Workday Payroll Lead - U.S. Compliance & Ops

Confidential Jobs; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 84,000 - 112,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site in San Diego

Benefits package

Job summary

Confidential Jobs is seeking a Payroll Manager to own the U.S. payroll function and serve as the Workday Payroll SME. The role demands deep payroll expertise, strong compliance, and a mindset for continuous improvement.

You will collaborate with HR, Finance, and Accounting to build a scalable operation. This is a hands-on, non-managerial role based onsite in San Diego, CA, responsible for Workday administration, reconciliations, reporting, and automation initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field.
• Five years of progressive payroll experience, including ownership of complex U.S. payroll operations.
• Experience with payroll-to-GL integrations and payroll accounting mappings.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processing for U.S. entities, ensuring accurate and timely payroll execution.
• Manage payroll reviews, approvals, off-cycle payments, corrections, and bonuses.
• Resolve payroll issues and partner with HR, Finance, Benefits, and Treasury on payroll matters.
• Serve as the Workday Payroll SME and system owner.
• Maintain payroll configurations, reports, integrations, and business processes.
• Lead troubleshooting, testing, enhancements, and payroll process automation.
• Maintain strong payroll controls, audits, approvals, and reconciliations.
• Coordinate payroll tax filings, reporting, and issue resolution with vendors and internal teams.
• Own payroll-to-GL reconciliations and payroll accounting accuracy.
• Investigate and resolve payroll, tax, and ledger discrepancies.
• Partner with Accounting to improve automation and efficiency of payroll journal entries.
• Develop and maintain payroll validation, variance, and exception reporting.
• Monitor timecard compliance and coordinate issue resolution.
• Deliver payroll metrics and reporting to HR and Finance leadership.
• Maintain payroll documentation, procedures, and the Payroll Playbook.
• Ensure payroll processes and Workday configurations are fully documented.
• Establish cross-training and backup coverage to support business continuity.
• Drive payroll process optimization, automation, and scalability.
• Reduce manual work and leverage Workday functionality whenever possible.
• Manage external payroll and Workday resources as needed to support growth and specialized initiatives.

Skills

Payroll processing

Regulatory compliance

Analytical skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Process improvement

Automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting/finance/business

Tools

Workday Payroll

Job description

Confidential Jobs is seeking a Payroll Manager to own the U.S. payroll function and serve as the Workday Payroll SME. The role demands deep payroll expertise, strong compliance, and a mindset for continuous improvement.

You will collaborate with HR, Finance, and Accounting to build a scalable operation. This is a hands-on, non-managerial role based onsite in San Diego, CA, responsible for Workday administration, reconciliations, reporting, and automation initiatives.