Payroll Specialist

As the Propelis Payroll Specialist, your overall responsibility is to administer and coordinate complex multi-country payroll operations across the Americas region, ensuring accuracy, compliance and efficiency. This role reports to the Sr. Payroll Manager. The Payroll Specialist acts as a subject matter expert for assigned Americas payrolls, statutory requirements, payroll controls, complex calculations and vendor management. Working with ADP Celergo/Global View, UKG and local payroll providers in a managed payroll model, the role ensures employees are paid accurately and on time while maintaining the integrity of payroll and workforce data. Manage end-to-end payroll cycles for assigned Americas countries with the main focus on Canada and provide support across the wider Americas payroll portfolio. Must have U.S. & Canada payroll experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage EORs.
• Process, review and approve monthly and off-cycle payrolls using UKG, ADP Celergo and/or other in-country payroll systems within a managed payroll model.
• Administer UKG Workforce Management (WFM), including governance of time and attendance data, schedules, absence records, pay rules, exceptions, approvals, interfaces and issue resolution.
• Perform detailed payroll audits, including validation of hires, terminations, salary changes, variable pay, overtime, absences, benefits, deductions and retroactive adjustments.
• Reconcile payroll reports prior to finalization and ensure accuracy of payroll outputs, statutory deductions, employer costs and net pay.
• Ensure compliance with local tax, social security, pension, statutory benefit, employment and reporting requirements across assigned Americas countries.
• Act as a primary escalation point for complex payroll queries from employees, HR, Finance, managers and vendors.
• Liaise with ADP, UKG and in-country payroll providers to ensure timely payroll processing, SLA adherence, issue resolution and continuous improvement.
• Support month-end and year-end payroll activities, including statutory filings, reconciliations, finance reporting, employee documents and audit requirements.
• Develop, maintain and review SOPs, payroll calendars, controls documentation and country-specific payroll process maps.
• Provide guidance and knowledge sharing to Payroll Specialists and support cross-training within the Global Payroll Team.
• Lead or support payroll projects, system implementations, integrations, testing, standardization and process improvement initiatives across Americas.

Skills and Abilities

• Strong end-to-end payroll expertise, including pre-payroll audits, calculation review, statutory filing, post-payroll reconciliation and issue resolution.
• Strong understanding of Canadian, US and Americas payroll regulations, taxation, social security, pensions, statutory benefits and employment-related payroll requirements.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex payroll matters clearly and professionally to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Previous relevant working experience (5-8 years) in multi-country payroll, preferably across Americas.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience navigating global payroll platforms such as ADP Celergo, UKG and WFM systems; hands-on UKG WFM administration experience is required.
• High attention to detail and ability to identify variances, reconcile data and improve controls across multiple software platforms.
• Strong vendor-management skills and ability to coordinate activities across internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in a fast-paced HR/Payroll environment and ability to manage competing deadlines across multiple jurisdictions.
• Team player with the ability to mentor, guide and support colleagues within a regional and global payroll structure.
• Role model for Propelis’ values and behaviours.

Advantageous

• Experience with EOR payroll operations and/or payroll vendor transitions across Americas.
• PayrollOrg, CIPP, GPA, NPI or similar payroll association certification.
• Additional language capability is advantageous.
• Experience with payroll transformation, mergers and acquisitions, new country implementations, system integrations or global programme rollouts.