Senior Payroll Specialist

LHH Recruitment Solutions; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

LHH Recruitment Solutions in Kansas City, MO is seeking an experienced Payroll Specialist to join a centralized Finance team supporting multiple construction-related operating entities. This role handles weekly payroll processing, certified payroll, and prevailing-wage compliance.

The ideal candidate brings strong full-cycle payroll experience and thrives in a high-volume, multi-state environment while partnering with field operations, project teams, and HR.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of full-cycle payroll experience in a high-volume environment.
• Construction, certified payroll, prevailing-wage, or multi-entity payroll experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of Davis-Bacon, prevailing wage, WH-347 reporting, and multi-state payroll taxes.
• Experience with Vista by Viewpoint or a comparable construction ERP is a plus.
• Strong Excel skills, including SUMIFS, pivot tables, and reconciliation workbooks.

Responsibilities

• Process weekly payroll for multiple operating entities.
• Import, validate, and correct timekeeping data, including hours, jobs, and project phases.
• Maintain earnings, deductions, stipends, garnishments, benefit elections, and shift differentials.
• Process off-cycle, manual, and correction checks as necessary.
• Research and resolve payroll discrepancies and timekeeping issues.
• Reconcile payroll registers and validate changes to rates, hours, deductions, and stipends.

Skills

Full-cycle payroll

High-volume processing

Multi-state payroll

Attention to detail

Collaborative

Payroll compliance

Tools

Vista by Viewpoint

AASHTOWare

HCSS

Excel

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Payroll Specialist to join a centralized Finance team in Kansas City, MO supporting multiple construction-related operating entities. This position is responsible for accurate weekly payroll processing, certified payroll and prevailing-wage compliance, payroll reconciliations, and maintaining accurate employee and payroll data.

The ideal candidate has strong full-cycle payroll experience and is comfortable working in a high-volume, multi-state environment while partnering with field operations, project teams, and HR.

Key Responsibilities:

Weekly Payroll Processing

• Process weekly payroll for multiple operating entities.
• Import, validate, and correct timekeeping data, including hours, jobs, and project phases.
• Maintain earnings, deductions, stipends, garnishments, benefit elections, and shift differentials.
• Process off-cycle, manual, and correction checks as necessary.
• Research and resolve payroll discrepancies and timekeeping issues.

Certified Payroll & Prevailing Wage

• Prepare and submit certified payroll reports, including WH-347 and state-required reports.
• Support Davis-Bacon and state prevailing-wage compliance.
• Apply appropriate wage determinations, fringe benefit rates, and worker/trade classifications.
• Maintain compliance information through applicable agency and labor-compliance systems.
• Assist with labor-compliance audits, agency inquiries, and contractor documentation requests.

Payroll Reconciliation

• Reconcile payroll registers and validate changes to rates, hours, deductions, and stipends.
• Reconcile employee hours across multiple sources prior to processing.
• Reconcile payroll liabilities, tax withholdings, and benefit deductions.
• Investigate missed hours, coding errors, and other payroll discrepancies.

Systems & Payroll Administration

• Maintain accurate employee, job, rate, and deduction information across payroll and operational systems.
• Assist with payroll process documentation and standardization.
• Support the integration of additional operating entities into centralized payroll processes.

Qualifications:

• 3+ years of full-cycle payroll HIGH VOLUME (over 1,000 FTE, weekly) processing experience.
• Construction, certified payroll, prevailing-wage, or multi-entity payroll experience strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of Davis-Bacon, prevailing wage, WH-347 reporting, and multi-state payroll taxes.
• Experience with Vista by Viewpoint or a comparable construction ERP is a plus.
• Strong Excel skills, including SUMIFS, pivot tables, and reconciliation workbooks.
• Experience with AASHTOWare and HCSS is a plus.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to meet recurring weekly payroll deadlines.
• Ability to work collaboratively with field operations, project teams, and HR.

What We're Looking For:

• Strong accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent payroll reconciliation skills
• Ability to manage high-volume weekly deadlines
• Compliance-focused approach to payroll
• Strong problem-solving and research skills
• Clear, professional communication skills
• Ability to work effectively across multiple teams and operating entities