Senior Payroll Systems Analyst

SUMMARY:

The Senior Payroll Systems Analyst reports to the Manager, Payroll Systems (FIS). Under general supervision, this role serves as a strategic liaison between payroll and internal/external stakeholders to address complex, organization-wide initiatives. The Senior Payroll Systems Analyst is a highly skilled professional responsible for the technical maintenance, strategic advancement, and operational efficiency of Brown University Health's payroll systems. This position demands expert knowledge of Workday Payroll, a deep understanding of integrated payroll environments, and proven project management skills to lead and support initiatives that ensure accurate and timely payroll processing for over 20,000 employees across multiple states (RI and MA). The role focuses on payroll system optimization, governance, and project execution, working closely with the Payroll Systems Manager to achieve strategic goals. The analyst collaborates extensively with internal stakeholders to improve processes, implement system enhancements, and create complex, detailed reports related to payroll data.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Brown University Health employees are expected to successfully role model the organization's values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence as these guide our everyday actions with patients, customers and one another.

* Workday Payroll Governance: Co-drive the payroll systems roadmap; define RACI with Payroll Operations; establish QC checkpoints and KPIs.

* Configuration Ownership: Design, configure, and test earnings/deductions, eligibility rules, retro and off-cycle controls; steward configuration documentation.

* Integrations Oversight: Guide functional design and monitoring of inbound/outbound interfaces (e.g., UKG/Kronos Workday, payroll outputs Finance/Tax); lead incident triage.

* Reporting & Analytics: Develop reports and calculated fields; publish dashboards for exceptions, retro, and settlement metrics; ensure data integrity and auditability.

* Release Management: Lead biannual Workday releases for Payroll/Absence; manage regression suite, test scripts, and feature adoption recommendations.

* Settlement Controls: Liaise with Treasury on bank files (ACH/positive pay); maintain approval workflows and evidence; triage discrepancies.

* Controls & Compliance: Enforce fix-at-source standards and segregation of duties; perform quarterly access reviews and maintain audit evidence.

* Issue Resolution: Provide Tier 2 support for complex defects across configuration, integrations, and data; drive root-cause remediation with cross-functional teams.

* Documentation & Enablement: Maintain SOPs, runbooks, configuration inventories, and release/validation artifacts; coach Payroll Ops on new controls.

* Project Management: Plan and deliver initiatives using intake scoring, RAID logs, stakeholder cadence, and measurable outcomes.

* Translate business requirements into system designs; configure and unit-test complex payroll business processes and validations.

* Design and validate EIB templates for mass data updates; ensure format, integrity, and successful posting.

* Partner with Integration, Reporting, and Security workgroups on architecture decisions and change impacts.

* Define retro pay governance and clawback configurations aligned to policy and audit standards.

* Implement monitoring and alerting for time feeds and payroll postings; maintain SLAs for incident response and resolution.

* Publish authoritative payroll datasets to Finance for reconciliations across the payrollfinance posting bridge.

* Lead optimization sprints/Tiger Teams; prioritize backlog via risk/value metrics and throughput targets.

* Champion QC culture and shared accountability across partner teams; eliminate "throw-over-the-wall" behaviors.

May support other systems and perform other duties as needed.

EDUCATION:

Bachelor's degree required. Project management and/or process improvement certification/training (such as Lean, Six Sigma, etc.) preferred.

Education requirements may be substituted with related work experience on a one-to-one basis (e.g. one year of related experience equals one year of education).

EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience (one year of related experience may substitute for one year of education).

3+ years of experience with Workday Payroll & Absence (or comparable ERP payroll systems) in complex, multi-entity environments.

Proficiency with Workday reporting (including calculated fields) and EIBs; familiarity with integration monitoring and error handling.

Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, SharePoint, and MS Teams; experience with additional Microsoft 365 apps preferred.

Demonstrated analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause skills; ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.

Experience with process improvement (Lean/Six Sigma) and audit/control frameworks; understanding of SoD and access governance.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:

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EEO Statement:

Brown University Health is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and maintaining a work environment free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment.

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