Prevailing Wage Specialist

About the role

The Prevailing Wage Specialist independently drives end-to-end PWA compliance for solar O&M contracts under IRS/Treasury guidelines. Leveraging hands-on payroll expertise, the Specialist partners with payroll to guarantee accurate worker classifications, coding, and wage rates each pay cycle. Additionally, they manage client portal submissions, handle subcontractor compliance deliverables, and act as the lead point of contact for project owner audits.

Responsibilities

• Determine which work constitutes covered “construction, alteration, or repair” services under PWA Requirements, in coordination with project owners who define the covered scope of work, and maintain a current matrix of covered projects, activities, and personnel.
• Apply correct contractual prevailing wage rates (inclusive of fringe benefits) from each agreement's rate exhibit to all Laborers and Mechanics performing covered services, including proper worker classification by trade and jurisdiction.
• Ensure every hour worked on a prevailing wage project is coded to the correct project, work classification, and wage rate at the time of payroll entry, so that prevailing wage pay and documentation flow automatically from each payroll run.
• Reconcile actual wages paid against required rates each pay period and before certification, coordinating with payroll to correct discrepancies before they become deficiencies.
• Prepare and deliver complete payroll documentation packages to each project owner monthly, in the contractually specified format, by the contractual deadline — without reminders or escalation.
• Submit certified payroll and compliance documentation through client and project owner portals (e.g., LCPtracker or similar systems); maintain current portal access, project setup, and submission records for every active project.
• Maintain and produce, upon owner request (up to quarterly), the full Prevailing Wage Documentation record: payroll documentation, work logs, invoices, and any additional documentation reasonably requested.
• Maintain organized, audit-ready records supporting the company's and project owners' tax credit compliance positions, with retention consistent with contract and IRS requirements.
• Serve as the primary, responsive point of contact for project owner prevailing wage inquiries, document requests, and audits; maintain professional, proactive communication that protects client relationships.
• Work hand-in-hand with payroll processing each pay period to collect, review, and validate field technician time on covered projects, resolving missing or inaccurate entries directly with technicians and team leads before processing.
• Verify that prevailing wage rates, classifications, and project coding are correctly reflected in each payroll run, and support payroll processing for the multi-state field workforce as needed.
• Serve as a knowledgeable resource for payroll questions related to prevailing wage pay, fringe benefits, and corrections.
• Monitor Treasury, IRS, and Department of Labor guidance affecting PWA requirements; assess impact on active contracts and support contract amendment discussions when new guidance changes the company's obligations.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in prevailing wage, certified payroll, or labor compliance administration (Davis-Bacon and/or IRA Sections 45/48 PWA experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated working knowledge of prevailing wage concepts: wage determinations, worker classifications, fringe benefits, certified payroll formats, and correction/penalty mechanics.
• Hands-on payroll experience, including multi-state payroll and paying an hourly field workforce; sufficient payroll fluency to validate rates, coding, and corrections within each payroll cycle.
• Experience submitting certified payroll and compliance documentation through client or agency portals (e.g., LCPtracker or similar labor compliance systems).
• Proven ability to independently own a recurring compliance calendar and meet hard external deadlines without supervision or reminders.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven track record of being both assertive and empathetic when chasing down deliverables from external partners or subcontractors.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with external clients; experience responding to client document requests or audits.
• Proficiency with payroll systems and Excel; ability to reconcile payroll data against required rates accurately.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in solar, renewable energy, or construction O&M environments with multi-state field workforces.
• Familiarity with IRS Notice 2022-61 and subsequent PWA final regulations, including apprenticeship requirements.
• Experience managing subcontractor compliance programs.
• Multi-state payroll processing experience, including payroll taxes and year-end processing.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or similar credential.