Job Description

Job Title: Workday HCM/Payroll Consultant

Duration/Terms: 3 months (with potential for extension)

Job Location: San Leandro, CA Hybrid

Job Description:

The Client is in the process of implementing Workday HCM and Payroll as part of a major ERP modernization initiative. We are seeking a versatile Workday consultant with deep expertise in HCM business processes, U.S. Payroll configuration, and Workday security administration, ideally with experience in the public sector.

This role will assist during the end-to-end and parallel testing phases, provide troubleshooting support, and help with security configuration and validation, while also contributing to documentation and change readiness efforts.

Our client is seeking an expert-level Workday Implementation Consultant to support a multi-phase deployment in partnership with Cognizant, covering both HR/Payroll and Financials. The HR/Payroll phase is scheduled to go live in February, with the Financials phase following in September. This consultant will play a critical role in reviewing and validating configurations provided by Cognizant, guiding internal teams through unit, end-to-end, and parallel testing cycles, and helping troubleshoot issues during test execution. The internal team has struggled with testing, particularly in identifying the root causes of failures, so this person must be comfortable coaching and enabling team members to resolve issues effectively. Experience working with a Big 5 consulting partner is highly preferred, as is strong Workday configuration knowledge. Familiarity with Cognizant's test templates and the ability to help teams interpret and execute them is essential. Any hands-on experience with Workday Financials is a major plus.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support execution of end-to-end testing scenarios across HCM and Payroll, working alongside internal staff and implementation partners.
• Assist in parallel payroll testing, validating Workday outputs against the City's legacy semi-monthly payroll system.
• Provide hands-on configuration support for HCM, Payroll, and Time Tracking modules.
• Help guide the City's transition from semi-monthly to bi-weekly payroll, addressing impacts on configuration, testing, and business processes.
• Serve as the Workday security administrator, assisting with configuration, role assignments, and access validation aligned with job responsibilities.
• Perform troubleshooting during testing cycles-identify, track, and help resolve configuration, data, or security issues.
• Develop or refine job aids, test documentation, and user-facing guides to support knowledge transfer and training.
• (Preferred) Provide input on integrations with CalPERS, benefit providers, and other public-sector systems relevant to California municipalities.

Must-Haves:

• Expert-level Workday experience, particularly in HR/Payroll implementations
• Strong Workday configuration knowledge
• Prior experience supporting unit, end-to-end, and parallel testing cycles
• Ability to review and validate configurations delivered by an implementation partner (Cognizant)
• Skilled in troubleshooting test failures and coaching internal teams to identify and resolve issues
• Comfortable working with test templates provided by implementation partners and guiding teams through them
• Strong communication and mentoring skills to support a testing team that needs hands-on guidance
• Available to support HR/Payroll go-live in February and Financials go-live in September

Nice-to-Haves:

• Experience working with a Big 5 consulting firm on Workday implementations
• Hands-on experience with Workday Financials
• Familiarity with Cognizant's delivery model or tools

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