Test Lead/Senior QA Analyst

About the role

We are implementing Dayforce and the Test Lead will plan, coordinate, and oversee all testing activities for the HR and Payroll system implementation. This role ensures high-quality delivery by defining test strategy, managing test resources, ensuring coverage across all HR/Payroll modules, and collaborating with functional and technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own the test strategy, test plan, and test approach for the HR and Payroll project.
• Lead and mentor QA/test team members, assign tasks, and monitor workload.
• Coordinate end-to-end testing cycles including functional testing, system integration testing, end-to-end testing, parallel payroll testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT).
• Identify test scenarios and test cases covering all HR/Payroll modules such as Core HR, Time & Attendance, Payroll, Benefits, Compensation, Leave Management, and Employee Self-Service.
• Work closely with HR, Payroll SMEs, Business Analysts, and technical teams to understand requirements, process flows, and system integrations.
• Track, log, and report defects; lead defect triage meetings with stakeholders.
• Report test progress, risks, and issues to project leadership and drive mitigation plans.
• Ensure adequate coverage of integrations with external systems (third-party benefits providers).
• Support cutover activities, regression testing, and readiness validations before go-live.
• Coordinate payroll mock runs, compare results, and validate outcomes.
• Ensure testing documentation is complete, accurate, and audit-ready.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, HRIS, or related fields.
• 6–10+ years of experience in software testing with at least 3 years as a Test Lead.
• Strong experience testing HR and Payroll systems (e.g., Dayforce, Oracle HCM, Workday, ADP, UKG, PeopleSoft, or similar).
• Experience testing payroll calculations including tax rules, statutory compliance, benefits deductions, retro payments, overtime, and off-cycle payroll.
• Solid understanding of HR processes: hire-to-retire lifecycle, compensation, benefits, time tracking, absence management.
• Experience managing UAT cycles and working directly with HR/Payroll business users.
• Experience with parallel payroll testing and payroll reconciliation.
• Knowledge of integration testing (APIs, middleware, SFTP interfaces, banking files, GL files).
• Strong defect management and hands-on experience with tools like Smartsheet, JIRA, SharePoint.
• Excellent documentation skills.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with HR/Payroll implementations or system migrations.

Why this is a great opportunity

Work for a mission-driven organization to help build a strong HR and Payroll system that will set them up for success. This is a highly visible role requiring strong testing and implementation experience, change management skills, and the ability to work effectively cross-functionally.