Business Analyst - Payroll & Grants (HCM)

University of New Orleans•New Orleans, LA

About The Position

The Business Analyst – Payroll & Grants serves as the functional lead and subject matter expert for the Workday Payroll, Time Tracking, Absence, Compensation, Labor Costing, and Grants functional areas. This position partners with Human Resources, Payroll, Finance, Sponsored Programs, Research Administration, Budget, Academic Affairs, and departmental business administrators to optimize payroll operations, grant administration, workforce costing, and related business processes. The Business Analyst is responsible for analyzing operational needs, translating business requirements into Workday solutions, supporting functional configuration, managing security, developing reports and dashboards, coordinating system testing, documenting business processes, and providing functional leadership for Workday Payroll and Grants initiatives. This position serves as the liaison between functional departments, Information Technology, LSU System Workday teams, and external stakeholders to ensure payroll, grants, labor costing, and workforce management processes effectively support institutional operations, regulatory compliance, and strategic objectives. The incumbent leads continuous improvement initiatives, evaluates new Workday functionality released during semiannual updates, participates in enterprise governance activities, coordinates testing and deployment of new functionality, and ensures payroll and grant business processes comply with university policies, LSU System standards, federal and state regulations, grant sponsor requirements, and applicable labor laws.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, Information Systems, Public Administration, or a closely related field.
Three years of progressively responsible experience supporting enterprise payroll systems, grant administration, ERP platforms, or business applications.
Experience analyzing payroll, human resources, finance, or sponsored program business processes and translating operational requirements into technology solutions.
Experience supporting payroll reporting, workforce analytics, financial reporting, or enterprise reporting.
Knowledge of payroll operations, labor costing, grants administration, and internal controls.
Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Experience facilitating stakeholder meetings and documenting business requirements.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.
Valid U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and maintain that valid work authorization throughout employment.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, Information Systems, Public Administration, or a related discipline.
Three or more years of functional experience supporting Workday Payroll, Time Tracking, Absence, Compensation, or Grants in a higher education environment.
Experience implementing or supporting Workday Payroll and Grants modules.
Experience supporting sponsored research administration, grant accounting, labor costing, payroll accounting, or workforce financial management.
Experience with Workday Report Writer, Prism Analytics, Composite Reporting, or Adaptive Planning.
Knowledge of federal grant regulations (Uniform Guidance/2 CFR Part 200), effort certification, payroll tax compliance, and higher education payroll operations.
Experience supporting enterprise SaaS ERP implementations.
Experience with business process improvement methodologies such as Lean or Six Sigma.
Workday Pro Payroll, Time Tracking, Absence, Compensation, or Grants certifications (or equivalent Workday functional training).
Experience participating in enterprise governance, ERP implementations, organizational change initiatives, or audit and compliance activities.
Experience supporting external audits, payroll compliance reviews, sponsored program audits, or financial control assessments.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary functional analyst and subject matter expert for the Workday Payroll and Grants functional areas.
Partner with Human Resources, Payroll, Finance, Budget, Sponsored Programs, Research Administration, Academic Affairs, Internal Audit, and departmental business administrators to evaluate operational needs and improve business processes.
Analyze payroll, labor costing, grant administration, and workforce management processes to identify opportunities for automation, standardization, and operational efficiency.
Facilitate business process review sessions with campus stakeholders.
Develop business requirements, functional specifications, workflow diagrams, business process maps, use cases, testing scenarios, and implementation documentation.
Translate business requirements into technical specifications for Information Technology staff, integration developers, LSU New Orleans functional department team leads, and LSU System Workday teams.
Evaluate new Workday functionality released during semiannual updates and recommend implementation strategies that improve payroll and grants operations.
Participate in Workday governance committees responsible for enterprise business processes, security, and change management.
Support strategic initiatives associated with LSU Enterprise Workday migration activities.
Provide functional administration and day-to-day support for Workday modules including, but not limited to: Payroll, Time Tracking, Absence Management, Compensation, Labor Costing, Cost Allocation, Position Funding, Grants Management, Sponsored Projects, Effort Reporting, Award Administration, Worker Assignments, Earnings & Deductions, Payroll Accounting, Payroll Reconciliation, Worktags supporting payroll and grants.
Troubleshoot complex functional issues affecting payroll processing, grant administration, labor costing, employee funding allocations, and workforce transactions.
Coordinate issue resolution with LSU New Orleans functional department team leads, LSU System functional teams, and Information Technology personnel.
Assist with functional configuration changes, security modifications, business process updates, and implementation of new Workday functionality.
Support payroll processing cycles, payroll reconciliation activities, effort certification, labor distribution reviews, grant funding updates, and fiscal year-end processing.
Monitor system performance and proactively identify opportunities for operational improvement.
Identify opportunities to improve payroll and sponsored program business processes through automation, workflow optimization, and standardization.
Develop standardized operating procedures, business process documentation, and functional workflows.
Assist departments with redesigning payroll and grant administration processes utilizing Workday capabilities.
Support institutional governance initiatives involving payroll approvals, grant funding, labor costing, delegation of authority, and internal controls.
Ensure Workday payroll and grant processes comply with university policies, LSU System standards, federal grant regulations, labor laws, payroll tax requirements, and sponsor compliance requirements.
Support implementation of new payroll and grant-related initiatives impacting Workday.
Develop and maintain operational reports, dashboards, and analytics supporting Payroll, Human Resources, Sponsored Programs, and Finance.
Collaborate with Human Resources, Payroll, Finance, Budget, Institutional Research, Sponsored Programs, and Information Technology to improve reporting capabilities.
Develop reports supporting: Payroll Reconciliation, Labor Costing, Grant Expenditures, Salary Allocations, Position Funding, Time Tracking, Leave Utilization, Overtime Analysis, Sponsored Project Labor Distribution, Effort Certification, and Executive Workforce Analytics.
Validate payroll and grant data integrity and investigate reporting discrepancies.
Provide analytical support to university leadership through workforce and financial reporting.
Coordinate functional testing associated with Workday Payroll and Grants releases, patches, configuration changes, and system enhancements.
Develop comprehensive regression testing scripts and user acceptance testing scenarios.
Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with Human Resources, Payroll, Sponsored Programs, and Finance stakeholders.
Document testing results and communicate recommendations for production deployment.
Support implementation of new Workday Payroll and Grants functionality through planning, testing, communication, and deployment.
Participate in Workday semiannual release readiness activities.
Collaborate with Information Technology, LSU New Orleans functional departments, and LSU System teams to support integrations between Workday Payroll & Grants and institutional systems including: Human Resources systems, Financial Management, Banking and direct deposit services, Time collection systems, Benefit providers, Grant management applications, State reporting systems, Tax reporting services, Enterprise reporting platforms.
Review and maintain functional security roles supporting payroll, grants, and workforce management.
Participate in payroll security reviews and governance initiatives.
Assist departments with workflow automation and integration improvements.
Develop functional documentation, business process guides, job aids, knowledge base articles, and standard operating procedures.
Provide functional consultation and guidance to Payroll, Human Resources, Finance, Sponsored Programs, Principal Investigators, and departmental business administrators.
Assist in training university personnel on Workday Payroll and Grants functionality.
Serve as a trusted advisor regarding payroll operations, labor costing, grant administration, compliance requirements, and Workday best practices.
Support organizational change initiatives associated with payroll modernization and grant administration improvements.
Perform other duties as assigned.