Senior Payroll Specialist (US Payroll)

Location: Alabang Work setup: ONSITE The Senior Payroll Specialist owns accurate, on-time, compliant payroll for US employees, delivered from our shared services center in the Philippines. You serve as the subject matter expert for multi-state US payroll, resolve complex issues, and mentor junior team members. Key Responsibilities Payroll processing - Run end-to-end US payroll (bi-weekly) for hourly and salaried staff, including off-cycle, bonus, commission, and final pay runs. - Validate time and attendance, new hires, terminations, salary changes, and benefit deductions before each cutoff. - Review pre- and post-payroll registers, investigate variances, and approve results before funding and release. - Meet all cutoffs and pay-date deadlines across time zones. Tax and compliance - Ensure correct federal, state, and local withholding, including multi-state, reciprocity, and work-from-home scenarios. - Prepare and reconcile quarterly and annual filings (Form 941, 940, state unemployment, W-2, W-3), working with the tax vendor. - Apply FLSA, wage-and-hour, overtime, final pay, and state paid-leave rules. - Process garnishments, child support, levies, and other court-ordered withholdings accurately. - Support internal and external audits, including SOX controls where applicable. Reconciliation and reporting - Reconcile payroll to the general ledger, benefit carriers, 401(k) providers, and tax accounts each cycle. - Prepare payroll journal entries and accruals with Finance and Accounting. - Produce regular payroll, headcount, and cost reports for HR and Finance. Service and stakeholder support - Act as Tier 2/3 escalation for US payroll inquiries from employees, HR, and Benefits. - Resolve tickets within SLA through the shared services case management tool. - Coordinate with US HR and Finance, and with the payroll vendor. - Process, controls, and people - Maintain SOPs, process maps, and controls; identify and implement automation and continuous improvement. - Lead payroll testing for system upgrades, tax updates, and annual changes.\ - Support transitions of US payroll into the shared services center. Qualifications and experience - Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field (or equivalent experience). - At least 3 years of hands-on US payroll experience, including multi-state processing - Proven experience in a shared services, BPO, or global business services environment supporting US clients or headquarters. - Strong working knowledge of US payroll tax, wage-and-hour law, garnishments, and year-end reporting. - Experience with at least one major payroll platform Skills and competencies - Technical depth: advanced command of US payroll calculations, taxation, and statutory reporting. - Analytical rigor: spots anomalies in registers, traces root causes, and corrects them before pay release. - Attention to detail and accuracy under tight deadlines. - Clear written and spoken English for US stakeholders; confident in escalations and cross-time-zone calls. - Confidentiality and sound judgment with sensitive employee data. - Ownership mindset, coaching ability, and a continuous-improvement approach. - Advanced Excel skills (lookups, pivot tables, reconciliations). Working conditions - Night shift work required to align to US business hours; occasional weekend or holiday work around peak periods such as year-end. - Hybrid or on-site in a shared services center; secure, clean-desk environment with confidential data handling. - Periodic overtime during year-end, W-2 season, and system cutovers.