Senior Payroll Specialist

Position overview:
Reporting to the Payroll Manager, the Senior Payroll Specialist is responsible for complex payroll transactions in compliance with applicable policies, contract requirements, regulations and laws. This position is responsible for payroll reporting to internal and external customers. The Senior Payroll Specialist broadly interprets principles, theories and concepts in the financial area with a working knowledge of related functional areas, using concepts and policies to solve a wide range of difficult problems in imaginative and practical ways. This position has interactions with a variety of individuals, both internal and external to the organization.
Location: Berkeley, CA
Duration: 3.2025 to 9.2025Responsibilities

• Oversee, execute, and monitor payroll transactions, processes, and systems.
• Reconcile biweekly and monthly payrolls to corresponding invoices and to the general ledger.
• Independently research, analyze, and correct irregularities and reconcile items in system output results and reconciliations.  
• Develop and implement solutions to complex payroll problems through in-depth evaluation and analysis.
• Coordinate resolution of sensitive and complicated employee inquiries with Human Resources and payroll system Service Center.
• Manage tickets and act as a liaison between employees and the payroll system Center on escalated issues.
• Utilize computer databases (e.g., PeopleSoft FMS) to obtain and analyze complex financial information, and collaborate with computer programmers to design and develop reports. Prepare reports, including non-standard and ad hoc reports, for internal and external audiences.
• Handle monthly and year-end close payroll activities.
• Coordinate the processing of fringe benefits and imputed income.
• Reconcile quarterly 941 reporting and W-2 year-end reporting.
• Execute system testing for payroll-related applications

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Accounting, Finance, or related field, or equivalent training and experience and a minimum of 3 years related experience.
• Ability to interpret and apply payroll policies and procedures.
• Ability to perform payroll functions including payroll laws and requirements, pay cycle, payroll taxes including foreign national taxation, benefits accounting, garnishments and withholdings, payroll accounting, and payroll best practices.
• Ability to develop and maintain complex financial spreadsheets and databases containing advanced functions and significant experience in utilizing commercial and/or institutional financial tools.  
• Ability to independently research, interpret, analyze, compile, and present data and information.
• Excellent decision making, problem-solving and analytical skills to independently solve complex issues requiring mature judgment, discretion and tact.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively prepare and deliver payroll-related briefings, documentation, reports and financial advice to employees, and/or other external organizations and agencies.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively explain, negotiate, persuade and build consensus among diverse stakeholders; demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with all levels of personnel, both internal and external departments.
• Ability to independently devise new approaches, perform assignments and make decisions with high consequences of error with limited direction from management.
• Intermediate Excel skills including pivot tables, lookup functions and graphs to aid in payroll analysis.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Google applications and Zoom.
• Ability to independently devise new approaches, perform assignments and make decisions with high consequence of error with limited direction from management.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) desired but not required.