Senior North America Payroll Specialist

Senior Payroll Specialist North America

Location: Chennai
Work Mode: Hybrid
Shift: US Eastern Business Hours 6:30 PM 3:30 AM IST; timings may adjust with US Daylight Saving Time

We are looking for an experienced Senior Payroll Specialist to join our in-house North America Payroll team. The role involves managing complex payroll processing, escalations, compliance, payroll systems, audits, and process improvements across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The successful candidate will have strong hands-on experience with US Workday Payroll and Absence Management, high-volume multi-state payroll processing, payroll tax compliance, and corporate payroll operations. The role also involves reviewing payroll transactions, resolving escalations, mentoring junior team members, and supporting payroll system enhancements.

Important: This position supports North American employees from India. It does not involve India payroll processing.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll Operations: Oversee accurate and timely bi-weekly payroll processing across multiple US states, Canada, and Mexico. Independently manage complex and escalated payroll cycles, including Mexico payroll.
• Complex Payroll Transactions: Handle benefits-in-kind processing, overpayment calculations and repayments, and global mobility payroll transactions.
• Workday Payroll & Absence: Execute Workday EIB mass data uploads, troubleshoot payroll calculation and configuration issues, and support system releases, regression testing, and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Employee Support: Resolve complex payroll queries through ServiceNow or similar ticketing systems while meeting established Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Payroll Reporting & Reconciliation: Review payroll reports, investigate variances, reconcile General Ledger accounts, and support balance sheet reconciliations and payroll dashboards.
• Compliance & Audits: Support SOX controls, internal audits, 401(k), ESPP, workers' compensation, equity audits, and annual tax statement reviews, including W-2 and T4 documentation.
• Payroll Tax & Vendor Management: Coordinate with ADP SmartCompliance and CloudPay on tax filings, tax registrations, agency notices, reconciliations, and prior-period tax adjustments.
• Process Improvement: Investigate payroll errors, identify root causes, improve workflows, and maintain payroll policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and knowledge documentation.
• Stakeholder Management: Partner with HR, Total Rewards, Accounting, Global Mobility, and external payroll tax providers to ensure accurate payroll operations.
• Team Leadership: Mentor and train Payroll Specialists, provide technical guidance, review transactional work, and act as a backup to the Payroll Team Lead.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of hands-on payroll processing experience.
• 4+ years of direct Workday experience.
• Mandatory hands-on experience processing US payroll and Absence Management in Workday.
• Practical experience executing Workday EIB data loads, performing release and regression testing, and troubleshooting payroll configuration or calculation issues.
• Strong knowledge of North American payroll operations, including US multi-state payroll, Canada, and Mexico.
• Experience in an in-house or corporate payroll function, with direct ownership of payroll processes and collaboration with internal HR, Accounting, and Total Rewards teams.
• Experience managing complex payroll transactions, escalations, audits, reconciliations, and statutory compliance.
• Experience mentoring, training, or providing technical guidance to junior team members.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and deliver accurate results under tight payroll deadlines.
• Willingness to work the US Eastern shift on an ongoing basis, including daylight saving time adjustments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with ADP SmartCompliance, CloudPay, ServiceNow, or similar payroll and tax platforms.
• Experience managing US payroll tax registrations, tax agency notices, and prior-quarter or prior-year adjustments.
• Knowledge of SOX controls, payroll audits, 401(k), ESPP, W-2, and T4 requirements.
• Experience using automation or AI-enabled tools for payroll reconciliation, reporting, and exception management.
• FPC or CPP payroll certification is an advantage.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on payroll subject-matter expert with strong Workday technical capabilities, experience managing complex North American payroll operations, and a background in an internal corporate payroll team. The candidate should be comfortable owning escalations, supporting compliance and audits, improving payroll processes, and mentoring junior team members.

Mandatory screening criteria: 8+ years of payroll experience, 4+ years of Workday experience, hands-on US Workday Payroll and Absence Management, EIB execution, troubleshooting and testing experience, in-house corporate payroll exposure, and willingness to work the US-aligned night shift.