including market dynamics, location and region, experience, specialised skills/training (education), level of responsibility, budgetary considerations and tenure at the company for current employees; the salary range listed is one component of the total compensation package, and compensation decisions depend on the circumstances of each role.

Benefits & Perks

• Professional development: learning and development programmes, mentorship opportunities and career advancement support.
• Generous time off: generous paid time off and holiday allowances.
• Parental leave: paid parental leave.
• Retirement plan: 401k plan including contribution matching.
• Healthcare: medical, dental, vision, FSA/HSA, life and disability coverage options.
• Ancillary benefits: critical illness, identity protection, pet insurance, 529 plans and more.
• Commuter benefits: support for travel and commuting needs, where available.

About the Company

THE TEAM provides representation and marketing services to talent, brands and properties across 28 countries and more than 70 cities worldwide. Shaped by a belief in the unifying power of sports, music and entertainment, THE TEAM leads with intelligence, ideas and influence. THE TEAM does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, colour, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in the provision of employment opportunities and benefits.