Payroll Specialist - HR Generalist I

Golden Key Group; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Golden Key Group in Washington, DC seeks a Payroll Specialist - HR Generalist I to manage a range of payroll actions using EmpowHR and SPPS, ensuring accuracy across pay, leave, and benefits.

The role requires handling complex T&A coding, coordinating with HR and legal counsel, and providing guidance to timekeepers on entitlements such as AUO, COLAs, and FLSA premiums. A Public Trust clearance is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR Management or related field.
• Two+ years of specialized federal payroll experience with NFC, webTA, and EmpowHR.
• Experience processing manual payroll calculations and complex pay actions.

Responsibilities

• Oversee data input from rejected T&A, missing T&A, and missing personnel actions; follow up on errors to resolve discrepancies within timeframes.
• Monitor webTA and ELS for submission errors, unauthorized overrides, and patterns of non-compliance; escalate systemic issues with findings and recommendations.
• Provide technical guidance and training to timekeepers on T&A coding for complex entitlements (AUO, COLAs, FLSA premium pay, credit hours, leave categories).
• Review, analyze, and interpret payroll requests for accuracy and regulatory compliance; return incomplete items with guidance.
• Notify affected employees of salary offsets or garnishments; document explanations of withholding and employee rights.
• Coordinate with HR management and legal counsel on ambiguous garnishment orders or jurisdictional questions.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management or related field

Tools

NFC

webTA

EmpowHR

Job description

Payroll Specialist - HR Generalist I

ID: 2026-3412

Category: Human Resources

Type: Full Time

Clearance: Current Public Trust

Location: US-DC-Washington, D.C.

About GKG

With a passion for excellence, Golden Key Group (GKG) helps clients solve their strategic, organizational, and operational challenges to better meet their mission demands. We have serviced more than 25 Federal departments and agencies and several large commercial companies since our inception in 2002.

Golden Key Group's talented professionals, combined with our strategic partners, bring a depth of commercial and government experience and expertise. We are relentless in delivering the highest levels of services to provide tangible value and create sustainable results for our clients.

Overview

Serves as a technical processor for a wide range of standard and non-standard payroll actions, exercising independent judgment on complex transactions that may involve multiple pay systems, retroactive adjustments, or cascading implications across employee pay, leave, and benefits.

Processes and calculates manual payroll actions using EmpowHR and Standardized Payroll Processing System (SPPS) including but not limited to new hires, separations, transfers between pay systems, within-grade increases, and special pay adjustments.

Exercises oversight responsibility for T&A data integrity across assigned organizational units, ensuring timely, complete, and accurate submission and serving as a technical resource for timekeepers on complex coding situations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee data input from rejected T&A, missing T&A, and missing personnel actions; conducts follow-up on error listings and computer-generated edits from NFC to ensure all discrepancies are identified and resolved within established timeframes.
• Monitors webTA and Employee Leave Statement (ELS) systems for submission errors, unauthorized overrides, and patterns of non-compliance; escalates systemic issues to HR management with documented findings and recommended corrective actions.
• Provides technical guidance and training to timekeepers on proper T&A coding for complex pay entitlements, including post differential, Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO), Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) premium pay, compensatory time, credit hours, and a full range of leave categories.
• Reviews, analyzes, and interprets incoming payroll requests to verify accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable regulations before processing; returns incomplete or erroneous requests with clear written guidance.
• Notifies affected employees of salary offsets, garnishment initiation, modifications, or terminations; provides clear, written explanations of the basis for withholding and the employee's rights under applicable law.
• Coordinates with HR management and legal counsel when garnishment orders conflict are ambiguous or raise jurisdictional questions requiring agency interpretation.
• Oversee data input from rejected T&A, missing T&A, and missing personnel actions; conducts follow-up on error listings and computer-generated edits from NFC to ensure all discrepancies are identified and resolved within established timeframes.
• Monitors webTA and ELS systems for submission errors, unauthorized overrides, and patterns of non-compliance; escalates systemic issues to HR management with documented findings and recommended corrective actions.
• Provides technical guidance and training to timekeepers on proper T&A coding for complex pay entitlements, including post differential, Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO), Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) premium pay, compensatory time, credit hours, and a full range of leave categories.
• Monetary awards including quality step increases (QSIs), performance awards, on-the-spot awards, and time-off awards, verifying supporting documentation and proper authorization prior to submission.
• Establishes and maintains special pay entitlements including law enforcement availability pay (LEAP), AUO, retention incentives, relocation incentives, foreign language bonuses and recruitment incentives, ensuring accurate coding and scheduled expiration or review dates.
• Serves as a point of contact for debt establishment, employee notification, and resolution of pay problems arising from erroneous or retroactive payroll actions, exercising judgment to balance accuracy, legal compliance, and employee impact.
• Provides technical advice and guidance to timekeepers, HR specialists, administrative staff, and supervisors on payroll policies, procedures, entitlements, and coding requirements; resolves novel or ambiguous situations using regulatory analysis and professional judgment.
• Analyzes payroll data and error patterns to identify systemic issues, recurring error types, training gaps, or process deficiencies; prepares written analyses and recommends procedural or systemic improvements to HR management.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in Human Resources Management, Public Administration, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a closely related field. Equivalent experience (as defined below) may be substituted for education on a year-for-year basis.
• A minimum of two (2) years of specialized experience processing federal civilian payroll transactions at a level of complexity equivalent to GS-9 or above, to include direct, hands-on experience with NFC, webTA, and EmpowHR (or direct equivalents within the federal payroll environment).
• Processing manual payroll calculations, retroactive pay adjustments, and complex pay actions involving multiple entitlement variables.

Desired Qualifications

• Prior payroll experience supporting a federal law enforcement agency (DOJ, DHS, DOD, or similar).
• Experience processing payroll for employees in non-foreign COLA areas, hazardous duty locations, or overseas assignments.
• Certification in Federal Human Resources Management (HRCI, IPMA-HR, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated experience identifying systemic payroll errors and leading or participating in root-cause analysis and process improvement initiatives.