Payroll analyst

Société Financière Manuvie; Southwestern Ontario; Hybrid; CAD 59,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

Manuvie seeks an experienced Payroll Analyst to support complex Canadian payroll operations for about 13,000 employees across provinces and six legal entities. You will drive accuracy, compliance, and improved controls while partnering with HR, Finance, Tax, Technology, and vendors.

The role emphasizes preventing errors, leading testing, automating processes, and delivering measurable improvements. Strong knowledge of ADP GlobalView or SAP, advanced Excel, and cross-functional collaboration are

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive Canadian payroll experience with increasing levels of responsibility.
• Strong analytical thinking, curiosity, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis skills, including the ability to independently research and solve complex or unfamiliar payroll, tax, and benefits issues.
• Experience with payroll audits, reconciliations, quarterly and year-end activities, adjustments, taxable benefit reporting, and employee year-end reporting.
• Experience developing test scenarios, testing payroll system or configuration changes, validating end-to-end results, documenting defects, and identifying unintended impacts.
• Experience contributing to payroll projects and documenting business requirements, decisions, risks, controls, and test results.
• Experience with ADP GlobalView, SAP, or a similar enterprise payroll system, with strong knowledge of gross-to-net payroll processing, statutory requirements, employer liabilities, funding, general ledger impacts, and payroll accounting reconciliations.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills, including the ability to analyze large data sets, reconcile results, identify exceptions and trends, and explain findings clearly.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently with minimal direction, and collaborate effectively across teams.

Responsibilities

• Independently process, audit, and validate complex, high-volume Canadian payroll accurately and on time across multiple provinces, legal entities, pay groups, and payroll cycles.
• Research and resolve complex payroll, tax, benefits, employee, and vendor issues; investigate discrepancies, identify root causes, evaluate risks and alternatives, and implement sustainable solutions that prevent recurrence.
• Lead complex payroll activities, including executive compensation, equity, bonuses, taxable benefits, disability, leaves, mobile employees, and special payments.
• Lead quarterly and year-end payroll activities, including reconciliations, adjustments, audits, reporting, and amended filings.
• Investigate payroll discrepancies, determine root causes, and recommend sustainable solutions.
• Analyze payroll impacts related to benefits programs, including short and long term disability, paid and unpaid legislated leaves, taxable wages and taxable benefits, imputed income, and year-end reporting.
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities through payroll, benefits, tax, and reporting data.

Skills

Payroll expertise

Analytics

Cross-functional

Excel data analysis

Root cause analysis

Communication skills

Tools

ADP GlobalView

SAP

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Payroll Analyst to support complex Canadian payroll operations for approximately 13,000 employees across all provinces and six legal entities. This role helps deliver accurate and compliant payroll while strengthening controls, reducing risk, improving processes, and enhancing the employee experience.

The successful candidate will bring strong payroll expertise, sound judgment, analytical curiosity, and the ability to work across Payroll, Human Resources, Finance, Benefits, Tax, Technology, vendors, and business teams to solve complex problems.

Top candidates will have a record of preventing errors, identifying root causes, leading testing, improving controls, reducing manual work, and delivering measurable results. The best Payroll Analysts do more than process payroll. They improve it.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Operations, Compliance & Analysis

• Independently process, audit, and validate complex, high-volume Canadian payroll accurately and on time across multiple provinces, legal entities, pay groups, and payroll cycles.
• Research and resolve complex payroll, tax, benefits, employee, and vendor issues; investigate discrepancies, identify root causes, evaluate risks and alternatives, and implement sustainable solutions that prevent recurrence.
• Lead complex payroll activities, including executive compensation, equity, bonuses, taxable benefits, disability, leaves, mobile employees, and special payments.
• Lead quarterly and year-end payroll activities, including reconciliations, adjustments, audits, reporting, and amended filings.
• Investigate payroll discrepancies, determine root causes, and recommend sustainable solutions.
• Analyze payroll impacts related to benefits programs, including short and long term disability, paid and unpaid legislated leaves, taxable wages and taxable benefits, imputed income, and year-end reporting.
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities through payroll, benefits, tax, and reporting data.

Testing, Controls & Continuous Improvement

• Lead structured testing of payroll system, configuration, integration, and process changes, including test planning, edge cases, end-to-end validation, defect documentation, and confirmation of business requirements.
• Identify and implement opportunities to automate, simplify, standardize, and strengthen payroll processes and controls, reducing errors, risk, manual effort, and rework.

Technology & AI Enablement

• troubleshoot payroll system, data, and integration issues in partnership with Technology, Benefits, Finance, Tax, vendors, and other business teams.
• Use approved technology, automation, reporting, and AI tools responsibly to improve payroll analysis, testing, controls, documentation, and delivery while protecting confidential information and validating results.
• Support inbound and outbound payroll-related integrations, including retirement plans, deferred compensation, benefits, withholding, garnishments, tax filings, and workers' compensation reporting.
• Apply sound judgment when using AI by protecting confidential employee information, validating outputs, and ensuring all payroll decisions remain human-reviewed and compliant.

Partnership & Team Impact

• Build strong partnerships with Benefits, Pension, Compensation, Finance, Tax, Technology, and external vendors.
• Communicate complex payroll concepts in clear, business-friendly language.
• Share knowledge, support teammates, and contribute to a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
• Influence positive change through expertise, credibility, and collaboration.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive Canadian payroll experience with increasing levels of responsibility.
• Strong analytical thinking, curiosity, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis skills, including the ability to independently research and solve complex or unfamiliar payroll, tax, and benefits issues.
• Experience with payroll audits, reconciliations, quarterly and year-end activities, adjustments, taxable benefit reporting, and employee year-end reporting.
• Experience developing test scenarios, testing payroll system or configuration changes, validating end-to-end results, documenting defects, and identifying unintended impacts.
• Experience contributing to payroll projects and documenting business requirements, decisions, risks, controls, and test results.
• Experience with ADP GlobalView, SAP, or a similar enterprise payroll system, with strong knowledge of gross-to-net payroll processing, statutory requirements, employer liabilities, funding, general ledger impacts, and payroll accounting reconciliations.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills, including the ability to analyze large data sets, reconcile results, identify exceptions and trends, and explain findings clearly.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently with minimal direction, and collaborate effectively across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Canadian payroll certification or a comparable payroll designation (PLP, PCP)
• Experience supporting payroll operations across multiple countries.
• Experience with cross-border or mobile-employee payroll and benefits programs that affect payroll taxation, disability payments, paid leave, taxable wages, or year-end reporting.
• Experience serving as a lead tester, project contributor, subject matter expert, mentor, or escalation resource for complex payroll work.

When you join our team:

We'll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.

We'll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.

As part of our global team, we'll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

#LI-Hybrid

If you are applying to this role in Massachusetts, please note the salary range is $61,875. - $103,125. USD. Additionally, employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

Le poste annoncé correspond à une vacance existante.

À propos de Manuvie et de John Hancock

La Société Financière Manuvie est un chef de file mondial des services financiers qui aide les gens à prendre leurs décisions plus facilement et à vivre mieux. Pour en apprendre plus à notre sujet, rendez vous à l’adresse www.manuvie.com.

Manuvie est un employeur qui souscrit au principe de l'égalité d’accès à l’emploi

Chez Manulife/John Hancock nous valorisons notre diversité. Nous nous efforçons d’attirer, de perfectionner et de maintenir une main d’oeuvre qui est aussi diversifiée que nos clients, et de favoriser la création d’un milieu de travail inclusif qui met à profit la diversité de nos employés et les compétences de chacun. Nous nous engageons à assurer un recrutement, une fidélisation, une promotion et une rémunération équitables, et nous administrons toutes nos pratiques et tous nos programmes sans discrimination en raison de la race, de l’ascendance, du lieu d’origine, de la couleur, de l’origine ethnique, de la citoyenneté, de la religion ou des convictions religieuses, du genre (y compris grossesse et affection liée à une grossesse), de l’orientation sexuelle, des caractéristiques génétiques, du statut d’ancien combattant, de l’identité de genre, de l’expression de genre, de l’âge, de l’état matrimonial, de la situation de famille, d’une invalidité ou de tout autre motif protégé par la loi applicable.

Nous nous sommes donné comme priorité d’éliminer les obstacles à l’accès égalitaire à l’emploi. C’est pourquoi un représentant des Ressources humaines collaborera avec les candidats qui demandent accommodement raisonnable pendant le recrutement. Tous les renseignements communiqués pendant le processus de demande d'accommodement seront stockés et utilisés conformément aux lois et aux politiques applicables de Manuvie. Pour demander une mesure d’accommodement raisonnable dans le cadre du recrutement, écrivez à [e-mail].

Région de référence du salaire

Waterloo, Ontario

Modalités de travail

Hybride

L’échelle salariale devrait se situer entre

$59,100.00 CAD - $98,500.00 CAD

Les employés ont également la possibilité de participer à des programmes incitatifs et de recevoir une rémunération liée à la performance de l’entreprise et des individus. Le salaire réel variera selon les conditions du marché local, la région géographique et les facteurs propres au poste, tels que les connaissances, les compétences, les qualifications, l’expérience et la formation. Si vous postulez à ce poste en dehors de votre lieu principal, veuillez contacter [e-mail] pour connaître la fourchette salariale applicable à votre région.

• Manuvie offre aux employés admissibles une vaste gamme d’avantages sociaux personnalisables, notamment une assurance soins médicaux, soins dentaires, santé mentale, soins de la vue, invalidité de courte et de longue durée, assurance vie et assurance DMA, assurance adoption, de maternité de substitution et de soins médicaux non urgents ainsi que des programmes d’aide aux employés et leur famille.
• Nous proposons également aux employés admissibles différents régimes d’épargne-retraite (y compris des régimes de rente et un programme international d’actionnariat assortie de cotisations patronales de contrepartie) ainsi que des ressources en matière d’éducation et de conseils financiers.
• Notre généreux programme de congés rémunérés au Canada comprend les jours fériés, les congés annuels, les congés personnels et les congés de maladie, et nous offrons toute la gamme des congés autorisés prévus par la loi.
• Si vous posez votre candidature à ce poste aux États-Unis, veuillez écrire à [e-mail] pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements sur les dispositions relatives aux congés rémunérés spécifiques aux États-Unis.

Nous utilisons des technologies de données et d’analytique, telles que l’intelligence artificielle (IA), ainsi que des outils de traitement automatisé pour analyser et traiter les renseignements que vous nous fournissez ou que des tiers nous transmettent dans le cadre du processus de demande. Pour en savoir plus, veuillez consulter notre énoncé sur la collecte de renseignements personnels.