Senior Payroll Tax Analyst

Senior Payroll Tax Analyst

Location: Houston, TX (100% Onsite)

Schedule:
Monday through Friday
Standard business hours
Occasional overtime during quarter-end, year-end, audits, and critical payroll processing periods.

Compensation:
Competitive hourly pay based on experience.

Assignment Length:
Contract Assignment

Employment Type:
Contract

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Payroll Tax Analyst to serve as the payroll tax subject matter expert within a large corporate payroll organization. This individual will support payroll tax compliance, tax setup, reconciliations, year-end reporting, audits, and regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

The ideal candidate will possess extensive payroll tax expertise, strong analytical abilities, and experience managing complex federal, state, local, and international payroll tax requirements. This role will work closely with payroll, HRIS, finance, vendors, and internal stakeholders to ensure payroll tax accuracy and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Support payroll tax compliance across federal, state, local, and international jurisdictions.
• Maintain and validate payroll tax setup and withholding configurations.
• Assist with setup and maintenance of tax jurisdictions and tax accounts.
• Perform payroll tax reconciliations and resolve discrepancies.
• Support quarterly and annual payroll tax reporting requirements.
• Validate year-end reporting including:

• W-2

• W-2C

• T-4

• Related payroll tax reporting documents
  

  • Assist with payroll tax filings and compliance reporting.
  • Ensure payroll tax data aligns with regulatory requirements and reporting standards.
  • Partner with payroll, HRIS, and technology teams to validate payroll tax system configurations.
  • Investigate payroll tax discrepancies and perform root cause analysis.
  • Identify issues related to:

• Tax setup

• System configuration

• Payroll processing

• Vendor performance
  

  • Support internal and external audits related to payroll tax compliance.
  • Review and respond to payroll tax notices.
  • Coordinate tax issue resolution with vendors and internal stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with payroll teams to validate tax calculations and payroll outputs.
  • Assist with payroll processing activities during high-volume periods when necessary.
  • Serve as a payroll tax resource for internal stakeholders and business partners.
  • Support continuous improvement initiatives related to payroll tax operations and compliance.
  • Perform additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of eight years of payroll experience with significant payroll tax responsibility.
• Extensive experience supporting multi-state payroll tax compliance.
• Strong understanding of:

• Federal payroll taxes

• State payroll taxes

• Local payroll taxes

• Payroll tax filings

• Payroll tax compliance regulations
  

  • Experience performing payroll tax reconciliations and resolving discrepancies.
  • Experience supporting year-end payroll tax reporting.
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including:

• Reconciliations

• Data analysis

• Large dataset review

• Reporting
  

  • Strong analytical, investigative, and problem-solving skills.
  • Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with payroll, HRIS, finance, compliance, and vendor teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification.
• Experience working with enterprise payroll platforms such as:

• UKG

• Workday

• SAP

• ADP

• Similar enterprise systems
  

  • Experience supporting W-2, W-2C, and year-end payroll processing.
  • Experience working directly with payroll tax vendors and service providers.
  • Experience with process improvement initiatives.
  • Exposure to Canadian payroll tax reporting and T-4 requirements.

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 tax compliance
• Multi-state payroll tax administration
• Large corporate payroll departments
• Shared services organizations
• Payroll audits
• Payroll reconciliations
• Year-end payroll processing
• Tax notice resolution
• Payroll vendor management
• Enterprise payroll systems
• HRIS and payroll technology support

Top Keywords for Recruiting

Senior Payroll Tax Analyst, Payroll Tax Specialist, Payroll Tax SME, Payroll Compliance, Multi-State Payroll Tax, Payroll Tax Reconciliation, W-2 Processing, W-2C Corrections, Payroll Audits, Tax Notice Resolution, Federal Payroll Tax, State Payroll Tax, Local Payroll Tax, UKG, Workday Payroll, SAP Payroll, ADP Workforce Now, CPP Certification, Payroll Governance, Payroll Controls, Payroll Reporting, Tax Compliance.

For recruiting purposes, I would focus searches heavily on candidates coming from large organizations such as energy, manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare systems, Fortune 500 shared services groups, payroll service providers, and companies using UKG, ADP Enterprise, Workday Payroll, or SAP Payroll. Those environments tend to produce the exact payroll tax specialists this client is looking for.