Lead Payroll Analyst (3+ years) to lead year-end payroll using SAP/ECP Payroll- 42429

S.I. Systems Ltd.; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

S.I. Systems Ltd. is seeking a Lead Payroll Analyst to head the year-end payroll cycle in SAP/ECP Payroll, anchoring a hybrid Scarborough schedule. The role demands 3+ years of leadership in payroll, strong SAP/ECP expertise, and compliance with regulatory standards.

The successful candidate will manage testing, amendments, and year-end tax forms while coordinating with Payroll Operations, Tax, and Finance teams. Extended year-end hours may apply.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, Payroll Manager, Payroll Lead, or equivalent payroll-focused position
• Hands-on experience processing payroll and managing year-end payroll activities within SAP/ECP Payroll
• Advanced Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, Formulas, Data analysis and reconciliation, Reporting, Macros
• Experience planning and executing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities
• SAP/HCM Payroll Certification required

Responsibilities

• Leads year-end payroll in SAP/ECP, including planning, readiness, timelines, and final close
• Executes payroll processing, year-end tax forms, amendments, and reconciliations
• Documents end-to-end year-end process, requirements, and testing scripts
• Gathers and validates business requirements with cross-functional teams
• Plans and runs unit, integration, regression, and parallel testing; signs off before deployment
• Collaborates with transformation and project teams to improve SAP/ECP Payroll efficiency
• Ensures activities comply with Bank policies and regulatory requirements

Skills

SAP/ECP Payroll

Advanced Excel

UAT testing

Payroll processing

SAP/HCM Payroll Certification

Education

SAP/HCM payroll certified

PLP/PCP certifications

Tools

Excel

Job description

Lead Payroll Analyst (3+ years) to lead year-end payroll using SAP/ECP Payroll- 42429

Our banking client is seeking a Lead Payroll Analyst (3+ years) to lead year-end payroll using SAP/ECP Payroll- 42429

Hiring Manager:Payroll Director

Location Address: Hybrid -Scarborough – 3 days/week (Monday, Wednesday as anchor days and subject to change)

Contract Duration:ASAP to 05/31/2027 - approx. 6 months (Strong possibility of extension & possibility of conversion to FTE)

Schedule Hours: 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday; standard 37.5 hrs/week

*Note* Extended hours will be required during year-end processing periods (December/January), including possible evenings and weekends. Candidates must be flexible and comfortable supporting critical payroll deadlines.

Story Behind the Need

Business group:

Global Payroll & Time Solutions Team – Canadian Payroll Operations. This team is responsible for processing employee payroll, managing payroll operations, conducting audits and reconciliations, and ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time. The Canadian Payroll Operations team consists of approximately 20 resources within a broader department of 56 employees, primarily full-time staff.

Project:

This resource will be responsible for leading payroll year-end from start to finish in SAP/ECP Payroll. This includes payroll processing, producing and reconciling year-end tax forms, and processing amendments. The role also documents the full end-to-end year-end process, documents business requirements, and leads testing, including writing and executing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scripts. This role brings certified SAP/ECP Payroll expertise and makes sure year-end is delivered accurately, on time, and in line with regulatory requirements.

Typical Day in Role:

• Leads and drives a customer focused culture throughout their team to deepen client relationships and leverage broader Bank relationships, systems and knowledge
• Leads and runs the full payroll year-end cycle in SAP/ECP Payroll. This includes year-end planning, readiness checklists, timelines, year-to-date and tax balance reconciliation, and final year-end close
• Runs payroll processing in SAP/ECP, including regular and off-cycle payroll runs, payroll postings, validations, and reconciliations. Investigates, analyzes, and resolves payroll system problems
• Produces, validates, and reconciles year-end tax forms (e.g., T4, T4A, RL-1) and electronic filings. Ensures they are accurate and submitted to tax authorities and employees on time
• Processes year-end tax form amendments, cancellations, and reissues, along with prior-year adjustments. Keeps a complete audit trail and reconciles all changes
• Documents the full end-to-end year-end process, including process maps, desktop procedures, roles and responsibilities, key controls, and timelines, so the process is repeatable and ready for audit
• Gathers, documents, and validates business requirements for year-end and payroll changes. Works with Payroll Operations, Tax, Finance, Technology, and vendor partners to make sure requirements are complete and traceable
• Plans and runs testing for year-end, legislative and tax updates, support packs, and system changes. This includes unit, integration, regression, and parallel testing
• Writes User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scripts and test scenarios, runs UAT, logs and tracks defects until they are resolved, and gets business sign-off before deployment
• Works with the Payroll Transformation and ECP project teams to share year-end insights, support knowledge transfer, and make SAP/ECP Payroll more efficient
• Ensures all activities are complete in compliance with the Bank’s policies and procedures, and regulatory requirements

Candidate Value Proposition:

This role offers the opportunity to lead year-end payroll activities supporting a workforce of approximately 50,000 employees within one of Canada's largest financial institutions.

The successful candidate will gain exposure to:

• Large-scale, high-volume payroll operations
• SAP/ECP Payroll processes and transformation initiatives
• Complex payroll year-end processing and tax reporting
• Cross-functional collaboration with Payroll, Finance, Tax, Technology, and Executive stakeholders
• Strategic process improvement and documentation initiatives

Candidate Requirements/Must Have Skills:

• 1) 3+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, Payroll Manager, Payroll Lead, or equivalent payroll-focused position
• 2) Hands-on experience processing payroll and managing year-end payroll activities within SAP/ECP Payroll
• 3) Advanced Excel skills, including: Pivot Tables, Formulas, Data analysis and reconciliation, Reporting, Macros
• 4) Experience planning and executing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities
• 5) SAP/HCM Payroll Certification (required)

Nice-To-Have Skills:

• 1) PLP/PCP certification
• 2) Audit experience
• 3) Technical and process documentation writing experience
• 4) Bilingualism in French

Education:

• SAP/HCM payroll certified – required
• PLP/PCP certifications – nice to have

Best VS. Average Candidate:

Best Candidate

• Extensive experience in a high-volume payroll environment.
• Strong hands-on SAP/ECP Payroll expertise.
• Proven experience leading payroll year-end processing and reconciliations.
• Highly analytical with strong investigative and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable managing complex payroll issues independently.
• Able to ramp up quickly and make an immediate impact in an urgent backfill situation.
• Flexible to work extended hours during critical year-end periods.

Average Candidate

• General payroll processing experience with limited exposure to payroll year-end activities.
• Some SAP payroll experience but limited ownership of reconciliations, amendments, or testing activities.
• Requires additional onboarding and guidance.

Candidate Review & Selection – Interview Process

1-2 Interview Rounds

• Teams Video Interviews
• 45-60 minutes per interview
• Hiring Manager
• Potential additional interview with VP

Lead Payroll Analyst (3+ years) to lead year-end payroll using SAP/ECP Payroll- 42429

Our banking client is seeking a Lead Payroll Analyst (3+ years) to lead year-end payroll using SAP/ECP Payroll- 42429

Hiring Manager:Payroll Director

Location Address: Hybrid -Scarborough – 3 days/week (Monday, Wednesday as anchor days and subject to change)

Contract Duration:ASAP to 05/31/2027 - approx. 6 months (Strong possibility of extension & possibility of conversion to FTE)

Schedule Hours: 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday; standard 37.5 hrs/week

*Note* Extended hours will be required during year-end processing periods (December/January), including possible evenings and weekends. Candidates must be flexible and comfortable supporting critical payroll deadlines.

Story Behind the Need

Business group:

Global Payroll & Time Solutions Team – Canadian Payroll Operations. This team is responsible for processing employee payroll, managing payroll operations, conducting audits and reconciliations, and ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time. The Canadian Payroll Operations team consists of approximately 20 resources within a broader department of 56 employees, primarily full‑time staff.

Project:

This resource will be responsible for leading payroll year-end from start to finish in SAP/ECP Payroll. This includes payroll processing, producing and reconciling year-end tax forms, and processing amendments. The role also documents the full end-to-end year-end process, documents business requirements, and leads testing, including writing and executing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scripts. This role brings certified SAP/ECP Payroll expertise and makes sure year-end is delivered accurately, on time, and in line with regulatory requirements.

Typical Day in Role:

• Leads and drives a customer focused culture throughout their team to deepen client relationships and leverage broader Bank relationships, systems and knowledge
• Leads and runs the full payroll year-end cycle in SAP/ECP Payroll. This includes year-end planning, readiness checklists, timelines, year to date and tax balance reconciliation, and final year-end close
• Runs payroll processing in SAP/ECP, including regular and off‑cycle payroll runs, payroll postings, validations, and reconciliations. Investigates, analyzes, and resolves payroll system problems
• Produces, validates, and reconciles year-end tax forms (e.g., T4, T4A, RL-1) and electronic filings. Ensures they are accurate and submitted to tax authorities and employees on time
• Processes year-end tax form amendments, cancellations, and reissues, along with prior‑year adjustments. Keeps a complete audit trail and reconciles all changes
• Documents the full end-to‑end year-end process, including process maps, desktop procedures, roles and responsibilities, key controls, and timelines, so the process is repeatable and ready for audit
• Gathers, documents, and validates business requirements for year-end and payroll changes. Works with Payroll Operations, Tax, Finance, Technology, and vendor partners to make sure requirements are complete and traceable
• Plans and runs testing for year-end, legislative and tax updates, support packs, and system changes. This includes unit, integration, regression, and parallel testing
• Writes User Acceptance Testing (UAT) scripts and test scenarios, runs UAT, logs and tracks defects until they are resolved, and gets business sign‑off before deployment
• Works with the Payroll Transformation and ECP project teams to share year-end insights, support knowledge transfer, and make SAP/ECP Payroll more efficient
• Ensures all activities are complete in compliance with the Bank’s policies and procedures, and regulatory requirements

Candidate Value Proposition:

This role offers the opportunity to lead year-end payroll activities supporting a workforce of approximately 50,000 employees within one of Canada’s largest financial institutions.

The successful candidate will gain exposure to:

• Large scale high volume payroll operations
• SAP/ECP Payroll processes and transformation initiatives
• Complex payroll year end processing and tax reporting
• Cross functional collaboration with Payroll, Finance, Tax, Technology, and Executive stakeholders
• Strategic process improvement and documentation initiatives

Candidate Requirements/Must Have Skills:

• 1) 3+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, Payroll Manager, Payroll Lead, or equivalent payroll-focused position
• 2) Hands‑on experience processing payroll and managing year‑end payroll activities within SAP/ECP Payroll
• 3) Advanced Excel skills, including: Pivot Tables, Formulas, Data analysis and reconciliation, Reporting, Macros
• 4) Experience planning and executing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities
• 5) SAP/HCM Payroll Certification required

Nice-To-Have Skills:

• 1) PLP/PCP certification
• 2) Audit experience
• 3) Technical and process documentation writing experience
• 4) Bilingualism in French

Education:

• SAP/HCM payroll certified – required
• PLP/PCP certifications – nice to have

Best VS. Average Candidate:

Best Candidate

• Extensive experience in a high‑volume payroll environment.
• Strong hands‑on SAP/ECP Payroll expertise.
• Proven experience leading payroll year‑end processing and reconciliations.
• Highly analytical with strong investigative and problem solving skills.
• Comfortable managing complex payroll issues independently.
• Able to ramp up quickly and make an immediate impact in an urgent backfill situation.
• Flexible to work extended hours during critical year‑end periods.

Average Candidate

• General payroll processing experience with limited exposure to payroll year‑end activities.
• Some SAP payroll experience but limited ownership of reconciliations, amendments, or testing activities.
• Requires additional onboarding and guidance.

Candidate Review & Selection – Interview Process

1-2 Interview Rounds

• Teams Video Interviews
• 45-60 minutes per interview
• Hiring Manager
• Potential additional interview with VP

Disclaimer:

AI may be used in evaluating candidates.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.