POSITION___________________________________________________________________________

Payroll Specialist

Full-time, 40 hours per week

NATURE AND SCOPE_________________________________________________________________

The Westwood Public Schools is a high-performing school district of approximately 3,000 students and employs over 530 full-time employees as well as part-time staff and substitutes. 

The Senior Payroll Specialist is responsible for issuing payroll accurately and on-time on a biweekly schedule. The Specialist is responsible for implementation of contract language that relates to pay and/or paid time off accruals and other benefits, as well as calculating pay adjustments due to leaves, mid-year hires, transfers, and separations of employment. The Specialist maintains employee data integrity with respect to pay or benefits across multiple systems.

The Specialist closely supports the Director of Finance and Operations with tracking tools and research for the management of employee contracts; and supports the Director of HR with intake interviews and the structuring of substitute coverage for leaves of absence. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS / RESPONSIBILITIES____________________________________________

Payroll Processing

• Collect payroll folders, monitor timesheets for absences, and process biweekly payroll 
• Evaluate if overtime rate is needed for hourly employees, and adjust pay accordingly
• Review and enter expense reports and reimbursements
• Run reports to close payroll including Harpers Millenium deduction report and use Microsoft Access to run Harpers Millenium warrant reports
• Prepare and process special pay including after-school stipend pay, after-school hourly pay, tuition reimbursements, professional stipends, coach pay, mentor pay, longevity pay, summer pay
• Calculate pay adjustments for leaves of absence and midyear hires or exits
• Implement all contract language that relates to pay and/or paid time off accruals and other benefits for employees
• In preparation for close of fiscal year, calculate vacation buyout, severance pay, encumbrance for summer pay, and prepare split payroll and payroll projection
• Monitor retiree earnings per pension caps and manage retirement system reporting for MTRS and Norfolk pension system

Employee Data Integrity

• Review, interpret, and process TalentED Personnel Action Forms (PAF’s) including new hires, transfers, and exits
• Control integrity and accuracy of Aspen employee database fields relevant to pay: contract or bargaining unit, current step, lane, and FTE
• Control integrity and accuracy of Harpers Millennium database with fields relevant to pay: contract or bargaining unit, lane, step, FTE, as well as rate, general ledger no. (GL), department, pay frequency, MTRS data, and all secondary rates associated to additional roles
• Manage data integrity for paid time off accruals (vacation, sick time, and personal days), including accrual loads for midyear hires and contractual adjustments
• Monitor for relevant inconsistencies between databases: Aspen, Harpers Millenium, Aesop Frontline, and TalentED

Partnership & Collaboration

• Establish strong relationships with school and district leaders to answer questions pertinent to hires and contract language that relate to pay and/or paid time off accruals for employees
• Support and train administrative staff and hourly employees in order to ensure efficient collection of timesheets, absence management information, and payroll information
• Coordinate with Town Hall Employees who administer benefits such as health insurance and with the Town Accountant for rare instances of payroll corrections
• Develop tools and spreadsheets to manage employee contracts, including tracking systems that document contractual benefits such as holidays, tuition reimbursement, and longevity
• Support Director of HR with leaves of absence intake interviews, as well as questions about short-term and long-term sub coverage and stipend pay
• Collaborate with IT staff on system upgrades, information management and processes needed for the Business Office
• Be available for all staff when they have questions or concerns regarding payroll, leaves of absence, contracts, etc

In addition to the functions above, the candidate must perform other duties, tasks, and responsibilities as assigned by the Director of Finance and Operations and/or the Superintendent.

QUALIFICATIONS_____________________________________________________________________

Required

• At least three (3) years experience in a business office either in payroll or similar capacity. 
• Valid Massachusetts Class D Driver License.
• Screening by means of Criminal Offenders Record Investigation (CORI) and Statewide Applicant Fingerprint Identification (SAFIS) review.

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree and/or five (5) or more years of progressively responsible experience that is directly relevant for performing the functions of the job. 
• Experience with payroll systems such as Harper’s Millenium or MUNIS. 
• Familiarity with Excel and Google sheets, and ideally, experience with formulas and lookups. 

KNOWLEDGE, ABILITY, AND SKILL_____________________________________________________

• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines, even when unexpected obstacles cause delay.
• Organizational skills, including the ability to maintain pay records and determine work priorities. 
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to accomplish tasks independently with limited supervision.
• Ability to preempt breakdown and/or problem-solve issues by being attentive and strategic.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to provide clear verbal and written communication in a courteous and professional manner and to work collaboratively with a team.

JOB ENVIRONMENT__________________________________________________________________

Work takes place indoors with more than 90% of the time spent in an office environment. 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS____________________________________________________________

• Sufficient vision to read printed documents and process detail on a computer screen for extended periods. 
• Ability to speak in an understandable voice with sufficient volume to be heard in normal conversation indoors, despite some background noise.

• Ability to stand or walk for sustained periods, sit, bend, and reach, push and pull as well as occasionally lift 20 pounds.

• Ability to operate laptop computers and standard office equipment.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

OTHER_____________________________________________________________________________

The Westwood Public Schools is committed to ensuring that applicants are recruited, hired, and promoted on the basis of qualifications, merit and ability to meet the job demands without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status. 

This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee. It is used as a guide for personnel actions and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and the requirements of the job change.