Payroll Specialist

Title: Payroll Specialist

Type: Permanent

Location: Manhattan, NY

Schedule: Hybrid

About the Role

Our client is seeking a detail-oriented and analytical Payroll Specialist to join their HR Operations team. This role will play a key part in ensuring employees are paid accurately and on schedule while supporting payroll administration, reporting, compliance, and compensation-related processes across a multi-state workforce.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, comfortable working with confidential information, and able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. Strong hands-on experience with Workday is required. Advanced Excel capabilities, including PivotTables and VLOOKUPs, are also required.

What You'll Be Responsible For

• Support the complete biweekly payroll cycle, ensuring employee pay, deductions, earnings, adjustments, and related transactions are processed accurately and on schedule.
• Maintain and update payroll-related information in Workday, including employee tax elections, garnishments, deductions, and other payroll changes.
• Work with payroll tax processes and related activities.
• Review employee time and attendance information, follow up on discrepancies, and help ensure required approvals are completed before payroll deadlines.
• Assist employees and managers with payroll, timekeeping, tax, compensation, and related questions, providing timely and professional support.
• Coordinate off-cycle payroll activities, including special payments, bonuses, corrections, and other one-time compensation transactions.
• Research and resolve payroll discrepancies and more complex employee pay issues in partnership with the Payroll Manager and other internal stakeholders.
• Help ensure payroll practices comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and company policies.
• Assist with quarterly and year-end payroll activities, including tax filings, reconciliations, reporting, and related documentation.
• Participate in payroll audits by reviewing records, preparing supporting documentation, and responding to auditor requests.
• Perform regular payroll reconciliations and quality-control reviews to identify and correct discrepancies before they impact employees.
• Develop recurring and ad-hoc payroll reports and analyses for HR leadership, management, and other business partners.
• Use Excel extensively to analyze payroll and employee data, including PivotTables, VLOOKUPs, data reconciliation, and reporting.
• Maintain accurate records related to new hire compensation arrangements and other compensation commitments.
• Provide administrative and operational support for equity compensation programs, including employee stock purchase activities and stock award exercises/releases.
• Identify opportunities to streamline payroll processes, strengthen controls, improve data accuracy, and increase operational efficiency.
• Maintain strict confidentiality when handling employee compensation, tax, banking, and other sensitive information.
• Take ownership of additional HR, payroll, compensation, and People Operations projects as business needs evolve.

What We're Looking For

• Prior experience supporting or processing payroll, preferably in a multi-state environment.
• Hands-on Workday experience is required.
• Experience with Workday Payroll is highly preferred and considered a major plus.
• Experience with ADP SmartCompliance or similar payroll tax platforms is preferred.
• Strong understanding of payroll processes, controls, reconciliations, and applicable payroll regulations.
• Advanced Excel skills are required, including PivotTables and VLOOKUPs.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to work effectively with sensitive and confidential employee information.