Management Analyst, Senior - Payroll

About the role

This position is open to current City of Richmond DPU employees only. The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities is seeking a qualified Management Analyst, Senior to serve as the operational lead for the Department of Public Utilities Payroll Group. The role provides leadership, oversight, and technical expertise to ensure payroll operations are executed accurately, efficiently, and in compliance with all applicable policies and regulations. The candidate will maintain consistent payroll practices, support continuous process improvement, and ensure the integrity of one of the department's most critical administrative functions. This is an essential position, requiring the selected candidate to report to work during emergencies due to inclement weather or natural disasters. The selected candidate is not required to work 24-hour on-call, weekend, or holiday call duty.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage the bi-weekly payroll processing for the Department of Public Utilities.
• Establish direct contact with agency supervisors and managers responsible for approving time.
• Research missing time and unapproved timecards for each pay period.
• Process Payroll Action Forms (PAFs), including shift differentials, vacation payouts, retroactive payments, and overpayments.
• Prepare and submit various payroll and leave reports for management review.
• Train management and supervisors on payroll processes and procedures.
• Work closely with Human Resources and Finance Payroll to ensure accurate and timely payroll processing in compliance with departmental and City policies.
• Supervise Management Analyst, Associate staff responsible for time and attendance functions.
• Oversee payroll validation processes to ensure employees are paid correctly and on time, including verification that retroactive payments have been processed accurately.
• Resolve escalated payroll issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Handle confidential employee information with discretion and professionalism.

Requirements

Minimum Training and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business or public administration, or a field related to the assignment.
• Four years of journey-level professional experience in an area related to the assignment, such as program/project management or management/policy/financial analysis.
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of payroll administration, time and attendance practices, leave management, and payroll compliance.
• Ability to interpret and apply City policies, procedures, and payroll regulations.
• Ability to analyze payroll data, identify discrepancies, and implement corrective action.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with supervisors, employees, Human Resources, and Finance.
• Ability to lead staff, provide training, and support process improvement initiatives.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with a high degree of professionalism.

Skills

Knowledge (some combination of the following):

• Analysis and reporting of data
• Audit practices
• Basic accounting knowledge
• Debt and grant management
• Economic and accounting principles
• Background in department of focus
• EDI processes and guidelines
• Education and training principles
• English language including the meaning and spelling of words, composition, and grammar
• General financial reporting
• Laws, rules, and fines in and around ACH transactions
• Ordinances, government regulations, agency rules, and the legislative process
• Payment systems
• Payroll accounting
• Principles for providing customer service, including meeting quality standards for services and customer satisfaction

Skills (some combination of the following):

• Analyzing complex issues
• Building budgets, expenditures, and revenue forecasts
• Communicating with various internal and external departments
• Drafting and revising documents
• Forecasting
• Managing multiple priorities and deadlines
• Managing program in focus area
• Overseeing financial transactions
• Preparing forecasts, reports, analyses for special projects, etc.
• Supporting various activities in area of focus
• Teaching and instructing individuals and groups
• Oral and written communication

Abilities (some combination of the following):

• Adapt
• Analyze information
• Make decisions
• Multi-task
• Problem solve
• Work in teams

Benefits

The City of Richmond is committed to nurturing talent, fostering growth opportunities, and building strong connections within our workforce. Recent employee benefit enhancements include:

• Virginia Retirement System (VRS)
• Language Incentive
• Referral Bonus
• Tuition Assistance Program

Working Conditions

Environmental Hazards: Working conditions may include exposure to travel to other locations within the City of Richmond as well as outside of the City; exposure to hazardous physical conditions such as mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations, etc.; atmospheric conditions such as fumes, odors, dusts, gases, and poor ventilation; inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards such as disruptive people, imminent danger, and a threatening environment.

Physical Requirements and Working Environment: Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraints. The essential duties of this classification may require the ability to regularly talk, hear, see, and perform repetitive motions; frequently reach and finger; and occasionally climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, stand, push, pull, lift, walk, grasp, and feel. The working conditions may not include environmental hazards. In terms of physical strength, this classification is considered sedentary, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to move objects.