Sr. Pay Process, System & Tax Analyst

Vaco Recruiter Services; Toronto; On-site; CAD 185,976,000 - 213,528,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco/Highspring seeks a Payroll Operations Lead to direct and oversee payroll systems, ensuring accurate processing and compliance. You will coordinate staff, testing, and year-end activities, while liaising with government agencies and unions to meet requirements.

The role requires a PCP designation, 2+ years of payroll analytics/ops experience, and strong data validation skills. This on-site position is based in the Greater Toronto Area with competitive hourly compensation.

Qualifications

• Minimum two years of experience in payroll operations and payroll analytics.
• End-to-end payroll processing experience, including year-end processing (T4/T4A).
• Payroll reconciliations and deductions/remittances administration.
• Experience with ROEs, retro pay, terminations and pay adjustments.
• Strong analytical skills for payroll data and audits; attention to detail.
• PCP designation is required; PLP is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Provide direction and oversight to Pay Services staff on payroll systems and processes.
• Lead payroll testing, updates, and year-end changes; coordinate with HR and Finance.
• Ensure compliance with payroll legislation and collective agreements; liaise with CRA and unions.
• Organize and coordinate system testing and reporting; manage training for staff.
• Oversee multiple pay runs and ensure timely, accurate processing.

Job description

About the Opportunity

• Provide direction, co-ordination, scheduling and oversight to Pay, HR and other staff on the operation of the pay systems and processes. Balance system runs/activities with the available analytical resources and with system capabilities. Assign analysts to perform pay and pay related processing (e.g. production pay runs, pay related runs such as A/P runs for the pension system, tax/T4 processing) and personally perform these activities where assigned or as scheduled.
• Lead temporary teams as assigned by the Manager or Team Leader.
• Ensure training of and provide procedural/ scheduling/work assignment instructions to Pay Services analysts.
• Ensures systems are appropriately updated and in a state of readiness, e.g. for year end table changes, tax changes etc.
• Ensure compliance with pay related legislation and collective agreement requirements for which Pay Services is responsible, e.g. third party and statutory remittances, T4's, OHP Offset, ROE's etc.
• Organize, coordinate and execute Pay Services' system testing or requirements specification.
• Participate in decisions on the operation of the systems and process.
• Represent Pay Services with external and internal contacts, e.g. government agencies, auditors, unions etc.
• Provide direction, co-ordination, scheduling and oversight to Pay, HR and other staff on the operation of the pay systems and processes for which Pay Services is responsible, e.g. pay schedules governing the performance of pay activities across HR offices, Pay Services, NHSS and Finance; statutory/third party remittances (such as EHT, WSIB, HPP, garnishments, union dues/payments); schedules for internal or external audits, coordinating the work of Pay Services staff and the auditors; T4, T4A activities, coordinating activities of the staff involved in Pay Services, Print Shop, Local HR or other areas; and liaising with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Service Canada, unions and other contacts as appropriate to meet requirements or resolve issues.
• Balance system runs/activities with the available analytical resources and with system capabilities.
• Assign analysts to perform pay and pay related processing (e.g. production pay runs, pay related runs such as A/P runs for the pension system, tax/T4 processing) and personally perform these activities where assigned or as scheduled.
• Plan, maintain, update and test the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans.
• Monitor pay production and remain available for the complete pay production process in event of system issues.
• Organize, coordinate and execute Pay Services' system testing or requirements specification, ensuring extensive, sophisticated, critical and high volume testing is completed to exacting standards. Ensure systems are appropriately updated and in a state of readiness, e.g. for year end table changes, tax changes etc.
• Co-ordinate and process multiple bulk uploads both on-cycle or off-cycle (e. g, AIP/Goalsharing, Society AFP, MG pay rate changes, PA's, Tax Credit Indexing) coordinating with Compensation, Local HR , NHSS and handling communications on behalf of the department.
• Provide specific direction to Pay Services Analysts on the running of the pay systems e.g specify, authorize, take direct action or involve the Manager Pay Services to achieve recovery when the computerized pay system encounters problems.
• Assign analysts to perform pay and pay related processing and personally perform these activities where assigned or as scheduled.
• Lead temporary teams as assigned by the Manager or Team Leader. Ensure training of and provide procedural/ scheduling/work assignment instructions to Pay Services analysts.
• Monitor operation of the systems and processes to verify that desired results have been achieved and if necessary initiate further corrective actions.
• Relieve for Team Leader as assigned.
• Interact with other groups such as HR Local, Finance, Power News, internal/external/government auditors, government agencies and external agencies such as Canada Revenue Agency, and the various unions (e.g. for complex system queries or trouble shooting to resolve payment situations, to assist auditors in their investigation, to trouble shoot with HR or NHSS staff etc.).
• Provides specific direction to pay staff across the Corporation on steps to be taken to resolve complex problems in processing pay or correcting error situations, within the scope of Pay Services responsibilities.
• Develop and roll out training materials or develop and implement short training sessions for staff in Pay Services, Local HR offices, or others as assigned.
• Within the scope of Pay Services' responsibilities, provide/arrange for ad hoc information reports and/or file downloads; prepare and input G/L account journal entries.
• Investigate payroll accounting entries within the scope of the departments work and liaise with site controllers/controller staff.[ Perform assigned analytical assignments.

About You

• Minimum two (2) years of experience in payroll operations and payroll analytics, including:
• End-to-end payroll processing (regular and off-cycle runs)
• Year-end processing (e.g., T4/T4A preparation, reconciliation, and amendments)
• Payroll reconciliations (e.g., balancing payroll registers to GL, variance analysis)
• Administration and analysis of deductions and statutory remittances (e.g., CRA remittances, taxable benefits)
• Processing and analysis related to ROEs, retro pay, terminations, and pay adjustments (as applicable)
• Strong analytical skills related to payroll data, including the ability to:
• Analyze payroll trends, identify discrepancies, investigate root causes, and recommend solutions
• Prepare accurate payroll reports and support audits/compliance requirements
• Perform thorough data validation/quality checks with a high attention to detail
• Experience supporting CA implementation (Computer Associates), including payroll-related participation in system configuration/testing, data validation, process documentation, and go-live/post-implementation support
• PCP (Payroll Compliance Practitioner) designation required
• PLP (Payroll Leadership Professional) is an asset

Pay Range

$65 - $74.31 per hour

This position for employment is for a current vacancy with Vaco/Highspring’s client. You must currently reside within the Greater Toronto Area and be permitted to work in Canada to be considered for this opportunity. A recruiter will be in touch with you if your profile meets our client’s requirements for this role.

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco/Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to the individual’s skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, office location and other geographic considerations, as well as other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law in geographies that require salary range disclosure, Vaco/Highspring notes the salary range for the role is noted in this job posting. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, and can participate in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company’s 401(k) retirement plan. Additional disclaimer: Unless otherwise noted in the job description, the position Vaco/Highspring is filing for is occupied. Please note, however, that Vaco/Highspring is regularly asked to provide talent to other organizations. By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. Submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase within Vaco/Highspring will be otherwise assessed by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco/Highspring does not have knowledge of the tools used by its clients in making final hiring decisions and cannot opine on their use of AI products.