Reporting to the Payroll Manager, the Payroll Team Lead will be responsible for assessing, planning, coordinating, executing all aspects of payroll activities including the onboarding, and integration of new and legacy practices into People Corporation. This role provides payroll expertise and guidance (and benefits as required) to primarily support Quebec clients and collaborates with colleagues across the HR & Payroll, ERP, and Integrations teams to support the successful integration to People Corporation. This role requires a seasoned payroll leader with extensive experience in a fast-paced M&A environment, with exceptional customer service and project management skills.
Key Responsibilities:
Integration Activities
Develop the HR System onboarding procedures and project plans for new acquisitions in collaboration with HR, Payroll, Finance, ERP, and Integration teams.
Deliver all aspects of HR Systems onboarding including post-closure integration activities and transitioning to People Corporations HR and Payroll transactional processes.
Support the due diligence and integration planning by coordinating activities with the HR Function to support new organizations through consecutive and concurrent acquisitions, ensuring timely completion.
Collaborates with integration to support information gathering from new acquisitions, payroll integrations and amalgamations for Workday HCM, Benefit and Payroll.
Collaborates with Finance, ERP and ADP to ensure back end set up (New Company Code, Locations, Home Cost Centres, Pay Codes, etc.) is completed.
Identifies potential issues and collaborates with Manager Payroll and HR Shared Service to identify appropriate solutions.
Drive consistent delivery HR and Payroll transactional services ensuring compliance with all applicable employment laws and regulations pertaining to Human Resources.
Drive continuous process improvement, including assessing, evaluating, and recommending opportunities to standardize, automate, and optimize the HR systems integration processes.
Work in partnership with HRBPs and HR Shared Service to enable a successful integration process and experience for clients.
Payroll Activities
Provides payroll leadership to the Ontario-based payroll team members.
Develop and maintain productive relationships with Quebec clients by focusing on deliverables and client business priorities, managing expectations of service, understanding the client’s industry, and recognizing key performance drivers and business trends.
Responsible for ensuring compliance with regulations across Canada with specific focus on Quebec (ex. CNEEST filing/ reporting).
Accurately enter, process, and balance the bi-monthly payroll earnings and adjustments for the assigned Payrolls.
Supports with onboarding (bilingual French/English).
Coordinate and administer pay services by providing counseling and guidance to employees of all levels on different options available in various situations (resignations, lay-offs, maternity, and garnishment); and by applying policies and guidelines.
Acts as the primary liaison between the payroll and accounting departments.
Prepares routine and special reports including preparing month end (OT, vacation, sick, EE changes, garnishments) and year end reporting.
Process and balance payroll expenses, deductions, and adjustments.
Provide a timely response to inquiries from Finance, HR, managers and employees regarding payroll, vacation, and sick time.
Create and maintain accurate payroll records and mail correspondences for immediate access.
Works as an integral part of the payroll team by efficiently meeting deadlines.
Provide support for project work and other duties as required.
Deliver accurate and timely pay to employees across all regions.
Prepare all records of employment for terminating employees.
Assist in preparation of monthly journal entries for payroll, accruals and WCB for all regions.
Calculate and submit monthly WSIB remittances, and provincial EHT.
Prepare year end T4, RL-1, year-end returns for EHT and WCB for all regions.
Provide backup when needed for vacations.
Leadership
Provides oversight for the effective and efficient processing of payroll and response to pay related inquiries.
Oversees quality standards, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Actively mentors and coaches the team to ensure a positive, supportive, and inclusive work environment.
Provides day-to-day work direction, determining priorities, and monitoring activities to ensure SLAs and transactional deadlines are met.
Establishes individual development plan(s), monitors success and provides regular feedback.
Advises leadership of resourcing needs and support required.
Reporting Relationships:
1-4 Direct Reports
Continuous Improvement/ Projects
Identifies opportunities to increase operational effectiveness and streamline integration processes.
Collaborated with other HR team members to Identify and implement innovative ideas to enhance tools, processes and technology-based solutions to support processes and improve the employee and manager experience.
Provides ADP system expertise as required to support ongoing HR Transformation projects.
Collaborates closely with the broader HR team in providing services and continuous improvement opportunities to support Quebec based clients.
Provides operational and analytical support as it relates to Finance and HR technology systems at PC.
Support the identification of and development of SOPs, job aids and other resources to support the client experience and the payroll team.
Supports the development of the payroll team’s knowledge of new business acquisition, integration process and Quebec clients.
Collaborates with the Manager Payroll, HR and ERP teams on HR system integration changes and testing.
Required Qualifications:
Education and Experience
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline such as Business Administration, Accounting, Human Resources or Industrial Relations.
Payroll Compliance Professional (PCP) required; CHRP designation an asset.
Minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in a broad spectrum of payroll and HR functions. At least 2 years recent leadership experience required.
At least 5 years senior payroll experience in a M/A environment.
Experience with various payroll and HR systems with extensive experience in ADP Workforce Now required.
Knowledge of leadership and coaching principles; with demonstrated experience managing and developing successful teams.
Knowledge and experience across all facets of human resource management, knowledge of employment legislation and best practices to provide a comprehensive systems-thinking approach to decisions.
Experience in working in complex organizations and understanding the nuances in client needs.
Exemplary interpersonal skills and experience in developing strong relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders at all levels.
Experience in conflict management and issue resolution.
Prior experience leading payroll integration and large-scale projects required.
Knowledge of applicable laws and legislations; knowledge of Payroll and HR best practice.
Experience in change management and continuous improvement.
Bilingual (EN/FR) required.
Ability and flexibility to travel required.
Competencies / Skill Sets
Exceptional mathematical proficiency to ensure precise calculation for account balancing and payroll calculations including retroactive payments, overpayments, etc.
Customer-centric mindset and approach to define the standards and performance culture of the HR team.
Strong collaboration and teamwork across HR and other departments to enable operation and successful service delivery.
Strong influencing and negotiation skills to manage relationships with clients, and internal teams.
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, and the ability to creatively solve problems.
Attentive to details and deadlines; ability to manage multiple initiatives.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare and deliver presentations to leaders at various levels in both English and French.
Demonstrates a ‘customer-centric’ approach to problem-solving and gathers feedback to implement continuous improvements.
Strong project management and effective prioritization skills to manage competing priorities and complete projects within timelines and ensuring all deliverables are met.
Experience with various payroll and HR systems with extensive experience in ADP required.
Advanced skills in MS Excel including VLOOKUP and pivot tables. Proficient in all MS Office tools.