Workday US Payroll Test Lead

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Workday Payroll Test Lead to support a full life‑cycle Workday implementation covering the United States and Canada, with primary emphasis on U.S. operations. This is a hands‑on leadership role requiring the individual to both lead the overall testing effort and to execute testing activities. The role will play a critical part in ensuring a successful January 2027 Go‑Live, supporting test planning, execution, and the development of documentation required for training and production operations.

The ideal candidate will act as a trusted advisor, bringing deep Workday implementation experience and the ability to supplement Workday’s standard methodology and deliverables where needed to ensure program success. Candidates with US Payroll operations using Workday Payroll experience will be given preference.

Long term

• Own end‑to‑end Workday Payroll testing activities (customer-side) across the implementation lifecycle, including system, integration, UAT, and go‑live readiness.
• Lead and organize Payroll testing activities, providing structure, coordination, and accountability.
• Develop and maintain test strategies, test plans, schedules, and execution approaches aligned to program milestones.
• Lead and actively participate in hands‑on test execution, defect triage, retesting, and readiness assessments.

• Act as a consultative partner to the client and program leadership, advising on best practices for Workday Payroll configuration, testing, and operations.
• Apply deep understanding of Workday methodology, including its strengths and limitations, and proactively supplement standard artefacts and processes where necessary.
• Identify risks and gaps early and recommend pragmatic mitigation strategies to keep the program on track.

• Support the development of artefacts required for the production operating model, ensuring testing outputs align with post‑go‑live support needs.
• Contribute to the creation of documentation that supports:
• End‑user and administrator training.
• Transition to steady‑state production operations.

• Collaborate closely with functional, technical, and business stakeholders across the U.S. and Canada.
• Ensure testing approaches reflect U.S. and Canada regulatory and operational requirements.

• Extensive experience as a Workday Payroll advisor and test lead or equivalent role on full life‑cycle Workday implementations.
• Proven ability to balance hands‑on execution with leadership responsibility.
• Strong knowledge of Workday Payroll module and end‑to‑end business processes.
• Deep familiarity with Workday implementation methodology, including where additional rigor or artifacts may be required.
• Demonstrated consulting mindset with the ability to be advisory, pragmatic, and delivery‑focused.
• Experience supporting testing activities through go‑live and transition to production.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and documentation skills.

• Experience supporting US/Canada centric Workday implementations.
• Prior experience contributing to training enablement and production support documentation.
• Experience working in complex, multi‑workstream or large enterprise implementations.