Senior Officer, Payroll

University of Ottawa; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 69,000 - 87,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Ottawa is seeking a skilled Payroll Officer to manage and resolve payroll inquiries, ensuring accuracy and compliance with federal and provincial regulations. The role requires meticulous data auditing, effective collaboration with HR partners, and the ability to work within strict deadlines in Workday.

You will handle absence management, overpayment recovery, and time-off accruals, ensuring accurate deductions and timely payroll for a 35-hour work week at the main campus.

Responsibilities

• Process payroll transactions accurately for current, future, and off-cycle pay periods.
• Audit pension adjustments, CPP/EI, payroll earnings, and taxable benefits validations.

Job description

About Human Resources

Our Human Resources team is recognized for its collaboration and service excellence. Through the development of strategic partnerships, our dynamic team supports uOttawa's vision and strategic plan by creating and delivering high-quality, innovative, and client-centered HR programs and services. Our focus is to attract, develop, retain, and inspire a talented, diverse, healthy, and engaged workforce. If you want to be part of an impactful team, work in a rewarding and enriching environment and have an innovative mindset, our HR team is the place where you belong!

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Manager of Payroll and Leaves, the primary purpose of this position is to act as the primary point of contact to manage and resolve payroll, time off, and leave inquiries of varying complexity from university employees and HR partners. Incumbents are required to ensure compliance with federal and provincial law, university policies, collective agreements, and industry best practices. This is achieved by completing detailed transaction analysis, data auditing, and collaborating with stakeholders in various capacities with the intention of supporting the projects, initiatives, and regular activities of the global remuneration sector.

Payroll Processing

Addresses payroll inquiries via formal & informal channels. Uses critical thinking to analyze Workday system functionality, business process execution, and determine corrective actions needed to ensure the accuracy of payroll results for current, future, and off-cycle pay periods. Reviews payroll errors identified during the payroll process and takes immediate action to clarify and make the corrections to rectify the errors that are preventing the pay from being completed. Processes transactions within strict inflexible deadlines for each pay cycle as well as for tasks independent of the payroll processing cycle. Required to manage workload independently completing all assigned to guarantee timely and accurate payment for all employees. Inputs and validates data for T4s. Audits amounts for pension adjustment (PA), government earnings & deductions (CPP/EI), payroll earnings, and taxable benefits validations. Applies corrections to employee files to amend employee tax documents for current and prior tax periods. Responds to faculty questions regarding payroll costing allocations and conducts a thorough analysis of earnings & benefits (deductions) while working closely with faculty to ensure that costs are accurately allocated to the appropriate FDMs.

Payroll Recovery

Analyzes and validates overpayment requests submitted by faculties. Calculates payroll overpayments which occur as of a result of data errors. Communicates with employees to explain payroll and tax implications and administers' an overpayment repayment plan. Monitors ongoing overpayment payroll deductions and updates repayment plans when faced with file changes such as position changes, absences, retroactive adjustments, and departures with the intention of minimizing the financial risk of not recovering full overpayments. Receives overpayment repayment amounts daily via Cheque, E-Transfer, or Cash Payment and processes weekly deposits. Completes required system entries to record the payments, including journal entries, T4 adjustments, and cost allocations to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting for departmental budgets. Responds to inquiries from internal stakeholders through multiple channels, ensuring prompt, clear, and professional communication to enhance service quality and foster trust in HR operations.

Absence Management

Collaborates with Health & Wellness to process Progressive Return to Work plans. Manually calculates Semi-Monthly employee payroll and time off accruals based on the established schedule with the intention of providing a smooth transition for employees returning from leave. Evaluate and processes employee leave requests for approval ensuring data is correct by verifying eligibility based on legislation & university policies. Completes follow-up with employees on their leave accruals and regarding their SUB Plan (top-up), benefits, and pension during leave and updates files to ensure a cohesive experience for employees. Identifies anomalies in employee time off data such as eligibility, accruals, missing policies, missing payouts, and time entry errors to ensure compliance with various l

Salary and Working Hours

Job Type: Employee

Salary Grade: Non-Union Grade NC5 - 35 hrs

Salary Range: $69,393.00 - $86,741.00

Hours per week: 35

Location and Department

Campus: Main Campus

Faculty/Service - Department: Payroll Operations

Application Deadline

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/11/16

Date Posted

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/10/29