Payroll Specialist

Align is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Payroll Specialist to join our Accounting team. This role is responsible for owning and executing end-to-end, bi-weekly payroll for a multi-state workforce of 260+ employees. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on payroll processing experience, knowledge of payroll laws and requirements, and the ability to independently manage day-to-day payroll processing, reporting, and reconciliations. 

This is a hybrid role based out of our Iselin, NJ office. The Payroll Specialist will work in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and remotely three days per week. 

This is a full-time, non-exempt position offering $85,000 to $100,000 annually, plus benefits and paid time off. 

Key Responsibilities

• Own and process end-to-end, bi-weekly payroll for a multi-state workforce of 260+ employees 
• Maintain employee payroll records, including changes to pay, location, status, taxes, deductions, and garnishments 
• Resolve payroll discrepancies and process corrections, manual checks, voids, and reversals as needed 
• Process employee overtime, benefits deductions, garnishments, and expense reimbursements 
• Respond to employee and management payroll inquiries 
• Prepare payroll reporting and perform quarterly General Ledger (GL) vs. payroll system reconciliations 
• Prepare and journalize bi-weekly payroll entries 
• Support quarterly and year-end payroll processes, including W-2 verification and reporting 
• Support insurance and Workers' Compensation audits 
• Coordinate with ADP on payroll-related issues and initiate new-state registrations as needed 
• Work with ADP HRIS data and Time & Attendance and ConnectWise time-entry data as part of payroll processing 
• Work with employee data from onboarding and benefits systems as needed 
• Maintain security and confidentiality of payroll and employee information 

Qualifications 

Required 

• 5+ years of hands-on payroll processing and administration experience 
• Experience owning end-to-end payroll for a multi-state workforce 
• Hands-on experience with a payroll processing system; ADP Workforce Now experience is strongly preferred 
• Strong knowledge of payroll laws, tax compliance, deductions, and garnishments 
• Understanding of exempt and non-exempt employee classifications and overtime calculations 
• Experience with payroll reporting and reconciliations 
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel 
• Strong attention to detail, organization, and ability to manage multiple priorities 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work independently 
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive payroll and employee information 

Preferred 

• Experience creating and running standard and custom payroll reports 
• Experience with ADP Workforce Now, including familiarity with ADP HRIS and exposure to Onboarding and Benefits modules 
• Knowledge of Time & Attendance processes and employee time-entry data 
• Experience with employee benefits and related payroll deductions 
• Experience with expense management systems 
• Experience supporting Workers' Compensation or insurance audits 
• Experience performing General Ledger payroll reconciliations 

To support a fair, consistent, and high-quality hiring experience, some interviews may be recorded. These recordings help our team focus fully on the conversation at hand, rather than note-taking, and allow us to better evaluate and improve our recruitment process. Recordings are used solely for internal purposes such as training, quality assurance, and process improvement. Candidates will be informed in advance and asked to provide consent before any recording takes place.

Tier 2