Payroll Specialist - Team A (Human Resources Specialist)

Essential Functions

• Under general direction, serves as the Payroll Specialist-Team A for the Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT), providing journey-level professional, complex, and specialized payroll functions and providing payroll advice and recommendations to management, supervisors, and employees regarding matters of the application and interpretation of rules, regulations, contracts, and policies of the Payroll Unit.
• Serves as Team A Payroll Coordinator, providing technical support regarding statewide policies and procedures for payroll operations and reviews and evaluates office procedures to ensure all records are processed and maintained in accordance with statutory and State regulations and policies.
• Serves as a designated lead worker.
• Compiles and directs the preparation of reporting relating to payroll processes and composes correspondence, often of a sensitive nature, concerning payroll process issues.
• Confers with managers and supervisors throughout DoIT, IL Office of the Comptroller, State Employees Retirement Systems, HR staff, legislative staff, and individual employees in response to inquiries relative to payroll processes and provides advice and guidance to management and employees concerning payroll related issues.
• Conducts periodic audits of payroll records to ensure compliance and works with internal and external auditors in resolving or explaining issues/findings.
• Provides guidance and training to new Team A payroll staff on the Central Payroll System and in the implementation of the new laws, procedures, rules, or regulations (i.e., furlough) and identifies problems with established procedures, modifies accordingly and provides one-on-one training as necessary.
• Performs research studies and special projects for various personnel issues for the Payroll Manager, frequently of a highly sensitive and confidential nature and coordinates projects and confers with other staff in the resolution of issues related to payroll. 
•Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of duties enumerated above.

Minimum Qualifications

• Requires knowledge, skill and mental development equivalent to the completion of four (4) years of college.
• Requires two (2) years of professional human resources experience.

Specialized Skills

• Requires two (2) years of professional experience in payroll processing, including the application of complex payroll rules, reconciliation of payroll discrepancies, and coordination with internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely and accurate payroll execution.
• Requires two (2) years of professional experience interpreting and applying the State of Illinois Personnel Code, Personnel Rules, Position Classification Plan, Pay Plan, and Collective Bargaining Agreements, including AFSCME and Teamsters (Protech 916), to ensure compliance in payroll-related decisions and transactions.
• Requires two (2) years of professional experience training and guiding coworkers in the use of enterprise payroll and timekeeping systems, including the Central Payroll System, Personnel Examination and Eligibility Records System (PEERS), Central Time and Attendance System (CTAS), and ePass to include developing training materials, providing one on one instructions, and troubleshooting system-related issues.
• Requires two (2) years of professional experience utilizing Microsoft (MS) Outlook, MS Word, and Excel to prepare complex reports, correspondence, and data analyses related to payroll operations, including the use of formulas, pivot tables, and formatting tools to support decision making and reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Two (2) years of professional experience in payroll processing, including the application of complex payroll rules, reconciliation of payroll discrepancies, and coordination with internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely and accurate payroll execution.
• Two (2) years of professional experience interpreting and applying the State of Illinois Personnel Code, Personnel Rules, Position Classification Plan, Pay Plan, Collective Bargaining Agreements (e.g. AFSCME or Teamsters (Protech 916)), or other similarly related policies, procedures, pay plans, or bargaining units to ensure compliance in payroll-related decisions and transactions.
• Two (2) years of professional experience training and guiding coworkers in the use of enterprise payroll and timekeeping systems, including the Central Payroll System, Personnel Examination and Eligibility Records System (PEERS), Central Time and Attendance System (CTAS), ePass, or other similarly comparable payroll and timekeeping systems to include developing training materials, providing one on one instructions, and troubleshooting system-related issues.
• Two (2) years of professional experience utilizing Microsoft (MS) Outlook, MS Word, and Excel to prepare complex reports, correspondence, and data analyses related to payroll operations, including the use of formulas, pivot tables, and formatting tools to support decision making and reporting.
• Ability to deconstruct complex projects into actionable tasks, organize workflows, and manage timelines to achieve desired outcomes efficiently and effectively.
• Ability to organize, categorize, and interpret quantitative and qualitative data, developing meaningful metrics and insights to support payroll audits, compliance reviews, and operational improvements.
• Ability to analyze complex payroll and administrative problems, evaluate potential solutions, and implement effective courses of action to resolve employee payroll or compliance issues.
• Demonstrated organizational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects, meet mandated deadlines, and prioritize urgent compliance or staffing issues in a fast-paced environment.
• Developed verbal and written communication skills to convey complex payroll policies, compliance requirements, and personnel procedures clearly and effectively to diverse stakeholders including executives, managers, staff and external auditors.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with staff, managers, executives, and external stakeholders, fostering collaboration in resolving sensitive payroll issues and supporting Payroll Operations. 

Condition of Employment

NOTE: Applicants must possess the ability to meet ALL of the following conditions of employment, with or without reasonable accommodation, to be considered for this position.

• Requires the ability to verify identity.
• Requires employment authorization to accept permanent full-time position with State of Illinois.
• Requires the ability to pass a position specific, agency required background check and requires self-disclosure of criminal history.
• Requires the ability to travel in performance of duties.
• Requires the ability to work outside of normal hours to meet deadlines.
• Requires the ability to serve in an on-call capacity. 
• Requires the ability to use agency supplied equipment such as laptop, personal computer, work cell phone, etc.
• Requires the ability to attend seminars, conferences, and training to remain current on methods, tools, ideologies, or other industry related topics relevant to job duties.
• Requires the ability to lift and carry objects or equipment weighing up to 10 pounds. This is considered sedentary work as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor (20 CFR 404.1567(a)). Sedentary work involves lifting no more than 10 pounds at a time and requires occasional lifting, carrying, walking, and standing.
• The conditions of employment listed are incorporated and/or related to any duties included in the position description.