The MSO Payroll Specialist supports accurate and timely payroll processing through payroll data validation, reconciliation, issue resolution, and operational controls. Partners with payroll operations, HR, timekeeping, benefits, and other stakeholders to investigate payroll discrepancies, resolve employee-impacting issues, and support payroll governance and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Processes payroll inputs and validates pay data to enable accurate, on-time payments and correct withholdings.
• Validates timekeeping, HR, benefits, and other payroll-impacting data changes to ensure information is complete, authorized, and correctly applied.
• Prepares payroll adjustments within established procedures and controls for recurring, off-cycle, retroactive, and correction items.
• Reconciles payroll results and reports to identify variances and exceptions, completes or coordinates corrections, and supports payroll close activities.
• Supports payroll escalations by researching complex or time-sensitive payroll issues, determining employee and payroll impact, coordinating corrective actions, and tracking issues through resolution.
• Performs root cause analysis on payroll errors and recurring exceptions to identify the source of the issue, including data, process, system, integration, or handoff failures.
• Partners with appropriate teams to implement corrective and preventive actions and verifies that identified payroll issues have been fully resolved.
• Identifies recurring payroll trends and process breakdowns and escalates systemic issues requiring broader operational, system, or control remediation.
• Maintains payroll records, reconciliation support, issue documentation, and other evidence required for employee inquiries, statutory requirements, internal reporting, and audit readiness.
• Resolves payroll inquiries by researching transactions and source data, explaining findings, confirming corrective actions, and escalating exceptions through defined workflows.
• Updates procedures, job aids, issue-resolution documentation, and control evidence as processes change to support consistent execution and audit readiness.
• Supports payroll testing, validation, and implementation activities associated with system changes, integrations, enhancements, and process improvements.

Education and Work Experience

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience required.
• 2+ years of payroll processing, payroll operations, or payroll support experience.
• Working knowledge of payroll calculations, deductions, taxes, timekeeping, reconciliations, and payroll corrections.
• Experience researching payroll discrepancies and performing structured root cause analysis.

Skills and Knowledge

• Strong Excel and data-analysis skills, including comparing payroll data across multiple source systems.
• Strong attention to detail, documentation discipline, and ability to manage payroll issues with strict deadlines.
• Ability to coordinate across Payroll, HR, Benefits, Finance, IT, and external payroll providers.
• Proficiency in clear oral and written communication, including documenting processes and responding to inquiries.
• Ability to build effective working relationships using strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and sound judgment.
• Ability to implement and improve processes that support satisfactory audit practices and compliance requirements.
• Experience with payroll and HR platforms such as ADP and Workday preferred.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

What Cencora offers

We provide compensation, benefits, and resources that enable a highly inclusive culture and support our team members’ ability to live with purpose every day. In addition to traditional offerings like medical, dental, and vision care, we also provide a comprehensive suite of benefits that focus on the physical, emotional, financial, and social aspects of wellness. This encompasses support for working families, which may include backup dependent care, adoption assistance, infertility coverage, family building support, behavioral health solutions, paid parental leave, and paid caregiver leave. To encourage your personal growth, we also offer a variety of training programs, professional development resources, and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs, employee resource groups, volunteer activities, and much more. For details, visit https://www.virtualfairhub.com/cencora

*This Salary Range reflects a National Average for this job. The actual range may vary based on your locale. Ranges in Colorado/California/Washington/New York/Hawaii/Vermont/Minnesota/Massachusetts/Illinois State-specific locations may be up to 10% lower than the minimum salary range, and 12% higher than the maximum salary range.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cencora is committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or membership in any other class protected by federal, state or local law.

The company’s continued success depends on the full and effective utilization of qualified individuals. Therefore, harassment is prohibited and all matters related to recruiting, training, compensation, benefits, promotions and transfers comply with equal opportunity principles and are non-discriminatory.

Cencora is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the employment process which are consistent with legal requirements. If you wish to request an accommodation while seeking employment, please call 888.692.2272 or email hrsc@cencora.com. We will make accommodation determinations on a request-by-request basis. Messages and emails regarding anything other than accommodations requests will not be returned

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