Senior Payroll Specialist-Remote

Responsibilities

• Process complex multi-state U.S. and Canadian payrolls while ensuring compliance with all applicable federal, state, provincial, union, prevailing wage, and certified payroll regulations.
• Review payroll transactions for accuracy, including wage calculations, deductions, withholdings, taxes, fringe benefits, and employee changes, and resolve discrepancies promptly.
• Reconcile payroll, tax, and bank accounts on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, identifying risks and proactively addressing issues.
• Maintain compliance with wage and hour regulations, union agreements, and all payroll-related laws and reporting requirements.
• Serve as a central point of coordination for payroll-related initiatives, tracking action items, following up with stakeholders, and driving projects to completion.
• Lead daily prioritization efforts and communications with stakeholders to ensure critical payroll issues, tax matters, and system enhancements are addressed efficiently.
• Partner with internal teams, vendors, and outsourced payroll providers to implement process improvements, system enhancements, and payroll-related updates.
• Generate, analyze, and distribute payroll reports, including year-end data, union fringe reporting, general ledger activity, and other audit or management requests.
• Monitor union and regulatory changes that impact payroll processing and system configuration, and recommend necessary adjustments.
• Maintain accurate payroll records and documentation while protecting the confidentiality of employee and company information.
• Support internal and external audits by preparing documentation, answering inquiries, and recommending process improvements and internal control enhancements.
• Provide organizational leadership and project management support during payroll system implementations, stabilizations, and post-go-live activities, including the Workday environment.
• Contribute to ongoing payroll system clean-up, high-level technical processing, and continuous improvement initiatives driven by company growth.

Requirements

• At least 3 years of multi-state payroll processing experience.
• At least 3 years of union payroll processing and reporting experience.
• At least 3 years of prevailing wage payroll experience.
• At least 3 years of experience with advanced technical payroll work, including intermediate to expert Excel skills such as pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, macros, and the ability to quickly learn new systems.
• At least 1 year of certified payroll reporting experience.
• At least 1 year of hands-on Workday payroll experience.
• Strong knowledge of payroll tax, wage and hour regulations, union rules, and fringe benefits.
• Proficiency in payroll reconciliation, including payroll, tax, and bank accounts.
• Able to perform job costing and related payroll allocations.
• Experience working with union payroll requirements and reporting.
• Solid analytical skills to generate and interpret payroll and general ledger reports.
• Strong organizational and time management skills to manage multiple priorities in a fast-growing environment.
• Clear, professional communication skills for collaborating with internal teams, vendors, and outsourced payroll providers.
• High level of accuracy, attention to detail, and commitment to maintaining confidentiality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field is preferred.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation is preferred.
• Experience with CMiC or similar construction or project-based systems is beneficial.
• Experience with mechanical contracting, construction, or engineering environment is an advantage.
• Experience supporting large-scale payroll system implementations and post-go-live stabilization is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, recommend, and implement payroll process improvements and internal control enhancements.
• Comfort working in a high-growth, fast-paced organization with evolving systems and processes.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with a remote team.

Skills

• Intermediate to expert Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, macros).
• Advanced technical payroll work.
• Union payroll processing and reporting.
• Wage and hour regulations.
• Payroll tax regulations.
• Prevailing wage regulations.
• Workday payroll experience.
• Union rules.
• Fringe benefits.
• Payroll reconciliation.
• Job costing and related payroll allocations.
• Union payroll requirements and reporting.
• Analytical skills.
• Organizational and time management skills.
• Communication skills.
• Attention to detail.
• Confidentiality.

Benefits

• Medical, dental & vision coverage.
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital coverage.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available.
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents).
• Short and long-term disability coverage.
• Health Spending Account (HSA).
• Transportation benefits.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave).

Pay

The pay range for this position is $32.00 - $38.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Schedule

This is a Contract position based out of Saint Paul, MN.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service. The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email astoncarteraccommodation@astoncarter.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.