Senior Payroll Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Paradromics is seeking a hands-on Senior Payroll Specialist to oversee payroll operations and support payroll-related compliance activities. The successful candidate will bring strong payroll expertise, sound judgment, and the flexibility to thrive in a growing organization. Working closely with Finance and the People team, this individual will help ensure employees are paid accurately and on time while strengthening payroll controls, improving processes, and supporting effective management of payroll expenses and cash requirements.

This senior individual-contributor role requires independent ownership of payroll processes and discretion in handling confidential employee and compensation information.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the full payroll cycle in Rippling HRIS for single entity, U.S. based employee team across multiple states.
• Review and validate payroll inputs, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, time records, bonuses, and off-cycle payments.
• Verify benefit deductions, retirement contributions, garnishments, reimbursements, and other payroll adjustments.
• Review payroll registers, investigate discrepancies, and obtain required approvals before submitting payroll.
• Prepare payroll funding summaries and communicate upcoming cash requirements to Finance.
• Process payroll corrections and adjustments in accordance with approval requirements and documentation standards.
• Work with hourly employees and managers to resolve timekeeping issues and support timely submission and approval of timesheets.
• Respond to employee payroll inquiries in a timely, accurate, and professional manner.
• Maintain organized payroll records and a clear audit trail of payroll changes, adjustments, and approvals.
• Partner with the People team to ensure workers’ compensation codes are recorded appropriately and to support annual workers’ compensation audits.
• Maintain accurate employee payroll data in coordination with the People team, including compensation records, work locations, and deduction information.
• Troubleshoot payroll issues and coordinate with Rippling support to resolve system or processing problems.
• Develop and maintain reports that support payroll review, accounting, and management analysis.
• Coordinate payroll tax setup and maintenance for employee work locations, including new state and local tax jurisdictions, as applicable.
• Work with Rippling and relevant advisors to resolve payroll tax notices, filing discrepancies, and tax agency inquiries.
• Review quarterly and annual payroll reports and reconcile them to company records.
• Coordinate year-end payroll activities, including W-2 review, taxable benefit adjustments, and corrections.
• Maintain documentation supporting payroll filings, deductions, adjustments, and employee changes.
• Support payroll-related audits and reviews by preparing records and responding to information requests.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual work, improve data accuracy, and strengthen payroll controls.
• Train designated backup personnel and provide guidance to colleagues responsible for payroll inputs and approvals.

Required Qualifications

• At least seven years of progressively responsible payroll experience, including independent ownership of end-to-end U.S. payroll.
• Experience administering payroll for employees across multiple states.
• Strong working knowledge of payroll taxation, wage-and-hour requirements, deductions, garnishments, and year-end reporting.
• Experience preparing payroll journal entries and reconciling payroll-related general ledger accounts.
• Strong Microsoft Excel and/or Google Sheets skills, including lookup functions, pivot tables, and reconciliation analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot payroll issues, identify root causes, and implement corrective actions.
• Ability to manage recurring deadlines and competing priorities with minimal supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a responsive and service-oriented approach to employee support.
• Sound judgment and discretion when handling confidential employee and compensation information.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across Finance and People functions in a changing, resource-conscious environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation.
• Experience processing payroll in Rippling.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience in a medical device start-up or another research-intensive organization.
• Experience with payroll system implementations, integrations, or migrations.
• Familiarity with departmental and project-based labor allocations.
• Experience supporting financial audits, payroll tax notice resolution, and year-end reporting.
• Familiarity with workers’ compensation codes.
• Experience improving payroll procedures and establishing reliable backup coverage.

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