HR Specialist - Pension & Payroll

Red Deer; Red Deer; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Red Deer is seeking an HR Specialist – Pension and Payroll to administer and improve payroll and pension programs. The role focuses on compliance, data integrity, and accurate reporting while interpreting legislation and plan provisions.

You will support audits, year-end reporting, system upgrades, and provide guidance to Payroll, HR, Finance, and management. A post-secondary diploma and payroll certification are preferred, with 5+ years of payroll experience.

Qualifications

• Post-secondary education in payroll or related field.
• Demonstrated payroll and pension experience with knowledge of legislation.
• Experience with audits, compliance, and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert oversight of payroll and pension processes to ensure accuracy, compliance, and consistency.
• Resolve complex payroll and pension issues, discrepancies, and escalations.
• Interpret legislation, policies, collective agreements, and pension plan provisions.
• Monitor compliance and identify risks, control gaps, and process improvement opportunities.
• Oversee reconciliations, financial analysis, and internal controls to support accurate reporting.
• Support audits, year-end reporting, and regulatory inquiries.
• Participate in system upgrades, testing, data integrity reviews, and process improvements.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and provide guidance to Payroll, HR, Finance, management, and external stakeholders.
• Recommend corrective actions, system enhancements, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide occasional backup support for benefits administration and maintain health and safety compliance.

Skills

Payroll expertise

Pension administration

Analytical thinking

Compliance

HRIS & payroll systems

System improvements

Audits & reporting

Communication

Independent judgment

Data analysis

Education

Post-secondary diploma or degree in Payroll

Accounting/Finance background

HR/Business Administration background

Pension/Benefits administration education

Tools

HRIS systems

Payroll software

Microsoft Excel

Financial systems

Job description

The Opportunity

The HR Specialist – Pension and Payroll role provides specialized expertise in the administration, compliance, analysis, and continuous improvement of payroll and pension programs and processes. The position is responsible for reviewing complex payroll and pension matters, ensuring the integrity of payroll and pension data, conducting financial and compliance reconciliations, interpreting legislation and plan provisions, identifying risks, and developing recommendations for management.

The position will work closely with the Total Compensation team and, serve as a subject-matter resource to People Services, Finance, management, employees, and external service providers on complex payroll and pension matters. The Payroll & Pension Specialist exercises independent judgment and provides recommendations to the Payroll Supervisor on matters involving compliance, financial risk, policy interpretation, system functionality, process improvement, and program administration.

Top Key Responsibilities

• Provide expert oversight of payroll and pension processes to ensure accuracy, compliance, and consistency.
• Resolve complex payroll and pension issues, discrepancies, and escalations.
• Interpret legislation, policies, collective agreements, and pension plan provisions.
• Monitor compliance and identify risks, control gaps, and process improvement opportunities.
• Oversee reconciliations, financial analysis, and internal controls to support accurate reporting.
• Support audits, year-end reporting, and regulatory inquiries.
• Participate in system upgrades, testing, data integrity reviews, and process improvements.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and provide guidance to Payroll, HR, Finance, management, and external stakeholders.
• Recommend corrective actions, system enhancements, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide occasional backup support for benefits administration and maintain health and safety compliance.

As our preferred candidate, you will have:

• Post-secondary diploma or degree in Payroll, Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, Pension/Benefits Administration, or a related discipline.
• Professional payroll certification, such as the Payroll Compliance Professional (PCP) designation, is strongly preferred.
• The Payroll Leadership Professional (PLP) designation or equivalent advanced payroll education is considered an asset.
• Pension or benefits administration education, certification, or coursework is considered an asset.
• 5+ years of progressive payroll experience, preferably including significant pension administration or pension program experience.
• Demonstrated experience handling complex payroll and pension matters rather than primarily transactional processing.
• Strong knowledge of payroll legislation, employment standards, taxation, pension requirements, and applicable organizational policies.
• Strong understanding of pension plan provisions and pension administration practices.
• Advanced analytical, reconciliation, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience interpreting legislation, policies, plan provisions, and collective agreement provisions where applicable.
• Strong experience with payroll, HRIS, pension, and financial systems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and data analysis skills.
• Experience participating in system implementations, process improvement, audits, or compliance reviews.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment and provide sound recommendations.

Affiliation

Exempt

Status

Term Full-time

Remuneration

$46.23 to $57.77 per hour

$90,495.23 to $113,084.78 per annum

Hours of Work

75 hours biweekly; Monday to Friday. Some evening and weekend work may be required.

Additional Information

The term of this position is anticipated to be up to two years.

This position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

The City of Red Deer does not permit the use of unauthorized internet resources or Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (for example, Copilot, ChatGPT or any other form of AI) during interviews or any supervised or timed assessments. Any violation may be investigated and result in serious consequences, including the rejection of your application.

We thank you for your application. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.