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Execution leadership for societies, research institutions, foundations, and membership organizations.
The Role
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.
Summary Generated by Built In
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
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- At least five years of experience in 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
- Experience with payroll planning, enhancements, requirements definition, configuration coordination, 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 for payroll workstream delivery, reporting, issue tracking, stakeholder communications, implementation, testing, 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, time and attendance, absence management, benefits, workforce scheduling, reporting, and employee self-service
- Understanding of scope, schedule, budget, risk, issue, escalation, 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 define payroll and HCM solutions, delivery approaches, project decisions, and operational readiness plans with stakeholders
- Experience interpreting vendor feedback and recommending 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
- Excellent documentation and attention to detail
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including explaining complex payroll and HCM concepts, risks, tradeoffs, and implementation impacts
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and related collaboration tools
- Experience with Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, DevOps, or equivalent delivery management tools
- PMP, CAPM, SAFe, Agile, Scrum, Prosci, ITIL, Workday, UKG, HRIS, payroll, or similar certification
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The Company
What We Do
Connect Centric leads the execution of complex, technology-enabled initiatives for scientific and professional societies, health and research institutions, foundations and grant-making organizations, and membership organizations. Through our registered delivery model, Execution as a Service®, clients define the outcome and Connect Centric designs and leads the execution. We take direct responsibility for moving the work forward—including the technical, operational, vendor, decision-making, and adoption work required to deliver the outcome. Unlike a traditional PMO, we do more than provide governance, coordination, and reporting. Unlike a staffing firm, we do not simply fill seats. Our experienced staff work inside client environments to lead workstreams, resolve dependencies, coordinate internal teams and vendors, recover stalled initiatives, and make progress visible. Our work includes strategy-to-technology alignment, prioritization and sequencing, product and capability ownership, technology, process and AI modernization, and initiative recovery. Our delivery capabilities span platforms and applications; cloud, data and analytics; integrations and APIs; AI search visibility; automation and practical AI; and change, training and adoption. Connect Centric is a woman-owned, senior-led consulting firm founded in 2009 and certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 standards.
Why Work With Us
Connect Centric owns outcomes instead of delivering reports or filling seats. Our team combine IQ, EQ, and TQ—strategic, emotional, and technical intelligence—to resolve dependencies, align teams and vendors, and move important work forward.
