North America Payroll Lead

PQ•Malvern, PA

About The Position

At PQ, payroll is a critical function that impacts both employees and the business. We are seeking a Payroll Lead who will own the end-to-end payroll process ensuring an accurate, on time, and compliant delivery each cycle, with reliable support to employees and the organization as a whole. This is a hands-on individual contributor role responsible for processing payroll across the U.S. and Canada. The Payroll Lead will take ownership of execution, stabilize the current process and sustain a consistent, controlled payroll operation that the business can rely on.

Requirements

5–8 years of hands-on payroll experience with direct ownership of payroll processing
Experience processing payroll in both multi-state U.S. and Canadian environments with a strong understanding of compliance, taxes, and reporting.
Experience with union payroll environments
Proficiency in ADP Workforce Now or similar payroll systems
Proficiency in Excel for payroll analysis, data validation, and reconciliation (comfortable in using pivot tables, VLOOKUP’s, and other formulas)
High attention to detail

Nice To Haves

Experience with KPI’s, Payroll Dashboards, and advanced analytics
Experience supporting HR systems beyond payroll
Experience participating in payroll implementations, system upgrades, or process transformations.

Responsibilities

Process multi-frequency payroll for U.S. and Canada employees.
Manage payroll inputs including hires, terminations, pay changes, bonuses, and deductions.
Review and validate time and attendance data and drive timely resolution of missing or inaccurate entries.
Run off-cycles and bonus payrolls as required.
Manage post-payroll activities including benefits and retirement contributions, garnishments, tax filings, and vendor reconciliations.
Respond to employee payroll inquiries and resolve discrepancies.
Stay current on federal, state, and local payroll regulations, ensuring changes are evaluated and applied to payroll processes as needed.
Interpret and apply union contract provisions, including premiums, overtime rules, and wage changes, ensuring alignment with payroll and supporting contract updates and negotiations as needed.
Maintain audit-ready payroll processes and documentation (SOP’s.)
Partner with internal and external stakeholders to resolve inquiries and potential issues.
Serve as the functional owner of payroll systems (ADP Workforce Now.)
Support time and attendance processes and integrations, identifying opportunities to improve timekeeping processes.
Identify and implement process improvements to increase efficiency and accuracy.
Partner with HR and Finance to support all the lifecycle events that impact payroll.
Clearly communicate payroll schedules, changes, and impact to stakeholders.