Sr. Payroll Analyst

We are looking for an experienced Sr. Payroll Analyst to support payroll operations and systems management for a Contract position based in Providence, Rhode Island. This role will play a key part in strengthening payroll processes, improving controls, and maintaining reliable Workday Payroll functionality in a high-volume environment. The ideal candidate brings deep payroll knowledge, strong analytical skills, and the ability to partner across operations, finance, tax, treasury, and HR systems teams.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with payroll leadership to shape the payroll systems strategy, establish quality checkpoints, and track performance through meaningful service and control metrics.
• Configure and validate payroll elements within Workday, including earnings, deductions, eligibility rules, retroactivity handling, and off-cycle processing controls while maintaining accurate system records.
• Oversee payroll-related interfaces by supporting design decisions, monitoring data flows between connected platforms, and coordinating resolution of integration issues with internal stakeholders.
• Build and maintain reports, calculated fields, and dashboards that highlight exceptions, retro activity, settlement status, and other key payroll indicators while promoting data accuracy and audit readiness.
• Lead payroll and absence release activities in Workday, including regression planning, test execution, documentation of outcomes, and recommendations for adoption of new functionality.
• Coordinate settlement and payment control activities with treasury partners, maintain approval evidence, and investigate discrepancies involving bank files and related transactions.
• Support compliance efforts by reinforcing internal controls, maintaining segregation of duties, conducting periodic access reviews, and preserving documentation for audit purposes.
• Resolve complex payroll system and data issues by performing detailed analysis, identifying root causes, and partnering with cross-functional teams on sustainable corrective actions.
• Maintain operating procedures, configuration inventories, runbooks, and validation materials, and provide guidance to payroll operations teams on updated processes and controls.
• Translate business needs into effective system solutions, manage payroll-related initiatives, and design templates for large-scale data updates with a focus on format accuracy and successful processing.