Senior Payroll Specialist

Woodard & Curran is a national engineering, science, and operations firm with a simple vision for clean water, a safe environment, healthy communities, and happy people. As an employee-owned company, we strive to cultivate teams that encourage collaboration in an inclusive culture. We seek talented individuals from all backgrounds to help us address a broad range of water and environmental issues. We prioritize our people, offering opportunities for professional growth, ownership, and flexibility. This commitment enables us to make a meaningful impact on our clients, communities, and the planet.

Who We Are Looking For:

We are seeking a Senior Payroll Specialist, preferably based in Portland, Maine, though we are open to candidates located throughout the New England/East Coast region. This role is responsible for ensuring all payroll is processed accurately and timely for all employees, in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. The ideal candidate brings a strong customer service mindset and a collaborative approach, working closely with HR, Benefits, and Finance teams to support compensation-related activities. The specialist oversees and completes biweekly payroll processing from start to finish through Workday, performs biweekly reconciliation, and verifies monthly and quarterly company totals. This individual also participates in year-end processing and works with auditors annually to verify procedures and company totals.

Outcomes:

Payroll processed accurately and timely

Compliance with federal and state tax regulations

Entries to the general ledger posted accurately and timely

• Ensure payroll-related transactions are processed in compliance with external and internal policies.
• Provide exceptional customer service to employees and internal stakeholders by responding to payroll-related inquiries with professionalism and accuracy.
• Partner effectively with HR, Benefits, and Finance teams to ensure alignment on payroll-related matters, including compensation changes, benefit deductions, and financial reporting.
• Oversee end-to-end biweekly payroll processing using Workday, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Calculate and process federal and state tax and social security withholdings, union dues, and other deductions, including insurance, benefits, 401(k) contributions, and company match.
• Review time-worked inputs for calculation, coding, or other errors.
• Maintain ongoing tax compliance with federal and state regulations.
• Create and monitor reports to identify potential problems or errors.
• Audit payroll information for accuracy.
• Reconcile payroll deposits, tax withholdings, wage garnishments, and voluntary deductions.
• Maintain and reconcile general ledger (GL) entries related to payroll, ensuring proper coding and financial integrity.
• Collaborate with Finance on payroll journal entries and month-end close activities.
• Lead and participate in problem-solving and special projects within the Payroll department.
• Test upgrades and new/existing configurations within Workday and the company ERP, ensuring payroll functionality is optimized.
• Participate in compensation review processes. Process stock and bonus payments.

• 5–7 years of payroll experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Hands-on experience with Workday Payroll is required.
• Demonstrated experience with payroll-related GL posting and reconciliation.
• Bachelor’s degree in business or accounting preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong customer service skills with a commitment to providing a positive employee experience.
• Ability to communicate effectively with employees at all levels of management.
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.
• Strong attention to detail and highly organized.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities with various deadlines.
• Ability to adapt to changes in business conditions and environments.
• Professional dedication to quality and customer service.

• Proven ability to build effective partnerships across HR, Benefits, and Finance functions.
• CPP certification preferred.
• Experience with payroll in a professional services firm.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) preferred.

Employee Support & Benefits

Retirement Savings:

• 401(k) Pre-tax or Roth Contributions: The company matches 100% of the first 3% of salary contributed

Time away from work:

• Observed holidays: Choose up to 9 holidays to observe annually

• Vacation: Accrued based on years of experience and calculated on hours worked

• Sick time: Paid sick time for non-work related illness or injury.

• Parental leave: Up to 80 hours of Paid Parental Leave for child bonding

Coverage and support for your needs and well-being:

• Disability: Paid short and long term disability

• Health: Medical plan options; plus dental and vision plans.

• Life: Basic employee group life insurance and AD&D benefits; additional voluntary life insurance for employees and families is available through Sun Life.

• Wellbeing: DarioMind assistance program combined with personalized mental health and wellbeing resources.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Woodard & Curran is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Individuals with Disabilities and Protected Veterans are encouraged to apply. We are committed to ensuring our employment practices are non-discriminatory and based solely on job-related factors.  

If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to apply, please contact Beth Sweitzer.

Inclusion & Belonging

We welcome individuals from all backgrounds to apply, as we believe that different perspectives and experiences enrich our workplace and enhance our ability to serve our clients and communities effectively.

At Woodard & Curran, we are committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive work environment. We understand that the best solutions for our clients and communities come from a culture that nurtures the success and growth of all employees. As an employee-owned organization, our dedication to fostering growth, access and opportunity empowers us to serve our clients effectively and advance our mission of making a positive impact on the world. Our success is rooted in supporting our team members to reach their full potential, enabling us to deliver the most innovative, sound and effective solutions to improve our communities around us.

Non-Solicitation Disclosure:

Please be advised that we do not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from recruitment agencies. Any resumes or candidate profiles submitted without a signed contract in place will be considered unsolicited and will not be eligible for any referral fees. Recruitment agencies must have a valid, signed agreement with our company prior to following the submission process to consider potential candidates.