Payroll Specialist

Position Summary: Job Title: Payroll Specialist Location: 7 Rue des Cerisiers, Gaspé, QC G4X 2M1 Duration: 12 Months Contract Must Haves: Bilingual- French/English Strong knowledge of payroll processes, and timekeeping systems. Excellent communication and customer service skills. Experience working with Smartsheet. Nice To Have: Proficiency with payroll/HRIS systems and reporting tools Workday and case management experience preferred. Familiarity with Lean or process optimization principles strongly preferred. Job Description Summary: The Pay Administrator is responsible for ensuring payroll accuracy, compliance, and efficiency through comprehensive timekeeping administration, inquiry management, and payroll input support. This role serves as a subject-matter expert in payroll processes, guiding employees and people leaders to appropriate channels, promoting self-service adoption, and contributing to optimization and continuous improvement initiatives. The Pay Administrator partners closely with HR, Finance, and business leaders to deliver high-quality payroll operations while driving process standardization and efficiency. Duties: Pay and Timekeeping Administration: Manage Tier 2 timekeeping inquiries and resolve complex payroll issues. Prepare and submit timekeeping files for payroll processing. Serve as functional owner of time and attendance (T&A) systems, including reporting and system testing where applicable. Support payroll inputs including pay corrections, one-time payments, awards, and reimbursements. Ensure collective agreement pay changes (e.g., wage adjustments, Client updates) are accurately executed. Manage payroll input for on-cycle and off-cycle runs ensuring compliance and accuracy Tiered Support Model & Self-Service Adoption: Educate employees and leaders on proper pay and timekeeping practices and the use of self-service tools. Act as gatekeeper for off-cycle, special, and one-time pay requests, ensuring adherence to policies and standards. Reinforce payroll policies and support escalation exceptions, as necessary. Provide onsite support (where required) through scheduled office hours and walk-in requests, while guiding employees through appropriate self-service channels. Deliver real-time feedback to People Operations and HR teams on gaps in content, policy, or processes. Optimization & Continuous Improvement: Partner on pay and time-related projects including self-service enablement and adoption, T&A updates, site-driven pay impacts, and pay-impact testing. Drive process standardization and self-service adoption & enablement and reinforce People Leader and Employee-defined accountabilities. Apply Lean principles to streamline workflows and improve operational efficiency. Desired Characteristics: Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, Accounting, or related field (or high school diploma/GED with at least 2 years of directly relevant experience). Minimum 2 years of experience in payroll, timekeeping, HR operations, or employee lifecycle administration. Strong knowledge of payroll processes, pay compliance requirements, and timekeeping systems. Demonstrated achievement in payroll and timekeeping administration, ideally in a large operations/service-oriented environment. Excellent communication and customer service skills with the ability to handle sensitive information with discretion. Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret and analyze complex data. Proficiency with payroll/HRIS systems and reporting tools; Workday and case management experience preferred. Familiarity with Lean or process optimization principles strongly preferred.