Reports to: Vice President, People & Culture

Department: People & Culture

Status: Exempt/Full-Time

About the Park and the Central Park Conservancy

Central Park is one of the most famous and beloved urban public spaces in the world. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1857, the 843-acre park was the first purpose-built public park in the country and is a National Historic Landmark. The Central Park Conservancy, a private not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1980 to rescue the Park which had fallen into serious disrepair. Since that time, the Conservancy has overseen the investment of approximately $1.6 billion in the restoration of the Park, and now hosts over 40 million visitors a year.

The Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life, enhancing the enjoyment and wellbeing of all. The City of New York has formally entrusted the care of the Park to the Conservancy which is responsible for every aspect of the Park’s care, including landscape maintenance, capital improvements, and the visitor experience. Committed to sharing the best practices in urban park management, the Conservancy also serves as a resource for other NYC parks and for public-private partnerships around the world. The Conservancy employs approximately 400 people and has an operating budget of $120 million.

Overview of Position

We are seeking an experienced Director with strong knowledge of and expertise in Workday specifically in the areas of payroll, timekeeping and human capital management. This role will be a key role on the People & Culture team and will serve as a payroll subject matter expert and partner to finance, benefits, compensation, recruitment as well as the learning and development teams, offering guidance on day-to-day Workday matters. In addition, the role will serve as a strong project manager on various Workday projects. The role will set and drive standard operating procedures and oversee and lead tasks and systems operations that are critical to the People & Culture department and organization.

Summary of Essential Job Functions

Workday Project Management and Payroll Operations

• Serve as the Workday subject matter expert project managing all human capital management functions, including new Workday release cycles, enhancements and system operations.

• Collaborate with Workday support teams, internal People & Culture team and consultants to maintain system accuracy, test system upgrades and implement new features and integrations; provide holistic process improvement to ensure proper integration of information.

• Own the end-to-end payroll lifecycle(one state, biweekly payroll, non-union employees, exempt and non-exempt employees) partnering closely with all teams within the People & Culture Department to ensure efficiency and accuracy of business processes and transactions flagging issues as they arise and helping to identify and resolve problems.

• Oversee all bi-weekly payroll operations for exempt and non-exempt employees, ensuring compliance with federal, state and local wage and hour laws.

• Lead all payroll-related processing activities; process garnishments, benefit deductions, tax withholdings and off-cycle payments using both Workday and ADP Smart Compliance.

• Serve as the internal Workday PATT subject matter expert (payroll, absence and time tracking), advising cross-functional teams on best practices and system capabilities – providing clear guidance and support; work closely and collaboratively with the benefits manager and leave administrator to ensure leaves are performing and calculated as expected; serve as back-up on scheduling functions/transactions.

• Partner with senior leadership to shape payroll policy, compliance strategy and process automation initiatives, aligning payroll operations with overall business goals.

• Serve as Dormakaba back-up.

Internal Control/Auditing

• Maintain strong internal control processes that ensure payroll accuracy, confidentiality and compliance with all applicable laws and organizational policies.

• Audit payroll outputs, year-to-date earnings, tax filings and balance sheets to ensure accuracy and consistency.

• Lead and support initiatives related to Workday upgrades and data audits.

• Ensure timely and compliant payroll tax filings and account maintenance with all relevant federal and state tax agencies.

• Conduct regular reviews of ACH rejects, direct deposit issues and manual payments, ensuring appropriate resolution and documentation.

• Monitor time tracking data to identify risks, such as missing schedules or invalid or excessive punches related to overtime and lead timely remediation efforts.

• Maintain up to date knowledge of changes in wage and tax laws and ERISA compliance.

Customer Service and Collaboration

• Collaborate with the People & Culture team to implement Workday configuration updates, driving enhancements across job structures, organization models, performance processes and benefits cycles.

• Provide training and ongoing support to People & Culture team members to promote system adoption and self-service with an aim to improve user experience.

• Serve as an advisor and escalation point for all payroll-related inquiries, delivering timely and customer-focused resolution to complex issues.

• Build strong partnerships with internal stakeholders, including benefits, recruitment, learning and finance to ensure accurate and consistent employee data.

• Support the benefits team in data integrity and automation of processes related to benefits enrollment and eligibility feeds.

• Protect personally identifiable information; maintain secure file transmission and system access.

• Collaborate with finance team on audits and compliance reporting.

• Drive continuous improvement related to payroll, timekeeping, and employee data workflows.

• Identify opportunities to improve and streamline daily processes through automation or workflow enhancements.

Reporting

• Develop, maintain, and enhance standard and ad-hoc payroll and workforce reports using Workday reporting tools and dashboards for ongoing user needs.

• Ensure data integrity by conducting regular audits and reconciliations between payroll, benefits and collaboration with finance team.

Leadership

• Supervise and mentor the Payroll Manager, supporting professional development and continuous learning.

• Help foster a culture of collaboration and operational excellence within the payroll function.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Organizational Development or related field is strongly preferred

• 10 to 15 years of relevant experience working with and overseeing full-cycle payroll processes in a high-volume environment working with both exempt and non-exempt populations.

• 7 to 10 years of direct experience working with Workday in a payroll and timekeeping capacity is required; 7 to 10 years of direct experience working with human capital management functions within the Workday system is also required.

• Strong skillset in project management.

• Strong expertise in accounting and payroll principles, practices and methods

• Strong MS Excel skills required. Highly proficient in MS Office Suite.

• Strong interpersonal skills; excellent collaboration and communication skills.

• Ability to work well in a team environment.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• Excellent customer service skills.

• Very strong accounting and mathematical acumen.

• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality when handling sensitive information and matters.

• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) strongly preferred.

• Experience with Dormakaba a plus.

Salary range: $139K to $165K (based on level of experience)

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

The Central Park Conservancy’s work is guided by the belief that Central Park, and all public parks, must be managed and actively protected as an inclusive and democratic space for all.

Working closely with our New York City partners, we will always strive towards creating and sustaining a sense of belonging for all visitors and advocating for equitable and accessible public use of the Park.

In service of this belief, we are committed to fostering a workforce and organizational culture that is as diverse as Central Park itself and the dynamic city it serves.

Safety Requirements

Establishment and maintenance of a safe work environment is the shared responsibility of this organization and employees at every level. The Conservancy will make every effort to assure a safe environment and be in compliance with federal, state, and local safety regulations. Employees are expected to obey safety rules and to exercise caution in all their work activities. Accordingly, employees should be aware of any hazards, which could cause an injury or accident (e.g., spills, obstacles in walkways, etc.). If an employee discovers a potential dangerous condition, he/she should alert other employees and notify his/her supervisor immediately.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Workday jobs

Director of People Operations