Manage the payroll workstream across UKG and Workday HCM initiatives. Responsibilities include planning, scheduling, requirements, configuration coordination, integrations, testing, data validation, risk and issue tracking, stakeholder communication, cutover, readiness, training, adoption, transition, and stabilization. The role partners with payroll, HR, finance, IT, vendors, and senior leaders while maintaining project documentation, dashboards, governance routines, and compliance standards.
Location and Remote Eligibility
Fully remote candidates within the United States will be considered if they demonstrate substantial experience leading large-scale Workday implementations as a project manager, program manager, engagement manager, or delivery lead.
----At Connect Centric, we are more than just consultants—we are partners committed to our clients' success. We take a hands-on approach, working closely with our clients to transform strategies into measurable, real-world outcomes. As a strategy execution team, we take full ownership of every initiative from start to finish, ensuring that our clients see tangible results, not just ideas.
Position Description
Connect Centric is seeking a Project Manager to manage the payroll workstream within our client’s enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) initiatives, with a primary focus on UKG and Workday. You will plan, coordinate, and track payroll deliverables, schedules, requirements, risks, testing, implementation readiness, cutover, and operational transition.
This role requires direct experience supporting payroll initiatives involving both UKG and Workday. Working under the direction of the client’s Project Management Office (PMO) Manager, you will partner with payroll, HR, finance, operations, IT, the Senior Program Manager, vendors, and implementation partners to deliver payroll outcomes that meet business needs, compliance requirements, and enterprise technology standards.
What You Will Do
• Lead planning and execution tracking for the payroll workstream across UKG, Workday, and related workforce management initiatives.
• Develop, maintain, and track payroll workstream plans, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, action items, and implementation activities.
• Facilitate payroll workstream meetings; prepare materials, document decisions, track follow-up actions, and communicate progress to stakeholders and leadership.
• Coordinate with payroll, HR, finance, operations, IT, the Senior Program Manager, vendors, and implementation partners to clarify scope, align priorities, and resolve risks and issues.
• Coordinate payroll requirements, configuration decisions, business workflows, integrations, data validation, testing, and implementation readiness for UKG and Workday.
• Support payroll cutover, implementation, transition planning, and post-implementation stabilization.
• Maintain dashboards, status reports, decision logs, risk, assumption, issue, and dependency (RAID) logs, action trackers, and other payroll project documentation.
• Communicate payroll delivery status, dependencies, risks, issues, decisions, compliance considerations, and adoption impacts to leadership and affected teams.
• Support payroll process improvement, change management, stakeholder readiness, training coordination, and adoption planning.
• Apply client-approved project standards, templates, governance routines, and delivery methods; follow client policies, confidentiality expectations, information security requirements, and applicable compliance standards.
• Assess payroll operations, workforce processes, data considerations, platform roadmaps, and vendor capabilities to recommend practical solutions and improvements.
• Help ensure deliverables meet business needs, quality expectations, compliance requirements, data integrity standards, configuration expectations, and delivery commitments while balancing enhancements, stakeholder requests, and deadlines.
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree and at least five years of experience providing business analysis, technology delivery, and senior project management support for enterprise HCM or payroll platform initiatives.
• Experience supporting payroll initiatives involving both UKG and Workday, including project planning, enhancements, requirements definition, configuration coordination, payroll workflow alignment, and integration coordination.
• Experience coordinating payroll testing, data validation, security and access considerations, reporting, readiness, training support, adoption, issue resolution, and post-implementation stabilization.
• Hands-on experience using UKG and Workday to support payroll workstream delivery, project reporting, issue tracking, stakeholder communications, implementation and testing coordination, cutover planning, and decision support.
• Experience supporting complex payroll or HCM workstreams involving payroll, HR, finance, operations, technology teams, vendors, implementation partners, and senior stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of payroll operations, payroll compliance requirements, time and attendance, absence management, benefits, workforce scheduling, reporting, and employee self-service.
• Strong understanding of scope, schedule, budget, risk, issue, escalation protocols, dependency, resource, change, benefits, and stakeholder management.
• Experience supporting Agile or other delivery methodologies in enterprise platform, ERP, HRIS, payroll, workforce management, or HCM environments.
• Ability to work with stakeholders to define payroll and HCM solutions, delivery approaches, project decisions, and operational readiness plans, and to interpret vendor feedback and recommend actions.
• Experience preparing and presenting project reports, dashboards, status updates, decision materials, risk summaries, and payroll implementation readiness updates.
• Strong planning, organization, facilitation, analysis, problem-solving, and time management skills, with excellent documentation and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex payroll and HCM concepts, risks, tradeoffs, and implementation impacts to business stakeholders and leadership.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and related collaboration tools.
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, DevOps, or equivalent delivery management tools.
• PMP, CAPM, SAFe, Agile, Scrum, Prosci, ITIL, Workday, UKG, HRIS, payroll, or a similar certification.
Position Details
- Position Type: Full-time W-2 employment. Independent contractor or 1099 arrangements are not available for this position.
- Location: Washington D.C. / Remote for Exceptional Candidates
- This position is hybrid (2x per week)
- Pay Rate: $125K - $130K
Similar Jobs
Cloud • Fintech • Software • Business Intelligence • Consulting • Financial Services
Manage the insurance tax team, assist in client relationships and business development, oversee tax compliance, and support tax strategies.
Top Skills:
AccountingInsurance TaxTax Compliance
Cloud • Fintech • Software • Business Intelligence • Consulting • Financial Services
Leads end-to-end quality assurance for Workday implementations, upgrades, and enhancements. Defines testing strategies, plans, frameworks, and risk mitigation; oversees functional, integration, regression, and UAT testing across Workday modules. Manages defects, test data, environments, release validation, reporting, and stakeholder sign-off. Coordinates QA activities among business teams, developers, system integrators, vendors, and delivery partners while ensuring adherence to quality standards and governance.
Top Skills:
Azure DevopsErpJIRAWorkday
Cloud • Fintech • Software • Business Intelligence • Consulting • Financial Services
Leads Oracle NetSuite optimization projects by architecting solutions, conducting client discovery, analyzing business processes, developing roadmaps, managing client relationships, and delivering implementation recommendations. Oversees project risks, scope, timelines, and deliverables; mentors consultants; supports business development; and contributes to research and innovative solution development.
Top Skills:
ExcelMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerpointMicrosoft VisioMicrosoft WordNetsuite DistributionNetsuite ManufacturingNetsuite WmsOracle Netsuite
What you need to know about the Charlotte Tech Scene
Ranked among the hottest tech cities in 2024 by CompTIA, Charlotte is quickly cementing its place as a major U.S. tech hub. Home to more than 90,000 tech workers, the city’s ecosystem is primed for continued growth, fueled by billions in annual funding from heavyweights like Microsoft and RevTech Labs, which has created thousands of fintech jobs and made the city a go-to for tech pros looking for their next big opportunity.
Key Facts About Charlotte Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 90,859; 6.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lowe’s, Bank of America, TIAA, Microsoft, Honeywell
- Key Industries: Fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, e-commerce
- Funding Landscape: $3.1 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (CED)
- Notable Investors: Microsoft, Google, Falfurrias Management Partners, RevTech Labs Foundation
- Research Centers and Universities: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Northeastern University, North Carolina Research Campus
