Senior Payroll Analyst

Payroll Senior Analyst

Beehive Industries is dedicated to Powering American Defense by revolutionizing the design, development, and delivery of jet propulsion systems to support the warfighter. Through the integration of additive manufacturing, the company aims to meet the growing and urgent needs for unmanned aerial defense by dramatically improving a jet engine's speed to market, fuel efficiency, and cost.

Founded in 2020, the company is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, with additional facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, Loveland Ohio, and Mount Vernon, Ohio. Beehive is committed to grow and advance the defense industrial base while manufacturing exclusively in the USA. This role will be located at our Centennial, Colorado facility.

Role Overview

The Payroll Senior Analyst serves as the primary owner of payroll operations, timekeeping administration, payroll tax compliance, and related controls across multiple operating locations and remote employees.

This person will work closely with accounting, finance, human resources (HR), engineering and operations to ensure payroll and timekeeping data is accurate, approved, compliant, consistent, and capable of supporting the company's continued growth.

The ideal candidate has experience supporting a manufacturing workforce with a mix of hourly, salaried, exempt, and non-exempt employees. Experience administering Rippling or a comparable integrated HRIS and payroll platform is strongly preferred. Experience administering complex timekeeping processes across multiple integrated systems, including manufacturing labor reporting and project-based labor tracking, is also highly desirable. Experience supporting government contracting labor requirements is also desirable. This role operates in a fast-paced manufacturing and corporate environment and regularly collaborates with employees and leaders across multiple U.S. locations and remote work arrangements. The position may require occasional travel to company facilities and additional availability during payroll processing, quarter-end, year-end, system implementations, or other critical business periods.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Operations and Systems

Own end-to-end payroll operations for all U.S.-based employees across multiple states, operating locations, and remote work arrangements, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant processing of all payroll transactions, including variable compensation, overtime, retroactive adjustments, reimbursements, and other payroll events.

Serve as the primary payroll administrator for the Rippling payroll platform, maintaining payroll configurations, tax settings, and payroll-related data, as well as supporting system testing.

Review payroll calculations, deductions, taxes, garnishments, benefit withholdings, and related payroll inputs for accuracy.

Manage payroll calendars, processing schedules, approval deadlines, year-end activities, and payroll reporting.

Coordinate payroll processing related to employee lifecycle events, including hires, transfers, compensation changes, leaves of absence, and terminations.

Partner with HR, finance, information technology (IT), and external service providers to resolve payroll processing, taxation, configuration, and system issues.

Support payroll system access and data security controls in partnership with HR and IT.

Timekeeping

Administer the company's integrated timekeeping processes across Rippling and related systems, developing expertise in the manufacturing and labor reporting processes that support payroll and cost accounting.

Help establish and maintain consistent practices for recording regular hours, overtime, shift premiums, paid and unpaid time, meal periods, leave, and other pay-related activities.

Partner with operations to improve manager accountability, employee training, and compliance with timekeeping policies and payroll deadlines.

Monitor timecard exceptions, missed punches, unauthorized overtime, manual edits, late approvals, inconsistent time charging, and other recurring issues.

Support the administration of various manufacturing work schedules and shift structures.

Compliance and Tax

Ensure payroll practices comply with applicable federal, state, and local requirements by monitoring regulatory changes and implementing necessary process updates.

Establish, maintain, and close payroll tax accounts with state and local agencies as the company expands into or exits jurisdictions, working closely with HR and Rippling to ensure registrations remain accurate and properly configured in the company's systems.

Serve as the primary company contact for payroll tax agencies investigating notices, resolving issues, and coordinating required filings or corrections.

Manage Forms W-2 and other required payroll-related tax documents.

Develop and maintain effective payroll controls, documentation, reconciliations, audits, and review procedures to ensure payroll accuracy, compliance, and appropriate segregation of duties.

Maintain payroll records, safeguard confidential information, and support internal and external audits.

Collaborate with accounting on payroll-related general ledger activity, labor distribution, reconciliations, and reporting.

Partner with finance and operations to support accurate labor charging and alignment between timekeeping, payroll, project or program labor allocation, and reporting requirements.

Process Improvement and Reporting

Identify and recommend improvements to payroll and timekeeping processes, reporting, and system utilization to support company growth and improve efficiency, accuracy, and internal controls.

Develop recurring payroll metrics and dashboards, including payroll accuracy, timecard completion, late approvals, off-cycle payments, manual adjustments, retroactive corrections, and processing issues.

Investigate recurring payroll and timekeeping issues, identify root causes, and implement sustainable corrective actions.

Support payroll-related system implementations, testing, and other organizational changes affecting payroll.

Maintain documentation for payroll and timekeeping procedures and related key business processes.

Leadership and Partnership

Build effective working relationships with HR, accounting, finance, operations, IT, site leaders, and employees.

Provide clear guidance to managers regarding payroll deadlines, timekeeping responsibilities, pay practices, and required approvals.

Deliver responsive, accurate, and employee-focused payroll support while maintaining appropriate controls.

Perform other related responsibilities as assigned.

Required Qualifications

At least five years of progressive payroll experience, including responsibility for end-to-end payroll processing.

At least two years of payroll leadership, supervisory, or process ownership experience.

Experience administering payroll for a multi-state and geographically dispersed U.S. workforce.

Experience processing payroll for both hourly and salaried employees.

Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll, wage and hour, taxation, withholding, and recordkeeping requirements.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience performing payroll reconciliations, investigations, audits, and process improvements.

Experience administering integrated payroll, HRIS, and timekeeping systems, including payroll configuration, testing, troubleshooting, and issue resolution.

Experience managing multi-state payroll tax registrations, payroll tax notices, unemployment accounts, and related agency correspondence.

Ability to manage confidential information with discretion and sound judgment.

Strong attention to detail and the ability to meet firm payroll deadlines.

Effective written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Direct experience administering payroll through Rippling.

Payroll experience in a manufacturing, aerospace, defense, engineering, or similarly complex operating environment.

Experience administering time and attendance processes and systems.

Experience supporting multiple shifts, shift differentials, overtime, compressed workweeks, weekend schedules, and other manufacturing pay practices.

Experience in a federal government contracting environment.

Understanding of labor charging, job costing, project-based timekeeping, and government contract audit requirements.

Experience supporting Defense Contract Audit Agency audits or similar labor and payroll reviews.

Certified Payroll Professional certification.

Experience supporting payroll system implementations and testing in organizations experiencing acquisitions or rapid growth.

If this sounds like you, please submit an application with your resume. This could be the opportunity you are looking for to expand your skills, contribute to a winning team, and work with talented people who love what they do and take pride in our mission.

In compliance with Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the salary range for this position is $90,000-$118,000 base salary. Please note that wage information is a general guideline only, and we will consider factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, and market conditions when extending an offer.

Beehive Industries offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes group Medical, Dental, Life, and Short and Long-Term disability coverage from day one. We also offer a generous 401(k)