Payroll Benefits Specialist

Coda Search│Staffing; New York (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Coda Search│Staffing is seeking a Payroll & Benefits Specialist for a growing consumer brand. The role covers multi-region payroll, benefits administration, and audit-ready reporting across weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly cycles. You will coordinate with providers and internal teams to ensure accurate payroll data and compliant filings.

The ideal candidate has strong payroll experience, benefits knowledge, and a track record of improvements in controls and automation to support scale.

Qualifications

• Payroll experience across multiple regions and pay cycles (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly).
• Strong understanding of local labor, tax, and statutory rules.

Responsibilities

• Run accurate, on-time payroll across multiple regions and pay cycles.
• Administer employee benefits and retirement programs with providers on enrollments and renewals.
• Lead payroll close activities and reconcile accounts for month-end.
• Analyze payroll data to answer audit requests and management inquiries.
• Document payroll estimates and judgments (bonuses, commissions, taxable fringe benefits, final pay).
• Ensure timely payments to staff, government agencies, and benefits providers per policy.
• Write and maintain payroll procedures, policies, and internal controls.
• Coordinate filings and remittances with internal stakeholders and outside providers.
• Act as main contact for payroll audits and reviews (financial statements, retirement plans, insurance, tax inquiries).
• Identify process/system improvements for growth and reduced risk.
• Partner with People team to keep payroll master data accurate across systems.

Job description

Our client is a rapidly growing consumer brand who is looking to add a talented Payroll & Benefits Specialist to their growing team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Run accurate, on-time, compliant payroll across multiple regions, following local labor, tax, and statutory rules for weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly pay cycles.
• Handle the daily administration of employee benefits and retirement programs, working with providers on enrollments, renewals, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead payroll close activities: reconcile payroll accounts, review journals, explain variances, and deliver clean payroll data to the general ledger for month-end.
• Pull and analyze data from payroll, HR, and accounting systems to answer audit requests, employee questions, and management inquiries.
• Calculate and document payroll estimates and judgment areas, such as bonuses, commissions, taxable fringe benefits, final pay, and statutory accruals.
• Support everyday payroll operations by checking input data, resolving questions from employees and vendors, and making sure payments to staff, government agencies, and benefits providers go out by their deadlines and per company policy.
• Write and maintain payroll procedures, policies, and internal controls that are consistent across regions and ready for audit.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders and outside payroll providers to prepare and submit required filings and remittances, including tax withholdings, payroll taxes, social insurance, pension contributions, and other mandatory payments.
• Act as the main contact for payroll-related audits and reviews, including financial statement audits, retirement plan audits, insurance premium audits, and government tax agency inquiries.
• Identify and carry out process and system improvements, such as automation, stronger controls, and better vendor oversight, to support growth and lower risk.
• Partner with the People team to keep employee and payroll master data accurate and aligned across all systems.