HR Platforms Reporting & Data Analyst

Northeastern University•Boston, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The HR Platforms (HRIT) team is seeking a qualified candidate to support and perform data analytics for Workday HCM. This is a hybrid position requiring presence on campus Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with remote work on Wednesdays. The role involves partnering with HR, Payroll, Finance, and college/division HR stakeholders to understand business requirements and deliver accurate workforce data and analytics. Success requires a strong understanding of Workday HCM and Payroll business processes, especially within a decentralized higher education setting. The analyst will translate business needs into reporting and analytical solutions, developing and maintaining Workday reports, SQL queries, and other data solutions. Responsibilities include analyzing complex datasets to identify trends, discrepancies, and data integrity issues, investigating root causes, and providing insights for decision-making. This role also collaborates with HR Platforms Business Systems Analysts and other teams for testing, validation, and issue resolution. Key skills include strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, expert Excel proficiency, SQL proficiency, attention to detail, and a curious mindset. The candidate should be comfortable asking questions, challenging data, investigating complex issues, and communicating findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. Sound judgment, initiative, strong customer service, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines while maintaining confidentiality and data integrity are essential.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Business, Human Resources, Data Analytics, or a related field required.
3–5 years of progressive experience in HR data analytics, HR systems, reporting, or a related field, with demonstrated experience analyzing complex HR and payroll data.
Strong understanding of Workday HCM and Payroll business processes, including the ability to understand how transactions, business processes, organizational structures, compensation, time, absence, payroll, and employee lifecycle events impact downstream data and reporting.
Experience with Workday reporting across HCM and Payroll, including developing, maintaining, interpreting, and troubleshooting reports and identifying opportunities to improve reporting accuracy and effectiveness.
Expert proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including advanced formulas/functions, pivot tables, lookups, data cleansing, conditional logic, data validation, reconciliation, and analysis of large and complex datasets.
Proficiency in SQL, with the ability to query, join, filter, aggregate, and analyze complex datasets across multiple tables and data sources.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a naturally curious mindset and the ability to recognize when data does not make sense and independently investigate the underlying issue, ask insightful questions, identify patterns and anomalies, determine root causes, and translate findings into meaningful business insights.
Demonstrated ability to work with large, complex, and sensitive HR and Payroll datasets, ensuring data integrity, accuracy, completeness, consistency, and confidentiality.
Experience with data reconciliation and validation, including comparing data across Workday and downstream systems, identifying discrepancies, researching root causes, and partnering with functional and technical teams to resolve issues.
Ability to translate complex HR and Payroll business requirements into meaningful reporting and data solutions, including gathering requirements, understanding the underlying business need, and recommending appropriate reporting or analytical approaches.
Experience with data management, reporting governance, documentation, testing, and systems changes, including developing test plans and test cases and validating the impact of system changes on data and reporting.
Ability to interpret and communicate data clearly, translating complex analysis and technical findings into concise, actionable information for HR leadership, functional partners, and non-technical stakeholders.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy, with the ability to recognize when data does not make sense and independently investigate the underlying issue.
Strong customer-service and consulting mindset, with the ability to understand customer needs, clarify ambiguous requests, provide thoughtful recommendations, and deliver high-quality reporting and analytical solutions.
Self-starter with strong initiative and sound judgment, capable of working independently while knowing when to escalate issues or engage appropriate technical and functional partners.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a high-volume environment, organize work effectively, meet deadlines, and adapt to changing business and project requirements.
Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with technical and non-technical audiences at all levels of the organization.
Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills, with the ability to partner effectively across HR, Payroll, HR Technology, IT, and other university functions.
Demonstrated ability to handle confidential and sensitive employee, HR, and Payroll information with discretion and in accordance with university policies and data-security requirements.
Commitment to continuous improvement, with the ability to identify opportunities to automate, simplify, improve data quality, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of HR reporting and analytics.

Nice To Haves

Higher education HR and Payroll experience is strongly preferred, with an understanding of the unique organizational structures, academic populations, employee types, appointments, positions, grants/funding, faculty/staff populations, and other complexities common to higher education.
Experience using Excel to identify trends, anomalies, discrepancies, and data-quality issues is highly desirable.
Workday Prism Analytics experience preferred, particularly experience working with multiple data sources and complex datasets.
Experience with Cognos or other enterprise reporting/analytics tools preferred.

Responsibilities

Partner with HR, Payroll, Finance, and college/division HR stakeholders to understand complex business requirements and translate data needs into accurate, sustainable reporting and analytical solutions.
Develop, maintain, and enhance reports and queries using Workday HCM/Payroll, Prism, SQL, Excel, and other reporting and analytical tools.
Analyze and reconcile complex HR and Payroll datasets to identify trends, anomalies, discrepancies, and data integrity issues and investigate root causes.
Collaborate with HR Platforms Business Systems Analysts and other technical and functional partners on requirements, testing, validation, system changes, and resolution of data and reporting issues.
Develop, maintain, and enhance Workday HCM and Payroll reports and SQL queries to meet complex HR, Payroll, operational, compliance, and business requirements.
Analyze complex HR and Payroll data from Workday and other data sources to identify trends, anomalies, data-quality issues, and opportunities for process improvement.
Serve as a reporting and data analytics subject matter expert for HR and Payroll, providing expertise to troubleshoot reporting issues, investigate discrepancies, and determine root causes.
Partner with HR and Payroll stakeholders to understand business needs and translate requirements into effective reporting and analytical solutions, recommending the most appropriate reporting approach or data source.
Provide advanced Excel-based analysis and data reconciliation, including analyzing large datasets, identifying discrepancies, validating results, and developing meaningful insights for HR leadership and business partners.
Develop and support ad-hoc and standardized reporting capabilities that enable HR users and leadership to access timely, accurate, and actionable workforce information.
Evaluate existing Workday reports and the report library to identify opportunities to leverage, enhance, consolidate, or retire existing reports and reduce redundant reporting.
Establish and maintain reporting documentation, including report definitions, data sources, business logic, calculations, dependencies, and intended use to support consistency and knowledge sharing.
Support reporting testing and validation associated with Workday releases, system changes, integrations, and business process changes, ensuring data and reporting outcomes remain accurate.
Develop, analyze, and deliver recurring workforce metrics and reporting packages, including quarterly metrics and other HR leadership reporting, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and meaningful interpretation of results.
Monitor and promote data quality and reporting integrity, partnering with HR, Payroll, and technical teams to research and resolve data discrepancies and reporting issues.
Provide reporting guidance, training, and support to HR users, helping users understand available reporting capabilities, interpret report results, and use data appropriately for decision-making.
Serve as a resource for HR staff and leadership on Workday reporting capabilities, including advising on report design, data availability, appropriate use of Workday data, and limitations of reporting outputs.
Identify opportunities to improve, automate, and streamline reporting processes, leveraging Workday, SQL, Excel, Prism, Cognos, and other available technologies.
Monitor, analyze, and validate HR and Payroll data across Workday and related systems, developing and executing audit queries to proactively identify data quality issues, anomalies, and inconsistencies.
Reconcile HR and Payroll data across Workday, integrations, and downstream systems, investigating discrepancies and partnering with functional and technical teams to identify root causes and implement resolutions.
Support data integrity audits, testing, and controls associated with HR systems, integrations, releases, and business process changes, ensuring accurate, complete, and reliable data.
Protect the confidentiality and security of sensitive HR and Payroll data, adhering to University policies and data governance standards while identifying and escalating potential privacy, security, or access concerns.
Develop and deliver training to HR and Payroll users on Workday reporting, data analysis, and related reporting tools and capabilities.
Develop, update, and maintain user guides, training materials, job aids, and other documentation to support effective and consistent use of Workday reporting and analytics.
Develop and maintain a centralized library of standard reports and reporting documentation, including report purpose, data definitions, business logic, and intended use.
Communicate reporting changes, new capabilities, and data insights to HR stakeholders and provide guidance to help users effectively interpret and utilize HR and Payroll data.