Workday Payroll Project Manager

Description Hybrid 2 days onsite / 3 days remote in Washington, DC Our client seeks a Senior Project Manager to lead the Payroll work stream across Workday and UKG within enterprise HCM initiatives. The role will plan, coordinate, and track payroll deliverables, schedules, risks, issues, testing, cutover, and transition activities. The Senior Project Manager will collaborate with Payroll, HR, Finance, Operations, IT, vendors, and implementation partners to deliver outcomes aligned to business needs, compliance requirements, payroll operations, workforce processes, and technology standards. The position reports to the PMO Manager and operates under general direction from leadership while applying standardized project practices, governance routines, and clear communication to technical and non-technical stakeholders. We can facilitate w2 and corp-to-corp consultants. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance. Rate: $60.00 to $68.00/hr. w2 Responsibilities Provide senior project management for the Payroll work stream for Workday, UKG, and related workforce management initiatives.Develop, maintain, and track plans, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, action items, and implementation activities.Facilitate work stream meetings, prepare materials, document decisions, track follow-ups, and communicate status to stakeholders and leadership.Coordinate with Payroll, HR, Finance, Operations, IT, program leadership, vendors, and implementation partners to clarify scope, align priorities, resolve risks and issues, and sustain delivery momentum.Support requirements, configuration decisions, workflow alignment, data validation, testing, readiness, cutover, implementation, transition, and stabilization.Prepare and maintain documentation, dashboards, status updates, decision logs, RAID logs, action trackers, and related project materials.Communicate status, risks, issues, decisions, dependencies, compliance considerations, and adoption impacts to leadership and affected business areas.Support process improvement, change management, stakeholder readiness, training coordination, adoption planning, and operational transition.Apply approved standards, templates, tools, and methodologies for consistent delivery and implementation readiness.Maintain awareness of payroll operations, workforce processes, HCM technologies, platform roadmaps, vendor capabilities, and delivery practices.Ensure deliverables meet business needs, quality expectations, compliance requirements, data integrity standards, configuration expectations, and delivery commitments.Balance and prioritize assigned activities, enhancements, stakeholder requests, and implementation deadlines. Experience Requirements Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years supporting enterprise HCM or payroll initiatives in senior project management and business analysis capacities.Experience leading complex, cross-functional Payroll or HCM work streams with HR, Finance, Operations, IT, vendors, partners, and senior stakeholders.Strong planning, organization, facilitation, analytical, problem-solving, and time management skills.Ability to define Payroll and HCM solutions, delivery approaches, project decisions, and operational readiness plans with stakeholders.Ability to interpret vendor feedback and provide clear recommendations to leadership.Experience preparing and presenting reports, dashboards, status updates, decision materials, risk summaries, and implementation readiness updates.Solid understanding of scope, schedule, budget, risk, issue, escalation, dependency, resource, change, benefits, and stakeholder management.Experience with Agile or other delivery methodologies in ERP, HRIS, payroll, workforce management, or HCM environments.Hands-on experience supporting Workday and UKG Payroll initiatives including planning, enhancements, requirements, configuration coordination, workflow alignment, integrations, testing, data validation, security and access, reporting, readiness, training support, adoption planning, issue resolution, and stabilization.Working knowledge of payroll operations and related HCM processes such as time and attendance, absence management, benefits, workforce scheduling, reporting, employee self-service, and payroll compliance.Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex platform concepts, risks, tradeoffs, and impacts.Excellent documentation skills and attention to detail.Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and related collaboration tools.Preferred: experience with Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, DevOps, or equivalents. Certifications such as PMP, CAPM, SAFe, Agile, Scrum, Prosci, ITIL, Workday, UKG, HRIS, or payroll. Education Requirements Bachelor’s degree required.