Sr. Manager, Payroll (Contract)

Job summary

Lead the payroll function through a critical Workday transformation, overseeing testing, parallel runs, and cutover for a January 2027 go-live. Ensure payroll stability and compliance while providing strategic leadership and hands-on support for a large national healthcare organization.

Job details

Sr. Manager, Payroll | 6-Month Contract Markham, Ontario | Hybrid | $70 to $100/hour Envy Consulting Group is recruiting a Sr. Manager, Payroll for a large national not-for-profit healthcare organization with approximately 10,000 employees across Canada. This is a critical six-month contract supporting a major Workday transformation. The successful candidate will provide both strategic leadership and hands-on payroll expertise during a key stage of the implementation. You will work closely with an experienced internal payroll team, the systems implementation partner and senior stakeholders to ensure payroll readiness, testing, cutover and go-live are executed successfully. This role is ideal for a senior payroll leader who has already led a large and complex payroll function through a Workday implementation and is comfortable operating at both the leadership and detail level. The Role As Director, Payroll, you will assume leadership of the payroll function during a critical transformation period. You will be responsible for maintaining payroll stability while helping lead the organization through the final stages of its Workday Payroll implementation. Key responsibilities include: Provide senior leadership across payroll operations and the Workday Payroll implementation Lead payroll testing, parallel runs, validation and issue resolution Oversee payroll readiness for cutover and January 2027 go-live Partner closely with the Payroll Manager, Payroll Lead and broader payroll team Work with the Workday implementation partner and internal project stakeholders Identify payroll risks, process gaps and system issues before go-live Support reconciliation, controls and data validation throughout testing Lead troubleshooting of payroll, time tracking and time and attendance issues Ensure payroll processes remain accurate, compliant and operational during the transition Provide direction and escalation support on complex payroll matters Support change management and transition planning across the payroll function Help establish post-go-live processes, controls and accountabilities Provide senior-level guidance while remaining hands-on when required What We’re Looking For Significant leadership experience overseeing payroll in a large, complex organization Experience managing payroll populations of several thousand employees Hands-on Workday Payroll implementation experience is required Previous experience leading or playing a senior leadership role through testing, parallel payrolls, cutover and go-live Strong understanding of Canadian payroll legislation, controls and compliance Experience with complex payroll environments involving multiple employee groups, schedules and pay structures Strong knowledge of payroll reconciliation, testing and data validation Experience leading experienced payroll teams Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to work across HR, Finance, IT and implementation partners Comfortable operating as both a senior leader and payroll subject matter expert Previous PeopleSoft Payroll experience is strongly preferred Healthcare, homecare, not-for-profit or similarly complex workforce experience would be an asset Contract Details 6-month contract Compensation of $70 to $100/hour, depending on experience Markham, Ontario Currently 4 days per week onsite, Monday through Thursday Fridays remote Greater hybrid flexibility is expected following the critical implementation period Immediate priority hire This is a high-impact opportunity for an experienced payroll leader to step into a sophisticated national organization and help guide one of its most important operational functions through a major system transformation. If you have led a large Canadian payroll environment through a Workday Payroll implementation and go-live, we would like to hear from you.

What you’ll do

Lead the payroll function through a critical Workday transformation, overseeing testing, parallel runs, and cutover for a January 2027 go-live. Ensure payroll stability and compliance while providing strategic leadership and hands-on support for a large national healthcare organization.

Requirements

Requires significant leadership experience in large, complex payroll environments with mandatory hands-on Workday Payroll implementation experience. Strong knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation and previous experience with PeopleSoft is highly preferred.

Listed skills

• Change Management · Preferred
• Data Validation · Preferred
• Compliance · Preferred
• Stakeholder Management · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Workday Payroll Implementation
• Payroll Leadership
• Canadian Payroll Legislation
• Payroll Testing
• Parallel Payroll Runs
• Data Validation
• Stakeholder Management
• Payroll Reconciliation
• Change Management
• PeopleSoft Payroll
• Cutover Management
• Compliance
• Time and Attendance
• Risk Identification
• Process Gap Analysis
• Healthcare Payroll

Job areas

• Human Resources
• Finance & Accounting
• Management & Leadership
• Healthcare
• Consulting