Senior Specialist, Payroll

You will be responsible for:

The Senior Specialist, Payroll owns the day-to-day execution and administration of GHJ’s compensation programs, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and a positive employee experience across payroll and compensation.
 
Payroll and Compensation Administration
• Partner with PuzzleHR to execute accurate and timely processing of bi-weekly payrolls for ~300 employees and weekly payrolls for ~10 people via Dayforce Payroll.
• Manage the full payroll cycle, including pre-processing audits, payroll calculations, preview review, reconciliation, final submission and post-payroll validation.
• Review and validate timekeeping, time-off, earnings, deductions and employee payroll data prior to payroll processing.
• Process employee pay changes, bonuses, commissions, retroactive pay, supplemental payments, deductions, and other payroll adjustments.
• Calculate and process separation pay and off-cycle payments accurately and in accordance with applicable state and federal requirements.
• Maintain employee payroll records, including pay changes, deductions, and direct deposit updates.
• Manage employee PTO/FTO and sick time balances and resolve discrepancies affecting payroll.
• Research and resolve payroll discrepancies and employee inquiries, identifying root causes and implementing appropriate corrections.
• Maintain payroll calendars, procedures, controls and documentation to support consistent and accurate payroll processing.
• Annual compensation market analysis and review, including managing and updating internal compensation structure.
• Manage compensation portion of annual and mid-year performance process.
Vendor Oversight
• Serve as a primary point of contact with PuzzleHR and Dayforce Payroll developing a strong understanding of systems configuration, payroll calculations, taxation and related workflows.
• Troubleshoot payroll issues and partner directly with PuzzleHR and Dayforce support to resolve system or configuration-related problems.
• Partner with Dayforce Tax and PuzzleHR to review and validate employee federal, state, and local tax setup and investigate discrepancies.
• Review and reconcile quarterly and annual payroll tax filings and year-end reporting, including W-2’s and other required payroll reporting.
• Support testing and validation of Dayforce configuration changes, releases and enhancements that impact payroll or payroll taxation.
• Maintain current knowledge of Dayforce Payroll functionality and identify opportunities to improve the firms use of the system.
Compliance Oversight
• Maintain working knowledge of federal, state, and local wage and hour and payroll tax requirements applicable to GHJ’s workforce.
• Monitor payroll practices and associated documentation for compliance and escalate potential risks or issues as appropriate.
• In conjunction with PuzzleHR administer garnishments, levies and other legally required payroll deductions.
• Support annual workers compensation audits and other payroll and compensation related regulatory requirements.
Reporting and Cross-Functional Partnership
• Partner closely with Finance to reconcile payroll registers, payroll funding and payroll related general ledger information.
• Prepare recurring and ad hoc payroll reports and analyze data to identify discrepancies, trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with People Operations and Total Rewards to ensure employee changes and benefits deductions are accurately reflected in payroll.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen payroll processes, controls and system utilization and implement improvements in partnership with the Manager, People Operations & Total Rewards.

What we need from you:

Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to independently reconcile payroll data, identify discrepancies and follow issues through resolution.
Strong payroll judgment and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate unfamiliar issues and determine an appropriate path forward.
Ability to manage competing deadlines and remain steady during time-sensitive payroll cycles.
Clear and approachable communication skills, including the ability to explain payroll and tax- related topics to employees.
High level of discretion when handling confidential employee, payroll and compensation information.
Ability to build effective partnerships across People, Finance and external service providers.
A process-oriented mindset with an interest in improving controls, documentation and system utilization.
A strong service orientation and commitment to providing employees with accurate and reliable payroll experience.
Curiosity and persistence when navigating unfamiliar or complex payroll issues, with a willingness to ask questions, research problems and own them through resolution.

What skills & experience you’ll bring to us:

3-5 years of progressive payroll experience (minimum 1-2 years of Dayforce experience), including hands-on responsibility for independently processing payroll; bachelor’s degree preferred.
Demonstrated experience managing end-to-end payroll processing, including calculations, reconciliations, corrections and post-payroll validation.
Hands-on experience processing payroll in Dayforce is required; experience with Dayforce Payroll configuration and Dayforce Tax strongly preferred.
Experience administering payroll for employees across multiple states and working with federal, state and local payroll tax requirements.
Working knowledge of wage and hour requirements, payroll taxation, garnishments, supplemental wages and year-end payroll reporting.
Experience researching and resolving payroll tax notices and discrepancies.
Experience with quarterly and year-end payroll processes, including reconciliation and Forms W-2.
Experience partnering with Finance on payroll reconciliation and payroll-related general ledger reporting.
Strong analytical skills and demonstrated ability to identify root causes rather than relying solely on vendor escalation.
Experience developing payroll procedures, controls and scalable processes.
Experience working with third-party payroll or tax vendors while maintaining internal ownership and accountability for payroll outcomes.
Excellent organizational, written and verbal communication skills.