Payroll Specialist

Job summary

The Payroll Specialist will administer and coordinate complex multi-country payroll operations across the Americas, ensuring accuracy and compliance with statutory requirements. The role involves managing end-to-end payroll cycles, performing audits, and acting as a subject matter expert for payroll systems and vendor management.

Job details

Role As the Propelis Payroll Specialist, your overall responsibility is to administer and coordinate complex multi-country payroll operations across the Americas region, ensuring accuracy, compliance and efficiency. This role reports to the Sr. Payroll Manager. The Payroll Specialist acts as a subject matter expert for assigned Americas payrolls, statutory requirements, payroll controls, complex calculations and vendor management. Working with ADP Celergo/Global View, UKG and local payroll providers in a managed payroll model, the role ensures employees are paid accurately and on time while maintaining the integrity of payroll and workforce data. Manage end-to-end payroll cycles for assigned Americas countries with the main focus on Canada and provide support across the wider Americas payroll portfolio. Key Responsibilities * Manage EORs. * Process, review and approve monthly and off-cycle payrolls using UKG, ADP Celergo and/or other in-country payroll systems within a managed payroll model. * Administer UKG Workforce Management (WFM), including governance of time and attendance data, schedules, absence records, pay rules, exceptions, approvals, interfaces and issue resolution. * Perform detailed payroll audits, including validation of hires, terminations, salary changes, variable pay, overtime, absences, benefits, deductions and retroactive adjustments. * Reconcile payroll reports prior to finalization and ensure accuracy of payroll outputs, statutory deductions, employer costs and net pay. * Ensure compliance with local tax, social security, pension, statutory benefit, employment and reporting requirements across assigned Americas countries. * Act as a primary escalation point for complex payroll queries from employees, HR, Finance, managers and vendors. * Liaise with ADP, UKG and in-country payroll providers to ensure timely payroll processing, SLA adherence, issue resolution and continuous improvement. * Support month-end and year-end payroll activities, including statutory filings, reconciliations, finance reporting, employee documents and audit requirements. * Develop, maintain and review SOPs, payroll calendars, controls documentation and country-specific payroll process maps. * Provide guidance and knowledge sharing to Payroll Specialists and support cross-training within the Global Payroll Team. * Lead or support payroll projects, system implementations, integrations, testing, standardization and process improvement initiatives across Americas. Skills and Abilities * Strong end-to-end payroll expertise, including pre-payroll audits, calculation review, statutory filing, post-payroll reconciliation and issue resolution. * Strong understanding of Canadian, US and Americas payroll regulations, taxation, social security, pensions, statutory benefits and employment-related payroll requirements. * Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex payroll matters clearly and professionally to a wide range of stakeholders. * Previous relevant working experience (5-8 years) in multi-country payroll, preferably across Americas. * Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience navigating global payroll platforms such as ADP Celergo, UKG and WFM systems; hands-on UKG WFM administration experience is required. * High attention to detail and ability to identify variances, reconcile data and improve controls across multiple software platforms. * Strong vendor-management skills and ability to coordinate activities across internal and external stakeholders. * Experience in a fast-paced HR/Payroll environment and ability to manage competing deadlines across multiple jurisdictions. * Team player with the ability to mentor, guide and support colleagues within a regional and global payroll structure. * Role model for Propelis’ values and behaviours. Advantageous * Experience with EOR payroll operations and/or payroll vendor transitions across Americas. * PayrollOrg, CIPP, GPA, NPI or similar payroll association certification. * Additional language capability is advantageous. * Experience with payroll transformation, mergers and acquisitions, new country implementations, system integrations or global programme rollouts. This job description does not form part of the employee’s contract of employment but is provided for guidance. The precise duties and responsibilities of any job may be expected to change over time. Job holders should be consulted over any proposed changes to this job description before implementation. About Propelis: Propelis is a portfolio of global marketing services and technology companies with a combined legacy of 150+ years, 2,000+ clients, 9,000 employees, and operations across 30 countries. Propelis provides the scale and support of a global organization while preserving the unique culture and identity of each company in its portfolio. For more information visit: www.Propelis.com EEO Statement: We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. We offer equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, age, disability or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled. We strive to make our employment website and application process accessible to all users and applicants. In doing so, we provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you have a disability and require a reasonable accommodation or assistance completing the application process, please contact a member of our Human Resource Team. The Ontario pay range for this position is $70,000 CAD to $75,000 CAD annually. Ultimately, in determining pay, we will consider the successful candidate's experience, skills, knowledge, and other job-related factors. We remain committed to ensuring equal opportunity in all aspects of employment, including recruitment. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals, particularly those who may contribute to the further diversification of our organization. If you require any form of accommodation during the recruitment process, please do not hesitate to let us know. Together, we strive to foster an environment where everyone can thrive and be their authentic selves. #LI-VU1 #LI-DNP

What you’ll do

The Payroll Specialist will administer and coordinate complex multi-country payroll operations across the Americas, ensuring accuracy and compliance with statutory requirements. The role involves managing end-to-end payroll cycles, performing audits, and acting as a subject matter expert for payroll systems and vendor management.

Requirements

Candidates must have 5-8 years of experience in multi-country payroll, with strong expertise in Canadian and US payroll regulations. Proficiency in UKG and ADP Celergo systems, along with advanced Microsoft Excel skills, is required for this position.

Listed skills

• Microsoft Excel · Preferred
• Process Improvement · Preferred
• Stakeholder Management · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Payroll administration
• Multi-country payroll
• UKG
• ADP Celergo
• Payroll audits
• Statutory compliance
• Vendor management
• Time and attendance
• Payroll reconciliation
• Canadian payroll regulations
• US payroll regulations
• Microsoft Excel
• Process improvement
• Stakeholder management
• Data integrity
• SOP development
• Process Improvement
• Calculations
• Communication
• Governance
• Operations
• Continuous Improvement Process
• Detail Oriented
• Team Leadership
• Finance
• Support Colleagues
• Auditing
• Vendor Management
• Social Security
• Payroll Systems
• Reconciliation
• Workforce Management
• Filing
• Mergers And Acquisitions
• Payroll Regulations
• Payroll Processing
• Computing Platforms
• Global Marketing
• Process Mapping
• System Implementation
• Certified Information Privacy Professional
• Diversification (Investing)
• Payroll Reporting
• Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

Job areas

• Human Resources
• Finance & Accounting
• Administrative
• Payroll Specialist
• Payroll Specialist (General)
• Payroll Clerks
• Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks