SAP Time & Payroll SME - S/4HANA Upgrade (USA)

SAP Time & Payroll SME – S/4HANA Upgrade (USA)

Our client is looking to immediately hire a Payroll Testing Specialist to support the planning and preparation of testing activities. for the USA division.

Project Details
Start Date: June 1, 2026
End Date: 8 to 18 months
Location: Remote or Hybrid 2 days/week in one of the offices
Work Week: 37.5 hours/week

Project Overview
Our Client is undertaking a global Payroll transformation project, upgrading its payroll environment from SAP ECC6 to SAP S/4HANA. Workday serves as the HR system of record. As the project progresses toward the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase, they will begin the recruitment process for payroll testing resources..

Client comments: “Our main focus is to involve internal team members in the project since their deep understanding of payroll is crucial, and we plan to have someone externally backfill their roles in Operations. However, we’re open to exploring what kind of profiles your company can offer and where they might bring the most value to the project as well. We’re looking for team members who can help us develop test scenarios and actively contribute throughout the UAT phase, with a go-live date targeted for Sept/Oct 2027.”

A more detailed job description is below:

About the Opportunity
We are seeking an experienced SAP Time and Payroll testing professional to support a major SAP S/4HANA transformation. This contract opportunity is ideal for someone who has worked in complex project environments and brings hands-on experience leading payroll testing activities, ideally within an SAP S/4HANA upgrade. The primary focus of this role is payroll for the United States, including validation of end-to-end payroll processes, accurate pay outcomes, and compliance with US legislative and business requirements. You will help the business prepare for go-live and early life support by leading business-led payroll User Acceptance Testing (UAT), developing and executing test scenarios, investigating defects, and working closely with project, payroll, and system teams to drive issue resolution across the testing lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute payroll test scenarios and scripts to validate business requirements across the hire-to-retire lifecycle, including hires, job changes, allowances, deductions, time, tax, terminations, overpayments, and post-payroll activities
• Prepare, validate, and maintain accurate payroll test data to support agreed payroll scenarios
• Execute payroll User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for payroll in the United States in line with approved test plans, business processes, and legislative obligations
• Execute payroll simulations and validate results, including gross-to-net calculations, tax, and financial postings
• Validate payroll outputs, including payslips, reports, and payroll alerts, to ensure accuracy, completeness, and business readiness
• Investigate payroll, configuration, and integration issues when test outcomes do not align with expected results, working closely with payroll, system, and integration teams
• Identify, document, and manage payroll defects, including evidence, impact assessment, prioritisation, and retesting of fixes in line with the defect resolution process
• Escalate high-impact payroll risks and issues that may affect pay accuracy, compliance, or go-live readiness
• Provide assurance and evidence to support payroll business sign-off and readiness decisions
• Collaborate with payroll SMEs, system teams, and test leads to clarify scenarios, resolve issues and progress testing activities
• Track testing progress and provide regular updates on status, risks, issues, and dependencies.
• Update payroll and supporting process documentation to reflect S/4HANA design and post? UAT outcomes, supporting training and BAU readiness
• Support the hypercare operating model, including issue triage, escalation, and early life payroll cycles post go-live

• Strong SAP Time and Payroll experience, ideally gained through SAP S/4HANA upgrade projects in a structured project delivery environment
• Strong understanding of end-to-end payroll processes for the United States, including federal, state, and local payroll requirements
• Experience working with payroll systems and integrated HR platforms
• Experience with US payroll legislative requirements, including statutory deductions, tax withholding, garnishments, year-end processing, and related payroll controls, is strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience in payroll testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and/or parallel payroll runs, ideally within SAP S/4HANA upgrades or major payroll transformation programs
• Experience across multi-country or regional Time and Payroll environments
• Strong attention to detail and analytical capability to validate payroll calculations, data, and outcomes with accuracy
• Ability to interpret payslips, payroll reports, and payroll-related data with a high degree of accuracy
• Ability to assess payroll risk and impacts to pay accuracy, compliance, and employee experience across testing and go-live activities
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, particularly for defect logging, documentation, and status reporting
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced project environment and deliver to agreed timelines
• Strong problem-solving capability, with a proactive and structured approach to issue investigation and resolution
• Flexibility to support a global project team, including availability for occasional early morning or evening meetings to accommodate multiple time zones

Safety Expectations

• Be a safety ambassador in the workplace through influence and behaviour

• Participate in office safety meetings and contribute to a strong safety culture