Assistant Payroll Manager

Work Arrangement: Hybrid, onsite Tuesday through Thursday

Position Overview

The Assistant Payroll Manager will support the accurate and timely administration of payroll for approximately 500+ employees within a complex, high-frequency payroll environment. This position is responsible for payroll processing, employee lifecycle transactions, statutory documentation, financial reporting, and responding to day-to-day payroll inquiries. The successful candidate will bring strong Canadian payroll knowledge, hands-on SAP R/3 experience, and the ability to manage frequent employee changes, including salary increments, leaves of absence, maternity and parental leaves, and terminations.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the end-to-end payroll process for approximately 600 employees.
• Process and validate frequent payroll changes, including:
• Salary and wage increases
• Employee status changes
• New hires and terminations
• Retroactive adjustments
• Benefits and deduction changes
• Leaves of absence
• Calculate and administer maternity, parental, and other employee leaves.
• Prepare, issue, and amend Records of Employment when required.
• Review payroll data for accuracy, completeness, and compliance before final submission.
• Reconcile payroll registers, deductions, benefits, and employer contributions.
• Prepare payroll-related financial reports, summaries, and supporting schedules.
• Respond to daily employee questions regarding pay, deductions, benefits, tax documentation, and leave-related payments.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies in a timely and professional manner.
• Maintain accurate employee payroll records and supporting documentation within SAP R/3.
• Ensure payroll activities comply with applicable employment standards, tax requirements, company policies, and internal controls.
• Support payroll-related accounting entries, reconciliations, audits, and year-end activities.
• Assist with T4 preparation, year-end balancing, and statutory reporting.
• Partner with Human Resources, Finance, Benefits, and operational leaders to resolve payroll-related matters.
• Support the Payroll Manager with process improvements, reporting requirements, system testing, and payroll projects.
• Provide guidance and backup support to members of the payroll team as needed.
• Maintain strict confidentiality when handling employee and payroll information.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years of progressive Canadian payroll experience, ideally within a high-volume or complex payroll environment.
• Previous experience in a Payroll Supervisor, Senior Payroll Specialist, Payroll Lead, or Assistant Payroll Manager capacity is preferred.
• Hands-on experience with SAP R/3 in an on-premises environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience processing payroll for a workforce of approximately 500 employees or more.
• Strong knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation, employment standards, statutory deductions, Records of Employment, and year-end reporting.
• Demonstrated experience calculating maternity and parental leaves, leaves of absence, retroactive payments, and other payroll adjustments.
• Experience preparing payroll-related financial reports and reconciliations.
• Payroll Compliance Professional designation, formerly PCP, is preferred.
• Payroll Leadership Professional designation, formerly PLP, is considered an asset.
• Strong Excel skills and the ability to work with detailed payroll reports and reconciliations.
• Excellent attention to detail, analytical ability, and organizational skills.
• Strong communication and customer-service skills, with the ability to respond effectively to employee payroll questions.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and meet strict payroll deadlines.
• Postsecondary education in payroll, accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field is preferred.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on payroll professional who is comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with frequent employee changes and payroll adjustments. They are technically strong, highly organized, responsive to employee inquiries, and capable of supporting both operational payroll delivery and payroll-related financial reporting.

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