Lead Payroll Analyst

Lead Payroll Analyst

Location: Houston, TX (100% Onsite)

Schedule:
Monday through Friday
Standard business hours
Occasional extended hours during payroll cycles, year-end activities, and critical projects.

Compensation:
Competitive hourly pay based on experience.

Assignment Length:
Contract Assignment

Employment Type:
Contract

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Lead Payroll Analyst to serve as the primary operational owner of payroll delivery and payroll governance within a large corporate environment. This role is responsible for ensuring payroll accuracy, compliance, vendor accountability, and system integrity.

This is not a payroll processing position. The ideal candidate will oversee payroll operations, validate payroll outcomes, manage vendor performance, troubleshoot payroll issues, and ensure payroll systems are producing accurate and compliant results.

The successful candidate will possess strong payroll expertise, advanced analytical skills, and the ability to independently validate payroll calculations and system outputs.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary operational liaison between internal stakeholders and outsourced payroll providers.
• Manage payroll vendor relationships and hold service providers accountable for performance, accuracy, responsiveness, and service delivery.
• Monitor vendor performance and drive resolution of payroll issues, defects, and processing errors.
• Validate payroll outputs including:

• Earnings

• Deductions

• Taxes

• Net pay
  

  • Independently calculate and recreate payroll scenarios to verify payroll accuracy.
  • Investigate payroll discrepancies and perform root cause analysis.
  • Identify issues related to:

• Payroll inputs

• System configuration

• Integrations

• Vendor processing
  

  • Support complex payroll scenarios including:

• Multi-state payroll

• Expatriate payroll

• Cross-border payroll considerations
  

  • Define expected payroll outcomes and validate system-generated results.
  • Partner with HRIS and technology teams to ensure payroll systems remain compliant and accurate.
  • Develop test scenarios and execute User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
  • Validate payroll system changes, upgrades, integrations, and enhancements.
  • Support payroll tax setup and jurisdiction validation activities.
  • Validate year-end payroll reporting including W-2, W-2C, and related payroll documentation.
  • Coordinate closely with HR, Finance, HRIS, Payroll Tax, and vendor teams.
  • Recommend process improvements to enhance payroll accuracy, compliance, and efficiency.
  • Serve as a payroll subject matter expert for internal stakeholders.
  • Support payroll governance initiatives and operational best practices.
  • Perform additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of eight years of payroll experience.
• Experience supporting payroll operations within an outsourced or managed-services payroll environment.
• Experience managing payroll vendor relationships and service delivery.
• Strong knowledge of:

• Payroll calculations

• Payroll compliance

• Payroll tax structures

• Multi-state payroll
  

  • Ability to manually calculate payroll and validate payroll system outputs.
  • Experience supporting payroll testing and UAT activities.
  • Experience working with enterprise payroll systems such as:

• UKG

• Workday

• SAP

• ADP

• Similar enterprise platforms
  

  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including:

• Data analysis

• Reconciliations

• Large dataset validation
  

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
  • Ability to work cross-functionally with HR, Finance, Payroll, HRIS, and external vendors.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification.
• Experience with payroll system implementations or upgrades.
• Experience supporting payroll integrations.
• Payroll tax reconciliation experience.
• Canadian payroll exposure.
• Project management or change management experience.

Additional Information

• Up to 10% travel may be required.
• Occasional evening and weekend work may be required during critical payroll periods.
• Ability to sit, stand, walk, and communicate effectively throughout the workday.
• Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.

Ideal Candidate Background

Successful candidates will typically come from environments involving:

• Payroll operations leadership
• Payroll governance
• Shared services organizations
• Large enterprise payroll environments
• Multi-state payroll administration
• Outsourced payroll models
• Payroll vendor management
• Payroll system implementations
• Payroll audits and reconciliations
• HRIS and payroll technology partnerships