Senior Payroll Specialist

Job Details

American University is a student-centered research institution located in Washington, DC, with highly-ranked schools and colleges, internationally-renowned faculty, and a reputation for creating meaningful change in the world. Learn more about American University.

Department: Payroll Operations

Time Type: Full time

Job Type: Regular

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Work Modality: Hybrid 01 (On Campus 3-4 Days/Week)

Union: Excluded

Job Description:

Summary:

The Senior Payroll Specialist supports the Payroll Office by providing auditing and analysis for the production of assigned Biweekly and Monthly payrolls. Additional processing and analysis may include: termination payouts, auditing of off-cycle payments, overtime calculations for employees with multiple positions, calculation of retro impacts and preparation and loading of Workday Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB) files. This position will also act as backup for Payroll Specialists, and Payroll Operations Manager, and Workday Technical Analyst (as assigned). The position will review payroll data to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations and university policies and procedures. Strict adherence to critical deadlines and confidentiality is required. This is an opportunity to gain hands-on Workday HCM payroll, time-tracking, and reporting experience.

This position requires interaction with the HR/Payroll Customer Service teams, HR delivery teams, managers, and employees within their respective areas of assignment across the university.

Essential Functions:

• Works independently to perform auditing steps in the production of assigned Biweekly and Monthly payrolls. Performs daily review of new hires, job changes, address changes, terminations, retro pay events, multistate tax audits, and bonus / one-time payments to proactively identify and remedy any issues before processing on-cycle payrolls.
• Researches and resolves problems concerning faculty, staff, and student employee earnings and deductions. Calculates and analyzes various wages and benefit payments such as period activity pay, separation/termination payouts, retroactive payments, multi-job overtime, short-term disability, and other miscellaneous type payments. Interacts with other departments to prepare precise and punctual payments. Responds to customer inquiries via ServiceNow, email, phone, or in person. Prepares payroll analysis sheets for customers. Monitors and answers customer inquiries from ServiceNow case queue. Prepares and processes EAP loan requests and any other monthly reports that may be required.
• Provides backup for Payroll Operations Manager, running key payroll processes such as on-cycle payroll complete and off-cycle check processing.
• Provides backup for Payroll Operations Manager and Workday Technical Analyst to troubleshoot complex Workday problems.
• Works with Workday Technical Analyst and IT Product Manager to test configuration changes.
• Requires staying abreast of checks that have been held in Payroll Office.

Competencies:

• Serving Customers.
• Prioritizing and Organizing.
• Acquiring and Analyzing Information.
• Supporting Coworkers.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

• Full-time.
• 35 hours/week.
• Non-exempt.
• May sometimes be required to work additional hours to finish time-sensitive payroll processes and reporting.

Salary Range: $32.00 - $38.50 hourly.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in business administration, accounting, or another relevant field.
• 2-4 years of relevant experience
• Excel Skills – Formulas, Lookups

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree.
• Accounting background.

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or automated payroll system is required.
• Must be familiar with payroll processing for Biweekly and Monthly payrolls.
• Critical and analytical thinking, oral and written communications, and customer service skills.
• Knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for payroll, benefit, and audit purposes.
• Knowledge of word processing, and spreadsheet software.
• Must strictly observe confidentiality of information.

Benefits

AU offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn about American University's unique benefit options.