Position Title : Director of Payroll & Business Process Transformation

Location: Chevy Chase, MD - Hybrid, three days per week on-site

Compensation: $170,000 - $230,000 /YEAR

Benefits: This position is eligible for Medical, Dental, Vision, and 401(k).

Important Application Notice

This is a highly specialized leadership position requiring a specific combination of business-process transformation, operational ownership, Workday expertise, and hands-on AI implementation. To respect the time of all applicants and the hiring team, please review the required qualifications carefully and apply only if your experience directly aligns with the criteria below.

Candidates whose backgrounds are limited to traditional payroll management, general project management, AI strategy without implementation, or consulting recommendations without execution will not be considered.

Please Only Apply If You Meet These Requirements,

• You have personally led an end-to-end business-process transformation-not simply participated in one or managed the project plan.
• You have owned a critical operational function while simultaneously redesigning it, without disrupting ongoing operations.
• You have meaningful hands-on experience using AI, automation, or AI agents within actual Finance, HR, or payroll workflows.
• You have deep experience with Workday or a comparable enterprise platform and understand workflows, configuration, integrations, and data.
• You have successfully implemented your process designs and remained accountable for the results after launch.
• Have lead a payroll team and ensure accurate, timely payroll while transforming the function.

Position Overview

A prominent mission-driven nonprofit organization is seeking a Director of Business Process Transformation to modernize critical operations across Finance and Human Resources.

This individual will begin with payroll, assuming responsibility for the team and ensuring that every payroll cycle remains accurate, compliant, and timely. At the same time, the Director will evaluate and redesign the payroll function from end to end using Workday, automation, and practical applications of artificial intelligence.

The Director will determine which activities should remain with employees, which should move into Workday, and which can be handled effectively by automation or AI agents. Once the payroll transformation is underway, this person will apply the same methodology across additional Finance and HR functions, including expense management, procurement, accounts payable, onboarding, benefits administration, and compensation.

This is not a traditional payroll leadership role. Running payroll effectively is the foundation of the position-not its entire purpose. The organization needs a hands-on transformation leader who can assess current operations, design the future state, implement the solution, and remain accountable for its long-term performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the payroll team and maintain accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing.
• Ensure strong payroll controls, tax compliance, audit readiness, and operational continuity throughout the transformation.
• Evaluate how payroll currently operates, including undocumented processes, spreadsheets, workarounds, manual interventions, and system limitations.
• Design and implement a future-state payroll operating model.
• Determine which activities should be completed through Workday, automation, AI agents, or employee judgment.
• Identify practical opportunities to use AI for reconciliations, exception management, routine employee inquiries, and other repeatable operational activities.
• Partner with Technology and internal stakeholders to design, build, test, pilot, and implement new solutions.
• Collaborate on Workday configurations, workflows, integrations, and data requirements.
• Determine whether manual processes are necessary or exist because current systems have not been configured effectively.
• Ensure redesigned processes are built into enterprise systems rather than layered onto existing manual workarounds.
• Maintain uninterrupted payroll operations while changes are being designed and implemented.
• Expand the transformation methodology into expenses, procurement, accounts payable, onboarding, benefits, compensation, and other priority areas.
• Establish baseline measurements for processing time, error rates, manual touchpoints, and employee hours.
• Measure and report the operational results of implemented changes.
• Develop a repeatable business-process transformation framework that can be used throughout the organization.
• Lead employees through significant changes to their responsibilities, workflows, and use of technology.
• Build strong working relationships across Finance, Human Resources, Technology, and executive leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Multi-state or multi-entity payroll experience.
• Experience supporting multiple or complex employee populations.
• Hands-on experience with Workday Payroll, Workday HCM, or Workday Financials.
• Management consulting experience focused on Finance, HR, payroll, or operational transformation.
• Experience implementing recommendations after completing the initial assessment and process design.
• Experience building or deploying AI agents within a business process.
• Experience transforming related functions such as accounts payable, expenses, procurement, onboarding, benefits, or compensation.
• Experience establishing operational performance metrics and measuring post-implementation results.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is both an operator and a builder. This person can take ownership of a critical function, keep it running successfully, identify how it actually operates, and rebuild it from the inside.

They understand that the documented process may not reflect the day-to-day reality and know how to uncover the workarounds and manual steps that employees rely upon. They can challenge legacy practices, design processes from first principles, and determine where technology or AI can deliver meaningful value.

Most importantly, this person executes. The organization is not seeking someone who only develops recommendations, promotes AI adoption, or manages a systems implementation timeline. It needs a leader whose designs become lasting operational improvements-and who remains accountable for the results.