Payroll Specialist
confidential
Bryn Mawr, PA
We are partnering with a well-established organization to hire a Payroll Specialist. This role joins a growing, collaborative payroll team and supports the accurate, timely processing of payroll for a large, multi-state employee population.
This team is Excel-driven. While payroll processing knowledge is important, advanced Excel skills are critical—the team relies heavily on Excel to audit payroll data, identify discrepancies, and validate results. Candidates who enjoy digging into data, double-checking their work, and continuously improving processes will thrive here.
Hours: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (flexibility available; overtime required during peak payroll periods)
Hybrid: Onsite Monday–Thursday (remote Fridays)
Note: During the first 90 days, onsite Fridays may be required for training and ramp-up
Hourly Pay: $30–34/hour
Responsibilities
Process weekly and bi-weekly payroll for assigned employee groups in a high-volume, multi-state environment
Audit payroll data extensively using Excel to identify errors, discrepancies, and variances before payroll is finalized
Utilize formulas, pivot tables, and lookups (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP) to reconcile payroll data and validate time, earnings, and deductions
Analyze and verify time entries, payroll adjustments, and corrections to ensure accuracy and compliance
Prepare payroll reconciliations and support general ledger balancing activities
Respond to employee payroll inquiries with professionalism and a strong customer-service mindset
Partner closely with Payroll, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, and HR teams to resolve issues and meet deadlines
- Maintain compliance with federal, state, local, and union payroll regulations
Qualifications
Payroll Experience:
- 3+ years of recent, hands-on payroll processing experience (current payroll professionals strongly preferred)
- Experience processing payroll for 500+ employees; higher volumes preferred
- Multi-state payroll experience strongly preferred
- Union payroll experience strongly preferred
- Experience with an in-house payroll system (Workday Payroll, Lawson, SAP, PeopleSoft, Great Plains, etc.)
- Candidates with only outsourced payroll exposure (ADP/Paychex-only backgrounds) will not be a fit
- Advanced Excel proficiency is essential
- Hands-on experience using:
- Pivot tables
- VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP
- Formulas for auditing, reconciliation, and error-checking
- Ability to clearly explain how Excel is used daily to validate payroll accuracy