Workday Product Owner – Payroll, Time and Absence

RaceTrac•Atlanta, GA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This is not a traditional product role. As the Workday Payroll, Time & Absence Product Owner, you will architect the strategic roadmap for our Payroll technology ecosystem. You will play a pivotal role in harmonizing business processes, payroll workflows, and data architecture to drive informed decision-making and elevate the employee experience. Serving as the executive-facing product leader for Payroll, Time & Absence systems, you will sit within HR while operating at the intersection of strategy, technology, and operations. You will own the roadmap end-to-end, influence HR priorities, and help lead delivery within a scaled Agile environment. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on ownership, brings a strong point of view, and wants to leave a lasting impact on how a growing organization leverages Workday.

Requirements

Proven experience owning and driving product strategy in a complex, cross-functional environment
Deep expertise in Payroll, Time & Absence and supporting technologies
Strong experience with Workday (highly preferred) or similar Payroll platforms
Demonstrated success operating within Agile frameworks at scale (SAFe or similar)
Ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate business strategy into technology outcomes
Analytical mindset with a track record of using data to drive decisions and outcomes
Bachelor’s degree or certifications preferred
7+ years of experience in product ownership, HR technology, or related roles
Experience leading enterprise-level initiatives from concept through delivery and optimization preferred
Familiarity with compensation cycles, merit and bonus processes, and benefits enrollment systems.
Understanding compensation structures, merit and bonus cycles, and benefits administration.
Knowledge of compliance requirements (ACA, FLSA, ERISA) and benefits vendor integrations.
Deep understanding of talent acquisition processes, onboarding, learning & development, performance management, succession planning, and employee data management.
Experience supporting applicant tracking systems (ATS), learning management systems (LMS), and career/talent frameworks.
Strong understanding of payroll operations, time tracking, scheduling, and compliance with labor laws (FLSA, FMLA, state-level requirements).
Familiarity with hourly workforce management systems and integrations to payroll providers.

Responsibilities

Own the Strategy: Collaborate with multiple stakeholders to evolve the multi-year vision, strategy, and roadmap for Payroll, Time & Absence technology.
Partner with senior HR and business leaders to align product direction with HR priorities and growth goals.
Serve as the voice of the business, influencing decisions across HR, IT, Finance, and external partners.
Establish and track KPIs to measure product success, adoption, and business impact.
Lead Product Execution: Own and prioritize a complex product backlog, balancing strategic initiatives, regulatory needs, and operational improvements.
Lead engagement within the Agile Release Train (ART), including PI planning, sprint execution, and release alignment.
Translate high-level business needs into clear, actionable user stories and scalable solutions.
Ensure high-quality delivery through rigorous testing, validation, and continuous improvement.
Drive Integration & Optimization: Oversee the ecosystem of integrations across Workday, payroll, finance, and third-party benefits providers.
Continuously evaluate system performance, data integrity, and user experience to identify opportunities for optimization.
Champion automation, simplification, and innovation across Payroll, Time & Absence processes.
Elevate the Employee Experience & Governance: Collaborate with the IT team to design solutions that improve the end-to-end employee journey.
Ensure system compliance with regulatory requirements while minimizing operational friction.
Proactively identify risks and implement scalable governance and controls.
Serve as the primary HR representative within the Agile Release Train (ART), ensuring HR’s voice and needs are incorporated into planning and delivery.
Leads the agile team’s priorities and updates in daily standups, sprint planning, and other agile ceremonies; working in collaboration with HR stakeholders, user experience design, & a variety of technology partners.
Define and maintain the HR product vision for their focus area, roadmap, and backlog, aligning with HR strategy and business priorities.
Partner with HR leadership, business stakeholders, and IT release train teams to prioritize enhancements, bug fixes, and new functionality.
Develops deep understanding of the target user, the end-to-end customer experience, the product vision, and success criteria for the product portfolio.
Partners with HR stakeholders to understand and influence product strategy and roadmaps, aggregate and conceive ideas for enhancing product performance and achieving product success/KPIs.
Backlog & Agile Delivery: Translate HR business requirements into user stories, acceptance criteria, and features for development teams.
Prioritize backlog items based on business value, compliance requirements, and employee experience impact.
Participate in PI (Program Increment) Planning, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives, ensuring continuous alignment between HR and the release train.
Validate solutions before release, ensuring quality, compliance, and usability.
Leads Agile backlog grooming sessions by presenting upcoming features to our development team.
Partners with solution architects and other technical leads to ensure their solutions effectively address HR’s product and program priorities.
Collaborates with IT and business stakeholders to lead requirements gathering, determine features, and write user stories for HRIS products that include acceptance criteria and acceptance tests.
Participate in team demo with the primary responsibility of reviewing and business acceptance.
Builds and maintains a prioritized product backlog, with input from HR managers, HRIS, and other business stakeholders.
Can effectively communicate prioritization decisions and the agile process to various teams.
Spokesperson of business strategy to our development teams.
Highly available to technical team during development sprints in order to answer real-time questions and provide clarity to user stories or remove roadblocks.
Partners with scrum teams on rollout and post-production support.
Reviews analysis and performance monitoring for specified products.
Supports problem resolution, resolves issues and acts on feedback and usage of in-life products.
Contributes to product collateral and monitors results and feedback from product launches.
Stakeholder Management: Act as the liaison between HR and IT, translating technical concepts into HR-friendly language and vice versa.
Facilitate regular feedback sessions with HR stakeholders to capture evolving needs.
Provide status updates, release notes, and change impacts to HR teams and business leaders.
Governance, Compliance, and Data: Ensure HRIS solutions meet data governance, compliance, and security requirements.
Collaborate with HR operations and compliance teams to ensure changes align with regulatory requirements.
Monitor adoption and system usage, using metrics and analytics to drive continuous improvement.
Focus Area: The HR Product Owner may be aligned to one of the following HR focus areas. While core product ownership responsibilities remain consistent, each area requires specialized knowledge and focus: Total Rewards Responsibilities: Partner with Rewards leaders to optimize system support for compensation planning, pay equity analysis, and benefits administration.
Ensure integrations with payroll, finance, and third-party benefits vendors are accurate and seamless.
Manage system configurations to support annual compensation cycles and open enrollment.
Talent & Employee Lifecycle Responsibilities: Collaborate with Talent Acquisition and Talent Management leaders to improve hiring workflows, onboarding, and career development systems.
Partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure third-party recruiting vendor integration with RaceTrac HRIS.
Enhance performance management, succession planning, and learning system functionality to support growth and retention strategies.
Ensure smooth data transitions across the full employee lifecycle (from hire to exit).
Pay, Time & Attendance Responsibilities: Partner with Payroll and HR Operations to optimize pay processes, accruals, overtime, and compliance rules within the system.
Support accurate and efficient scheduling, attendance tracking, and labor reporting.
Ensure system capabilities align with complex workforce needs, including retail, food service, and transportation employees.