Construction Payroll Lead — Certified & Compliance

Coakley & Williams Construction; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Coakley & Williams Construction in Bethesda, Maryland is seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to oversee biweekly payroll, certified payroll reporting, and benefits reconciliation for project-based work. This hands-on role collaborates with Human Resources, Accounting, and field teams to ensure accurate payroll processing, Davis-Bacon compliance, and precise project costing across multiple contracts.

The successful candidate will own payroll administration, timekeeping data integrity, and wage

Qualifications

• Five+ years of hands-on payroll processing and payroll administration experience.
• Direct experience with certified payroll in construction or project-based environment.
• Working knowledge of Davis-Bacon, prevailing wage, fringe benefits, and construction payroll compliance.
• Experience reconciling employee benefits and carrier invoices.
• Experience with construction job costing, project accounting, payroll systems, HRIS, ERP, and timekeeping platforms.

Responsibilities

• Manage the full biweekly payroll process, including review, reconciliation, approvals, reporting, and issue resolution.
• Prepare and submit certified payroll reports while maintaining compliance with Davis-Bacon, prevailing wage, worker classification, and fringe benefit requirements.
• Review and allocate payroll costs across projects, cost codes, departments, and general ledger accounts.
• Reconcile payroll deductions and employer contributions for medical, dental, vision, retirement, HSA, FSA, and other benefit plans.
• Process and verify payroll changes related to new hires, terminations, plan changes, qualifying life events, and employee status updates.
• Partner with Human Resources and Accounting to resolve payroll, benefits, employee data, and job cost discrepancies quickly.
• Administer payroll, HRIS, ERP, timekeeping, expense reimbursement, corporate card, and vehicle allowance processes.
• Support project accounting as needed, including labor cost review, cost code verification, account reconciliations, and project reporting.

Skills

Payroll processing

Certified payroll

Davis-Bacon compliance

Benefits reconciliation

HRIS/ERP/timekeeping systems

Tools

HRIS/ERP systems

Timekeeping software

Payroll software

Job description

Coakley & Williams Construction in Bethesda, Maryland is seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to oversee biweekly payroll, certified payroll reporting, and benefits reconciliation for project-based work. This hands-on role collaborates with Human Resources, Accounting, and field teams to ensure accurate payroll processing, Davis-Bacon compliance, and precise project costing across multiple contracts.

The successful candidate will own payroll administration, timekeeping data integrity, and wage