Payroll & Benefits Analyst

Position: Payroll & Benefits Analyst
Location: 100% on-site 
Pay: $80,000-$90,000 + 10% annual bonus

Position Overview

The Payroll & Benefits Analyst is responsible for ensuring the accurate, timely, and compliant execution of the company’s end-to-end payroll operations, comprehensive benefits programs, and external audit requirements. This role serves as the primary subject matter expert on payroll, compensation data, vendor integrations, and regulatory compliance. Combining financial acumen with system-level mastery, the Analyst manages complex auditing, ledger reconciliation, and large-scale initiatives like annual open enrollment, while serving as the primary liaison and technical data provider for all external financial and retirement plan audits. This includes directly managing the delivery of payroll registers, employee census data, and deduction rosters to top-tier external accounting firms (e.g., Grant Thornton, Clifton Larson Allen), ensuring complete accuracy in 401(k) contribution matching, non-discrimination testing, and end-of-year reconciliations to guarantee a clean, seamless audit process.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Architecture & Operations

• Manage full-cycle processing of bi-weekly/monthly multi-state payrolls for hourly and salaried employees, including multi-entity organizational structures.
• Execute accurate calculating, posting, and auditing of payroll adjustments, variable bonuses, commissions, equity awards, and severance packages.
• Lead all year-end payroll processing routines, including W-2 balancing, tracking taxable fringe benefits, and final state/federal adjustments.
• Audit and reconcile payroll outputs directly to the general ledger (GL); partner closely with Corporate Accounting to research and clear variance anomalies.

Benefits & Administration

• Oversee day-to-day administration of group health, wellness, dental, vision, life, short/long-term disability, and 401(k) retirement savings plans.
• Act as the technical and project lead for the annual Open Enrollment cycle, configuring the HRIS system, testing rates, and managing communication campaigns.
• Manage vendor integrations (EDI feeds), monitoring data transmissions for errors and proactively resolving discrepancies with benefit carriers.

Compliance & Analytics

• Ensure strict compliance with federal, state, and local regulatory laws (including FLSA, ERISA, ACA, and COBRA).
• Lead the filing mandates for ACA 1095-C reporting, EEO-1 data components, and Form 5500 filings.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for external auditors (such as Grant Thornton & CLA); pull, clean, and validate complex census files, payroll registers, and deduction schedules for annual 401(k) compliance and formal corporate financial audits involving payroll and benefit data
• Navigate and track localized mandates, ensuring the organization maintains compliance with the Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) act and local city sick leaves.
• Design, build, and run advanced custom reports inside the HRIS to deliver labor cost metrics, benefit utilization trends, and headcount data to leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in; Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience directly executing multi-state corporate payroll and strategic benefit structures.
• Expert-level proficiency configuring and navigating ADP Workforce Now, with the ability to manage complex system structures, workflows, reporting, security, and data.
• Expertise in advanced Excel functions (VLOOKUPs, XLOOKUPs, pivot tables, and nested logic formulas) for heavy auditing and data cleaning.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
• Commitment to delivering accurate and confidential payroll services in a fast-paced environment.
• Approachable, highly collaborative resource who interacts effectively with employees at all levels of the organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation.
• Prior exposure handling international payroll processing elements (such as Canadian, EMEA, APAC, or UK payroll regulations).
• Proficiency navigating additional complex HRIS structures such as Workday, UKG Pro, Oracle, or Ceridian Dayforce.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.