Associate Global Payroll Specialist - Finance Division

About the role

The Finance Division at Carnegie Mellon University is responsible for providing financial management, enterprise planning and stewardship in support of education, research, and strategic goals of the university. As part of the Controller’s Office Team, the payroll department supports the entire scope of pay operations for CMU, including staff, faculty, and students, across international and domestic multi-state locations.

Responsibilities

• Assist with processing global payrolls, including U.S., U.S. expatriate, and international payrolls (Qatar, Rwanda, Australia), ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timeliness.
• Execute standard and off-cycle payroll runs, including review, validation, and completion of payroll cycles within required deadlines.
• Perform payroll input and adjustment processing (earnings, deductions, benefits, retirement, tuition, and finance-related corrections).
• Support payroll activities such as W-2 processing, garnishments, and non-resident alien treaty documentation.
• Maintain accuracy, urgency, and data integrity across all payroll transactions.
• Support payroll reconciliation activities, including gross-to-net validation, register review, and exception identification.
• Resolve payroll case management tickets by providing timely, accurate, high-quality customer service to employees, HR, and business partners.
• Research and investigate payroll inquiries, discrepancies, and issues using payroll systems and supporting documentation.
• Perform root cause analysis and ensure accurate resolution in alignment with policy and compliance requirements.
• Escalate complex or high-risk issues as appropriate while maintaining ownership through resolution.
• Communicate payroll outcomes, corrections, and status updates clearly and professionally.

Requirements

• Strong commitment to accountability and meeting team objectives, including payroll deadlines and service standards.
• Ability to problem solve and multi-task processes in the context of a multi-tier customer inquiry and issue resolution model, including performing research and analysis, facilitating resolutions to complex payroll inquiries, escalating as needed, and providing high quality customer service.
• Adaptability in response to changing policies, processes, and system enhancements, and actively supports continuous improvement efforts to enhance payroll accuracy, efficiency, and control effectiveness.
• Bachelor’s degree
• 1 to 3 years of Payroll experience
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including VLOOKUPs and PivotTables
• A combination of education and relevant experience from which comparable knowledge is demonstrated may be considered.

Qualifications

• Successful pre-employment background check