Senior Payroll Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Senior Payroll Specialist

ESP Enterprises, Inc. | Houston, Texas, United States (On-site)

Position Summary

The Senior Payroll Specialist owns the accurate and timely processing of ESP Enterprises' payroll for all employees, including a multi-state, project-based field workforce deployed across client engagements nationwide. This role is responsible for full-cycle payroll processing, timekeeping review, employee payroll issue resolution, payroll tax compliance, PTO and benefits deduction reconciliation, reimbursements, retirement-plan payroll activity, and job/client cost coding.

The Senior Payroll Specialist reports to the HR Director and works closely with Accounting, Operations, employees, managers, clients, and third-party payroll providers to ensure every employee is paid accurately and on time, regardless of which state or client project they're working on.

Key Responsibilities

Full-Cycle Payroll Processing

• Own end-to-end processing of weekly, biweekly, and other applicable payroll cycles for ESP's entire employee population.
• Review employee timecards and follow up directly with employees and managers on missing, incomplete, or inaccurate time and approvals.
• Validate regular hours, overtime, double time, holiday pay, allowances, reimbursements, per diem, deductions, and other earnings.
• Process off-cycle payments, corrections, and retroactive pay as needed.

Multi-State & Field Workforce Payroll

• Process payroll accurately for employees working across multiple states and client sites, including a traveling installation and field-technician workforce.
• Apply correct state-specific wage-and-hour rules, including California double time and holiday-worked requirements, prevailing wage, per diem, travel pay, and other project-specific compensation.
• Set up and maintain employee withholding and unemployment tax accounts as ESP's workforce is deployed into new states.

Job Costing & Client/Project Coding

• Maintain accurate payroll coding by client, project, department, division, and work location to support job costing and accurate client billing.
• Partner with Accounting and Operations to ensure labor costs are correctly allocated across concurrent client engagements.
• Flag and resolve coding discrepancies that could affect project profitability or billing accuracy.

Reconciliation & Compliance

• Reconcile PTO balances, payroll deductions, benefit deductions, and other employee payroll records.
• Support 401(k) payroll deductions, remittances, and coordination with plan administrators.
• Own payroll tax filing accuracy and timeliness (e.g., 941, 940, state unemployment) in coordination with any third-party payroll providers.
• Maintain accurate, audit-ready payroll documentation and protect confidential employee compensation, banking, tax, and personal information.

Reporting & Cross-Functional Support

• Prepare payroll reports and supporting documentation for Accounting, HR, management, tax reporting, workers' compensation, and audits.
• Support payroll-related general-ledger reconciliations.
• Maintain payroll system configurations within HR&P / HRP Pro (earning codes, departments, locations, PTO configurations, deductions, employee access).
• Assist with payroll system implementations, conversions, and testing as needed.

Qualifications

Required

• 4-5+ years of hands-on, full-cycle payroll processing experience, including direct ownership of a payroll cycle from timecard to filing.
• Demonstrated multi-state payroll experience, including withholding and unemployment tax setup across jurisdictions.
• Job costing experience — proven ability to code and allocate payroll/labor hours by client, project, or job code for cost tracking and billing accuracy.
• Experience processing payroll for both hourly and salaried employees.
• Working knowledge of overtime, payroll taxation, deductions, PTO, reimbursements, and wage-and-hour requirements.
• Strong Excel, reconciliation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage the full payroll cycle with minimal oversight.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work within strict payroll deadlines.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to handle confidential employee and payroll information appropriately.

Preferred

• Experience with HR&P / HRP Pro, ADP, PayWorks, or comparable payroll/HRIS platforms.
• Experience supporting field, staffing, construction, installation, or project-based employees, including travel pay and per diem administration.
• Experience with certified payroll or prevailing wage requirements.
• Experience personally preparing and filing payroll tax returns (941, 940, state unemployment).

Core Expectations

The Senior Payroll Specialist is expected to independently own payroll accuracy and timeliness for ESP's entire workforce, proactively identify and resolve payroll and job-costing discrepancies, maintain compliance across all states where ESP employees work, and provide responsive, hands-on payroll support to employees and management.

Seniority Level: Senior Employment Type: Full-time Industry: Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage; Ground Passenger Transportation; Staffing and Recruiting

Skills: Full-Cycle Payroll Processing, Multi-State Payroll, Job Costing, ADP Payroll, Timekeeping, Tax Reporting, Payroll Compliance, Construction/Field Payroll, Reconciliation

ESP Enterprises, Inc. is leading provider of resources in the public transportation industry.

Company Description

ESP Enterprises, Inc. is leading provider of resources in the public transportation industry.