Payroll Specialist (Dayforce)

Job Title: Payroll Specialist

Job Description

This fully remote Payroll Specialist role focuses on hands-on payroll processing for a large North American employee population during a major payroll system harmonization and transformation initiative. You will ensure timely and accurate payroll processing while the internal team leads projects such as payroll frequency changes, garnishment updates, system harmonization, and FEIN consolidation. This is an individual contributor position with no direct reports, ideal for a payroll professional who enjoys detailed work, complex payroll scenarios, and close collaboration with a distributed payroll team.

Responsibilities

• Process high-volume U.S. payroll accurately and on time, ensuring compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.
• Support Canadian payroll processing, primarily for employees in Ontario, as needed.
• Calculate payroll, review payroll results, perform detailed audits, resolve discrepancies, and commit payroll within established timelines.
• Review timesheets, payroll inputs, tax withholdings, garnishments, and other payroll-related data to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Navigate employee profiles and payroll modules to enter, update, and validate payroll information with minimal supervision.
• Troubleshoot payroll issues, identify root causes, and implement timely resolutions to prevent recurrence.
• Run and interpret payroll audits and reports to verify data integrity and support internal controls.
• Support ongoing payroll projects, including system harmonization and payroll transformation initiatives, while maintaining uninterrupted regular payroll cycles.
• Partner collaboratively with payroll teammates, participating in peer reviews and cross-functional payroll checks to ensure consistent, high-quality payroll outcomes.
• Follow established practices related to union employees and collective bargaining agreements, ensuring that union-specific rules and requirements are correctly applied.
• Support multiple payroll frequencies, including weekly, biweekly, and semimonthly payrolls, and adjust processes as needed during frequency changes.
• Maintain confidentiality of sensitive payroll and employee information and adhere to all internal policies and procedures.
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders regarding payroll timelines, issues, and resolutions, especially during critical payroll windows.

Must Have:

At least 4 years of recent/strong hands-on Dayforce payroll processing experience.

Ability to navigate employee profiles and payroll modules, calculate payroll, review payroll, troubleshoot payroll issues, run audits, and commit payroll with minimal training.

Experience processing complex, high-volume, multi-state U.S. payroll.

Strong knowledge of payroll reviews, audits, taxes, and garnishments.

Experience supporting multiple payroll frequencies, including weekly, biweekly, and semimonthly payrolls.

Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a payroll team.

Strong communication, responsiveness, and self-discipline in a remote work environment.

Nice to Have:

Canadian payroll experience, particularly in Ontario.

Experience supporting union payroll environments and working within collective bargaining agreement requirements.

Manufacturing payroll experience.

Previous contract or project-based payroll experience involving system harmonization, acquisitions, or payroll transformation.

Experience processing payroll for a large employee population.

Essential Skills

• Strong, hands-on payroll processing experience with complex, high-volume, multi-state U.S. payrolls.
• Proficiency navigating employee profiles and payroll modules, including the ability to calculate payroll, review payroll, troubleshoot issues, run audits, and commit payroll with minimal training.
• Demonstrated experience supporting multiple payroll frequencies, including weekly, biweekly, and semimonthly cycles.
• Strong knowledge of payroll reviews, audits, taxes, and garnishments, including the ability to validate and reconcile related data.
• Experience working within a collaborative payroll team environment and contributing to peer review processes.
• Proven ability to manage time effectively and meet strict deadlines in a high-volume payroll environment.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain payroll issues clearly to team members and stakeholders.
• High level of responsiveness and self-discipline when working in a fully remote setting, including reliable follow-through on assigned tasks.
• Comfort working independently while remaining highly engaged with a distributed team.

Work Environment

This is a fully remote role with a standard Monday through Friday schedule, typically 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The work environment is highly collaborative, with payroll activities frequently reviewed by multiple team members to ensure accuracy and consistency. You will work independently on day-to-day payroll tasks while staying closely connected to the broader payroll team through virtual communication tools. Success in this environment requires dependability during critical payroll windows, proactive communication about schedule conflicts, and consistent accessibility when payroll questions or issues arise. The culture emphasizes teamwork, shared accountability, and a strong focus on accuracy and timeliness in all payroll-related activities.

This is a Contract position based out of Auburn Hills, MI.

The pay range for this position is $40.00 - $50.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a Contract position based out of Auburn Hills, MI.

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 23, 2026.

This is a fully remote position.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email astoncarteraccommodation@astoncarter.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.