Payroll Lead

Payroll Lead

St. Louis, MO, US

The Payroll Lead is a senior-level payroll professional who provides hands-on support across payroll operations and payroll tax. The role partners with the Payroll Operations Manager and Payroll Tax Manager to resolve complex issues, support critical deadlines, strengthen controls, improve processes, and provide coverage across the payroll function.

The role works across payroll operations and payroll tax. Initially, the position will have no direct reports but will provide day-to-day leadership and may assume formal people-leadership responsibilities as organizational needs evolve.

Payroll Operations

• Partner closely with the Payroll Operations Manager to support payroll processing, balancing, approvals, critical deadlines, workload, and business continuity needs.
• Review and validate payroll results and assist with resolving complex payroll discrepancies and associate pay concerns.
• Support complex payroll matters including union payroll, prevailing wage requirements, labor allocations, deductions, retroactive adjustments, and other payroll scenarios.
• Serve as an escalation resource for payroll processing, compliance, and operational issues.
• Provide hands-on and backup payroll processing support during absences, peak periods, year-end, or other business needs.

Payroll Tax and Compliance

The Payroll Lead will develop working knowledge across all areas of payroll tax and provide assistance and backup support as needed.

• Assist with federal, state, and local payroll tax activities, including withholding, tax setup, liabilities, payments, filings, amendments, notices, and reporting.
• Assist in reviewing associate tax setup and resolving complex tax jurisdiction and withholding discrepancies.
• Assist with quarterly and year-end payroll tax reconciliations and wage reporting, including W-2 and other required reporting.
• Assist with researching payroll tax requirements and regulatory changes and implementing necessary process or procedural updates.
• Provide backup support for payroll tax accounts, registrations, agency notices, audits, and related compliance documentation, as directed by the Payroll Tax Manager.

Process Improvement and Controls

• Lead and support continuous improvement efforts across both payroll operations and payroll tax.
• Identify opportunities to improve accuracy, efficiency, controls, consistency, compliance, and service delivery by evaluating recurring issues, control gaps, manual work, and opportunities for standardization.
• Partner with the Payroll Operations Manager and Payroll Tax Manager to prioritize and implement process improvements.
• Lead assigned improvement initiatives through implementation, documentation, training, and follow-up.
• Develop and maintain payroll procedures, controls, checklists, job aids, and training materials.
• Analyze payroll trends and operational data to identify issues and improvement opportunities.

Projects and Business Support

• Represent payroll operations and payroll tax needs on cross-functional projects and organizational initiatives.
• Participate in payroll testing and validation when process or system changes impact payroll calculations, tax results, reporting, or other payroll activities.
• Partner with the Payroll Business Analyst as needed on payroll-related reporting, testing, process changes, and recurring payroll deliverables; develop working knowledge of selected Payroll Business Analyst responsibilities to provide backup support as needed.
• Support internal and external audits through documentation, reconciliations, reports, and analysis.

Team Leadership and Development

• Provide day-to-day leadership, guidance, mentoring, and support to payroll team members.
• Serve as a resource for complex payroll processing and assist with payroll tax and compliance matters as needed.
• Support cross-training and knowledge transfer across payroll operations and payroll tax to strengthen team coverage.
• Help identify critical processes requiring additional backup coverage and support cross-training plans.
• Lead assigned payroll projects, initiatives, and process improvements on behalf of the Payroll Operations Manager, Payroll Tax Manager, or Director of Payroll and Employment Taxes.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, strong controls, and consistent practices across the payroll function.

Necessary Qualifications

• Progressive payroll experience in a high-volume, multi-state payroll environment.
• Significant hands-on experience with both payroll processing and payroll taxation.
• Strong payroll operations experience, including payroll processing, balancing, reconciliations, validations, controls, approvals, and complex issue resolution.
• Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, including withholding, filings, payments, notices, reconciliations, amendments, and year-end reporting.
• Experience supporting multiple legal entities, FEINs, tax jurisdictions, payroll groups, or other complex payroll populations.
• Demonstrated ability to research, analyze, and resolve complex payroll processing, tax, and compliance issues.
• Experience supporting quarterly and year-end payroll activities, W-2 reporting, payroll tax reconciliations, agency notices, audits, registrations, and other compliance requirements.
• Experience leading payroll processes, projects, and process-improvement initiatives, including identifying operational risks, implementing sustainable improvements, and developing procedures, controls, documentation, and cross-training materials.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including data analysis, reconciliations, reporting, and audit support.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, decision-making, and prioritization skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to work effectively with associates, managers, and business partners.
• Demonstrated ability to provide guidance, mentoring, and support to payroll professionals.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive payroll, tax, and associate information.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, preferred.
• Familiarity with Viewpoint Vista and prior construction industry payroll experience preferred.
• Canadian payroll and payroll tax experience preferred.

What We Can Offer You

We are dedicated to the well-being of our associates and are proud to be consistently recognized as a Best Place to Work. Our compensation and benefits package not only supports our associates and their families but benefits local communities and communities around the world.

• Industry-leading performance-based bonus program
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• Traditional and Roth 401k
• Tuition reimbursement for associates
• Scholarship for associates' children up to $28,000 per child
• 1-month paid sabbatical after every five years of employment, plus $5,000 for travel
• 1-week paid volunteer leave each year
• 100% charitable match
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage
• 100% paid 12-week maternity leave

At ARCO, our first core value is to treat people fairly and do the right thing. We are proud to be a drug-free workplace and an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

From recruiting, training, and hiring practices to selecting our subcontractors, we understand that the diversity of all those involved in the construction process enhances our ability to deliver the best solutions to our customers. We hire the best and the brightest from across the country – constructing a team of experts in architecture, design, engineering, project management, and business services.

Make Your Move

We are proud to be one of the fastest-growing, privately-owned companies in America, celebrating over 30 years of experience as design-build experts. We have completed over 7,500 design-build projects nationwide. We ranked #9 on ENR's Design-Build Firms list and #34 on ENR's Top 400 Contractors list of 2026. Most importantly, our clients like us, trust us, and want to do business with us. We are looking for people with the same enthusiasm, passion, and respect for the hard work that brought us to where we are today. Are you a person who can make a difference at ARCO? If the answer is "Yes!" we look forward to meeting you.

ARCO does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies without pre-approval from ARCO's Human Resources team. Pre-approval is required before any external candidate can be submitted. ARCO will not be responsible for fees related to unsolicited