Job Information
University of Washington MANAGER OF PAYROLL OPERATIONS in Seattle, Washington
Req #: 236034
Department: COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
Job Location Detail: Hybrid Eligible
Posting Date: 06/24/2024
Closing Info: Open Until Filled
Salary: $7,200 - $8,200 per month
Shift: First Shift
Notes: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. (https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/02/benefits-professional-staff-librarians-academic-staff-20230701_a11y.pdf )
As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills, and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.
The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington educates tomorrow’s innovators, conducts cutting-edge research in the core and emerging areas of the field, and leads a broad range of multi-disciplinary initiatives that demonstrate the transformative power of computing. Consistently ranked among the top computer science programs in the nation, the Allen School is widely recognized for the excellence and impact of our research and teaching across the region and around the globe. As a leader in efforts to broaden participation in computing, we are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our program and in our field. Members of the Allen School actively work to cultivate a welcoming community in which students, faculty, and staff with diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences can thrive. The Allen School occupies two spectacular buildings — the Paul G. Allen Center and the adjacent Bill & Melinda Gates Center — located at the heart of the UW campus in Seattle.
The Allen School is seeking outstanding candidates for the position of Manager of Payroll Operations. For more information on the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, visit the Allen School website. (https://www.cs.washington.edu/)
The Manager of Payroll Operations has primary responsibility for payroll for 1200 plus faculty, academic personnel, staff, and students employees of the Allen School, which includes overseeing all students employees and intern appointment program operations. The Manager of Payroll Operations will implement and improve the day-to-day payroll and student/intern appointment lifecycle processes, procedures, policies, and workflow. This position monitors UW payroll directives and applicable union contracts to ensure our payroll and student/intern appointment processes are compliant and timely and accurate pay issued, and communicates any changes to managers, supervisors, and faculty. The Manager of Payroll Operations oversees a team of three to five payroll specialists.
This position is responsible for the development, implementation, and reporting of payroll operations in the Allen School, training programs for supervisors and staff on best practices for payroll policies and procedures, training staff on the complexities of payroll operations in the Allen School including student appointments and benefits, faculty payroll structures, HR/payroll records management, and related reporting. A strong collaborator, the Manager of Payroll Operations has an essential role in creating a positive work environment that values diversity, inclusion, collaboration, and partnership.
The Allen School HR/Payroll team is a group of talented, fun, hard-working, and dedicated professionals who take to heart the value and impact of our work on the employees we serve. We seek a seasoned leader and payroll professional as our next Manager of Payroll Operations who will also take this approach to their job and the team community. The Allen School’s payroll operations are complex and high volume due to our large number of ASEs and faculty employees; we require a leader who can produce excellence in the day-to-day and evolve and scale our payroll operations to effectively meet future demands. The Manager of Payroll Operations needs to also be able to maintain open and constant communication and partnership with other teams across the school who are deeply involved with and impacted by payroll operations. The Manager of Payroll Operations is essential to ensuring all Allen School employees’ paychecks and associated benefits are accurate and secure so our employees can focus on producing technological and computing breakthroughs that change lives for the better.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Payroll Operations Management & Leadership
Leadership and management of School payroll activities for all employee populations, including overall accountability for payroll accuracy, problem resolution, time-keeping and leave administration, HR/payroll records management functions, special payments, and payroll reporting. For student employees/interns, this position also has overall accountability for student employee/intern appointment lifecycle actions as well.
Provide executive guidance for compliance with all applicable university, union, state and federal policies, rules, and regulations related to payroll, leaves, salary, stipends and other payments and associated benefits (e.g., tuition waivers).
Develop, implement, and oversee internal controls for payroll management, timekeeping, and leave administration for all employee types.
Lead ongoing planning and management discussions directed towards improving payroll operational efficiency and work to successfully resolve pertinent issues and challenges.
Make recommendations to School leadership regarding payroll operations and drive implementation and continuous optimization.
Serve as subject matter expert for student employee appointments and internships, and oversee the Allen School’s complex student employee lifecycle operations to ensure accurate and timely hiring, payment, benefits, and separations for student employees and appointments and stipends for interns.
Lead and work collaboratively with other staff across different Allen School area functional areas (Graduate Student Services team, Research Administration team, Undergraduate Student Services, School Services, etc.) to successfully manage the student employee program.
Collaborate with the school’s Vice Director, Faculty HR Manager, and Grants Managers to ensure the Payroll team records and enters quarterly faculty payroll and leaves correctly and on time into an internal database and Workday.
Lead the effort to collect this information from all sources in a timely fashion and ensure continuous communication with all affected parties.
Develop, implement, and oversee administrative operations and controls for the School’s undergraduate intern program. Work in partnership with sponsoring faculty, Undergraduate Student Services, and the Research Administration team to provide standardized appointment and stipend processes for interns.
Train payroll and other staff and faculty on UW/School policies, procedures, reports, and forms for all employee and intern lifecycle actions.
Establish and maintain relationships with UW business partners at the College of Engineering, Employee Workday Help (formerly known as the ISC), UW Finance, Planning & Budgeting, UW Human Resources, Student Fiscal Services, Professional and Continuing Education, and the UW Benefits office.
Advise School leadership on payroll, time and leave, benefits and reporting information as needed to guide decision making and action. Personnel Management
Supervise four Payroll Specialists who are responsible for ensuring smooth and accurate payroll implementation for successful pay and benefits for 1200+ employees and interns.
Allocate and manage staff resources on a daily basis as well as plan for long-term workload allocation, ensuring appropriate staffing levels and cross-training to fulfill payroll functions at all times.
Hire, train, orient, mentor and coach staff.
Conduct evaluation and performance management, as well as disciplinary and dismissal actions as needed.
Assess and direct workflow, schedules, and leave approvals. Oversee workload and productivity to ensure team members make deadlines.
Identify, propose and design new policies and procedures, and manage implementation.
Train and support team members in tools and processes ensuring consistent applications of improvements. Workday Administration
Serve as a subject matter expert for all payroll related activities in Workday and associated systems (e.g., Student Database).
Stay current with changes in the School, the College of Engineering, and University wide processes and procedures.
Ensure Workday payroll and student/intern appointment activities are managed accurately and timely, following compliance requirements per State and University regulations.
Audit, review, and approve Workday payroll related transactions.
Administer high-impact and complex HR/payroll processes.
Use Workday reports to conduct School wide audits, ensure compliance and payment accuracy, and provide data and analysis as requested.
Communicate with supervisor and others (e.g., Grants Managers) regarding actions needed for payroll compliance.
Identify payroll discrepancies and errors, directing staff to make corrections quickly and thoroughly and communicating with affected employees professionally and with diplomacy and tact.
Alert supervisor and school leadership to significant or impactful payroll issues if they arise.
Have overall responsibility for payroll charges on state and school budgets that are not sponsored research or otherwise managed by the Grants team.
Resolve issues in partnership with the School’s Director of Finance and Administration and others.
Ensures audit readiness of all payroll related documentation. Projects/Process Improvement
Identify, analyze, and implement strategies, methodologies, and technologies that streamline and improve payroll and student employee/intern processes and procedures.
Seek to continually improve processes and systems used, and strive for efficiency and accuracy at all times.
Plan and complete special projects, independently or as a member of a team, including scoping, prioritization, and work allocation/execution.
Research and assemble information to prepare statistical and narrative reports, and to respond to requests for employee and intern payroll data.
Analyze information and make recommendations.
Develop strategic plans for short- and long-term goals for the Payroll team.
Identify School needs related to payroll and student/intern appointments, recommend changes, and design and implement improvements
Responsible for training and providing updates to procedures and processes to other School personnel regarding HR/payroll administration, e.g., Grants Managers.
Participate in the School’s strategic operations planning and implementation. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Bachelor's degree in a related field
Four or more years of payroll experience across all employee types in a university setting, with at least two years of direct work on graduate student employee payroll and lifecycle processes. Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Supervisory experience with proven leadership, communication, team building, and problem-solving capability.
Demonstrated ability to assess payroll, time and leave, and HR issues in compressed timeframes, articulate options for actions, and make sound decisions and recommendations.
Demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize multiple tasks for self and team, be exceptionally detail and accuracy oriented, quickly respond to urgent issues, and work effectively under pressure of deadlines and changing priorities.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with all levels of the organization with tact, diplomacy, discretion, sensitivity, and confidentiality.
Evidence of commitment to diversity and experience working with diverse populations.
Demonstrated ability to analyze, develop, lead, and implement process improvements.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and oral).
Ability to write accurate, useful, and timely documentation.
Ability to write effectively in different mediums (email, chat, web site) for different audiences.
Ability to present complex information to varied audiences, including ability to train employees and colleagues in payroll business processes.
Proficient in Microsoft Office products such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Outlook and Google Suite, and ability to learn, utilize, and maximize new software as needed for the job. DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Deep understanding of student employment processes, policies, and best practices (for both Academic Student Employee and student hourly)
Knowledge of and familiarity with University policies, procedures, and systems (Workday, UWHIRES).
Knowledge of relevant Federal and Washington State employment law and University of Washington human resource, payroll, leave policies.
Payroll, time and leave, HR experience in a UW academic department. Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are access ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.