Workday Payroll and Timekeeping Analyst

CONFIDENTIAL; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

CONFIDENTIAL in Irvine, CA seeks a Senior Workday Configuration Analyst to lead the configuration, optimization, and scalability of our Workday environment, with a heavy focus on Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking.

You will partner with Payroll, Benefits, HR, Legal, and IT to translate complex business and compliance requirements into effective Workday solutions, manage testing, deployment, and post-production support, and drive governance, documentation, and audit readiness.

Qualifications

• Experience configuring Workday Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking.
• Ability to translate business requirements into scalable configurations.
• Experience with Workday Business Process Framework, Report Writer, and Calculated Fields.
• Experience supporting multi-country Workday environments is valued.

Responsibilities

• Configure and optimize Workday functionality across payroll, absence, and time tracking.
• Lead requirements gathering through design, testing, and post-production support.
• Partner with HR, Payroll, Legal, and IT to address compliance needs.
• Develop reports using Report Writer, Calculated Fields, and Advanced/Matrix Reports.
• Support releases, UAT, and validation activities.

Skills

Workday Payroll

Workday Absence

Workday Time Tracking

Report Writer

Calculated Fields

Advanced Reports

Matrix Reports

UAT

Stakeholder Management

SOX/Compliance

Tools

Workday Core HCM

EIBs

Workday Integrations

Job description

Job Description

Job Description

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Workday Configuration Analyst to support the ongoing configuration, optimization, and scalability of our Workday environment. This role will focus heavily on Workday Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking, partnering with Payroll, Benefits, HR, Legal, and technical teams to translate complex business and compliance requirements into effective Workday solutions.

The ideal candidate brings a strong combination of functional payroll knowledge and hands-on Workday configuration expertise. This individual should understand how configuration decisions impact upstream and downstream processes and be comfortable owning projects from requirements gathering and solution design through configuration, testing, deployment, and post-production support.

Key Responsibilities

• Configure, maintain, and optimize Workday functionality across Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking.
• Analyze existing Workday configurations and identify opportunities to improve scalability, accuracy, automation, and overall system performance.
• Own configuration projects from requirements gathering and solution design through testing, implementation, and post-production support.
• Partner with Payroll, Benefits, HR, Legal, Integrations, and other stakeholders to translate business and compliance requirements into Workday solutions.
• Support complex payroll configurations, including pay components, pay groups, overtime calculations, bonus calculations, retroactive processing, and related payroll requirements.
• Configure and maintain absence and time-off plans, including accrual rules, eligibility requirements, and statutory requirements.
• Support Time Tracking configurations across multiple methodologies, including exception time, time block entry, and clock-in/clock-out environments.
• Evaluate configuration dependencies and potential downstream impacts across Workday modules before implementing changes.
• Perform root cause analysis and resolve escalated Workday configuration and production issues.
• Develop and maintain Workday reports using Report Writer, Calculated Fields, Advanced Reports, Matrix Reports, and Composite Reports.
• Support Workday release management, including regression testing, end-to-end testing, parallel testing, and validation.
• Develop test plans and coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and cutover validation.
• Maintain configuration documentation, governance standards, and change controls in support of audit and compliance requirements.
• Support Workday integrations, data migration, EIB processes, and related system initiatives as needed.
• Partner with third-party vendors and consultants on Workday implementations, enhancements, and configuration projects.
• Support multi-country Workday environments and configuration requirements across North America, EMEA, and APAC.

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience configuring Workday Payroll, Absence, and/or Time Tracking.
• Strong understanding of payroll processes and how payroll requirements translate into Workday configuration.
• Experience supporting and optimizing Workday in a post-go-live production environment.
• Experience gathering business requirements and translating them into scalable system configurations.
• Experience with Workday Business Process Framework, Report Writer, and Calculated Fields.
• Experience performing root cause analysis and troubleshooting complex Workday configuration issues.
• Experience with Workday release testing, UAT, regression testing, and production validation.
• Understanding of configuration governance, documentation, change management, and audit controls.
• Ability to evaluate cross-module dependencies and understand the downstream impact of configuration changes.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to work across HR, Payroll, Benefits, Legal, Finance, and technical teams.
• Experience supporting multi-country or global Workday environments is highly valuable.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Workday Core HCM, Compensation, Benefits, and Integrations in addition to Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking.
• Experience supporting U.S., Canada, U.K., or other international payroll configurations.
• Experience with Workday EIBs and data migration activities.
• Experience working in SOX-controlled or similarly regulated environments.
• Experience supporting Workday implementations, acquisitions, system integrations, or major configuration initiatives.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or comparable payroll expertise is a plus.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who can operate beyond basic Workday administration. This position requires an analyst who understands both the functional and technical sides of Workday, can independently investigate complex issues, and can design configurations that remain effective as the organization grows and requirements evolve.