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Workday Architect - Payroll

Abbott · Abbott Park, IL · $99,300–$198,700 a year · Full time

Posted Jan 6, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a time you pushed back on a business request because it would make payroll harder to maintain.

What they are checking: Whether they protect long-term system health while still finding a way to meet the business need.

Describe a time you guided a team of analysts or a partner through a complex design decision.

What they are checking: Whether they lead as an architect, explaining tradeoffs so others can build and support the design.

What would you do

A parallel run shows differences between the legacy system and Workday for a group of employees. How do you work through it?

What they are checking: Whether they can reconcile methodically and tell real defects from expected design changes.

A payroll calculation error is found the day before pay is released. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they can weigh fixing now against an off-cycle correction and communicate the risk clearly.

About the work

Walk me through the design of a Workday Payroll setup you owned, from pay groups to earnings and deductions.

What they are checking: Whether they have architected payroll in Workday rather than only configured pieces someone else designed.

How do you design payroll integrations so time, benefits and tax data arrive clean and on time?

What they are checking: Whether they think about inbound and outbound integrations, error handling and timing around pay cutoffs.

Workday releases a semiannual update that touches payroll. How do you plan testing?

What they are checking: Whether they run regression testing with real pay scenarios so updates do not break paychecks.

How do you handle multi-state taxes and changes in tax rules in Workday?

What they are checking: Whether they know where tax setup lives and how to stay current without manual workarounds.

How do you design security for payroll data in Workday?

What they are checking: Whether they apply least-privilege access to sensitive pay data and can explain the security group model.

How do you document a payroll design so the next person can support it?

What they are checking: Whether they leave clear design records, since undocumented payroll logic becomes a long-term risk.

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The full job description

As published by Abbott.

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 114,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. JOB DESCRIPTION: Working at Abbott At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You’ll also have access to: • Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of. • Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year. • An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution • Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree. • A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune. • A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists. The Opportunity This position works out of our Abbott Park, IL location within the CHR Corporate Human Resources Division. The Workday Architect will be a member of the Abbott HRTS group supporting US Payroll. Payroll Architect will lead the design, governance, and continuous improvement of Workday Payroll. This role will own end-to-end payroll architecture, ensuring scalable configuration, robust integrations, audit-ready compliance, and a frictionless employee experience across pay cycles. You will be the technical thought leader driving payroll modernization, operational reliability, and strategic roadmap delivery. What You’ll Work On • Lead HRTS Projects, providing expertise to associate architects and ensuring projects are delivered on time and are documented appropriately. • Own the Workday Payroll architecture across configuration, integrations, reporting, security, and data governance. • Design scalable solutions for gross-to-net processing, taxation, garnishments, pretax/post-tax deductions, retro and off-cycle payrolls, bonus/commission, and year-end activities. • Work with Sr. Architects to identify innovative opportunities to enhance our customers’ experience. • Serve as a primary resource for associate architects and other functional leads to review proof of concept and/or new ways to deliver system data. • Architects have a responsibility to ensure cross-HRTS alignment on priority initiatives. • Architects work with the clients within their vertical or across verticals. They are responsible for helping to define the scope of projects and managing the timelines for any project their team is associated with. They gather requirements and make recommendations to meet our client's needs within the parameters of our systems. • Architects document processes and seek approvals to have them routed for signature. • Architects may have Associate Architects and contract workers who will report to them within their vertical. They may work on independent projects; however, the Architect will be responsible for ensuring that their team is working within the guidelines of the project. Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s Degree required. Master’s Degree preferred. • Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Information Technology Management, Business Administration or in a highly related field of study • 7-10 years of experience in Technology required. • 4 or more years of Workday experience required. • HR Information System background and cloud-based HR systems background preferred. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with Workday modules – US Payroll required. • Experience with Workday modules – time tracking and Absence is preferred • Workday certification/training for US Payroll is a plus. • Deep knowledge of U.S. payroll tax, multi-state compliance, garnishments, benefit taxation, and year-end processing. • Experience with payroll accounting and reconciliation with Finance/GL. • Excellent communication skills. Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives: www.abbottbenefits.com Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity. Connect with us at www.abbott.com , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal The base pay for this position is $99,300.00 – $198,700.00 In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted. JOB FAMILY: IT Services & Solutions Delivery DIVISION: CHR Corporate Human Resources LOCATION: United States > Abbott Park : AP06B ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS: WORK SHIFT: Standard TRAVEL: No MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE: No SIGNIFICANT WORK ACTIVITIES: Continuous sitting for prolonged periods (more than 2 consecutive hours in an 8 hour day), Keyboard use (greater or equal to 50% of the workday) Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities/Women/Individuals with Disabilities/Protected Veterans. EEO is the Law link - English: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_English.pdf EEO is the Law link - Espanol: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_Spanish.pdf

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