Senior Business Product Owner – Payroll & Timekeeping

·Function: People & Culture Technology & Enablement

·Reports to: Director, Business Solutions

·Level: Senior individual contributor (10+ years experience)

·Primary Platform: UKG, Oracle Payroll, Third Party Payroll Interfaces

Role Summary

The Senior Business Product Owner is the functional authority and business owner for payroll and timekeeping technology, with a primary focus on UKG. This role brings deep domain expertise in payroll and timekeeping systems and acts as the bridge between People & Culture, Global Services, and IT to ensure the platform is fully leveraged, well-governed, and continuously improved.

This individual owns the functional roadmap and requirements for UKG and related capabilities. They are expected to challenge assumptions, identify opportunities, and ensure solutions meet business needs — particularly in an environment where UKG is newly implemented and functional documentation and expertise are limited.

This is not an IT role. It is a senior business-facing role that requires strong technical fluency, deep payroll and timekeeping knowledge, and the confidence to work in the weeds with IT while maintaining a business-first perspective.

Key Responsibilities

Business Product Ownership

·Serve as the business product owner for payroll and timekeeping technology, with end-to-end functional accountability.

·Define and maintain the functional vision and roadmap for payroll and timekeeping capabilities.

·Act as the primary decision-maker for business requirements, functional design, and prioritization.

·Ensure payroll and timekeeping solutions support accuracy, compliance, scalability, and employee experience.

UKG Functional Expertise

·Provide deep subject matter expertise on UKG capabilities, configuration options, and best practices.

·Identify gaps between current-state usage and out-of-the-box UKG functionality.

·Bring forward enhancement ideas and optimization opportunities based on prior UKG experience and industry knowledge.

·Guide the organization beyond a lift-and-shift mindset toward a mature, optimized UKG implementation.

Requirements & Solution Design

·Lead development of clear, detailed, and actionable business requirements for payroll and timekeeping initiatives.

·Translate business needs into functional requirements that IT and vendors can design and build against.

·Review solution designs, integrations, and configurations to ensure alignment with payroll and timekeeping realities.

·Proactively identify risks, gaps, and unintended consequences in proposed solutions.

IT Partnership & Governance

·Partner closely with IT teams while maintaining clear business ownership of functional decisions.

·Provide functional context where IT knowledge or documentation is limited.

·Ensure technology solutions are supportable, sustainable, and aligned with business outcomes.

·Reduce dependency on vendor-driven or IT-led functional decision-making.

Stabilization, Documentation & Maturity

·Help establish or rebuild functional documentation, standards, and decision rationale for UKG.

·Create clarity around how the system is configured, why decisions were made, and where opportunities exist.

·Support audit readiness and operational stability by reducing reliance on tribal knowledge.

Collaboration & Leadership

·Partner with payroll operations, timekeeping stakeholders, shared services, enablement, and automation teams.

·Contribute to broader People & Culture technology strategy and portfolio discussions.

Required Qualifications

·10+ years of experience in payroll and/or timekeeping technology from a business or functional perspective.

·Hands-on experience with UKG (Kronos / UKG Workforce Central / UKG Pro / UKG Dimensions).

·Proven experience acting as a business product owner or functional lead for payroll and timekeeping platforms.

·Strong experience writing high-quality business and functional requirements.

·Deep understanding of payroll and timekeeping processes, controls, and risks.

·Demonstrated ability to work effectively with IT while maintaining a business-first mindset.

·Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

·Experience supporting global or multi-country payroll and timekeeping environments.

·Familiarity with integrations between UKG and HRIS, finance, or case management platforms.

·Experience in shared services or large enterprise environments.

What Success Looks Like

·UKG is well-understood, documented, and actively optimized.

·Business requirements are clear, complete, and respected by IT and vendors.

·Reduced design rework and fewer payroll or timekeeping defects.

·Clear decision rights and strong partnership between business and IT.

·Payroll and timekeeping technology operates as a strategic enabler.