Req #: 222502 Department: APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY Job Location: Seattle Campus Job Location Detail: This position will allow for a hybrid schedule, with no more than 40% of effort during a workweek being performed at a remote location. Posting Date: 05/18/2023 Closing Info: Open Until Filled Salary: $5,500 - $7,000 per month Other Compensation: Shift: First Shift Benefits: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here.
As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.
The Business and Finance team at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington is hiring – see yourself at APL!
The Applied Physics Laboratory is a research unit at the University of Washington. Our research expertise is in ocean physics and engineering, ocean and medical acoustics, polar science, environmental remote sensing, and signal processing. We conduct research and development that is sponsored by a variety of federal and state agencies, and take great pride in our long-standing status as a US Navy-designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). Our work takes place not only on the University of Washington campus and medical centers, but in field locations around the world – at sea, in the air, and on polar ice caps. We apply rigorous scientific inquiry and engineering excellence in pursuit of solutions to important problems for the good of our region, nation, and world.
Diversity is a core value at University of Washington and the Applied Physics Laboratory shares this commitment. We are focused on building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable research environment for all students, staff, and collaborators. We believe every member on our team enriches our community by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions.
This position is Payroll Operations Compliance Analyst, reporting to the Manager of Program Operations in the Office of Financial Management (OFM) in the Business and Finance (BF) unit of the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). As a US Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), APL is subject to several layers of complicated and overlapping requirements and regulations regarding financial activities, records, and processes. The Payroll Operations Compliance Analyst is responsible for all aspects of the Laboratory’s payroll program. This position will perform a variety of complex analyses, modeling, forecasting, and related tasks that leverage data from Workday HR/P and Financials. In addition, the incumbent selected will develop and implement related policies and procedures; anticipates and identifies needs for APL practice enhancements and updates in response to evolving regulatory requirements; and provides education and escalated support and issue resolution for fiscal staff and the broad APL employee community.
This position must acquire a thorough understanding of several regulatory layers, beginning with UW policy and labor contracts, local and state law, federal regulations, and requirements stemming from APL’s research contract with the United States Navy. That knowledge base must then be applied to an employee base of 400 people who perform year-round research in remote field locations around the globe.
One of the most demanding elements of this position involves the level of granularity of detail required by our Navy contract. Compliance with this contract requires APL employees to track their working effort at an individual, project-by-project level. This results in thousands of individual transactions each pay period, each transaction having a direct and immediate impact on the budget of a sponsored research project. This position must take an APL-wide view of these transactions each pay period, and at the same time be able to support fiscal staff identify, diagnose, and resolve errors at the project level.
The person selected will apply their knowledge and their lab-wide view of operational activity to identify needs, create, and deliver fiscal staff and lab staff education, as well as create and maintain APL policies and procedures that not only keep up with regulatory changes but can also readily adopted by APL’s large employee base from wherever in the world they happen to be recording their payroll entries.
Major Duties & Responsibilities:
Compliance and Education:
• Develops and maintains a thorough understanding of several layers of regulatory requirements (UW policy and labor contracts; local and state law; federal regulation; requirements stemming from APL’s contract with the United States Navy).
• Identifies, creates, implements, and updates policies, procedures, and internal controls that maintain ongoing compliance with all applicable requirements.
• Develops and delivers education to B&F fiscal staff and APL employees that support operational compliance and also cultivate high levels of user acceptance given the level of granularity required and the challenges inherent in employee populations that regularly work in remote field locations.
• Develops quantifiable metrics to measure the effectiveness of support and training materials. Performs routine updates of these materials to account for Workday enhancements, changes to regulatory requirements, and business process updates.
• Assesses APL’s payroll reporting acumen and alignment with UW financial and budgetary expectations, policies, and procedures providing focused training to the Department Administrators to ensure the highest level of competency and service.
Program Administration:
• Supervises and oversees the work product of fiscal staff that support semi-monthly payroll processing. Develops and maintains an auditing schedule for Workday activities to ensure the accurate and successful completion of each semi-monthly payroll.
• Analyzes and synthesizes payroll reports that quickly identify payroll issues to avoid negative impacts on research project budgets, including any potential concerns for sponsor-related regulatory compliance. Directs the resolution of issues and errors; provides direct resolution of escalated or particularly non-routine issues.
• Oversees all payroll activity at APL including timesheet management and oversight of the Laboratory’s leave accrual balances. Oversees payroll account setup and Workday position cost-center assignments; labor accounting transaction processing to direct grant and contract accounts, pro-rated direct cost accounts, or other Laboratory accounts.
• Oversees APL’s project statement certifications and associated workflows for compliance in the Employee Compensation Compliance (ECC) system. Coordinates re-certifications and outstanding statements with Department Administrators and Principal Investigators.
• Oversees fiscal staff who identify and process corrective actions related to over- and underpayments; processes retroactive payments; and obtains emergency checks. Provides direct support in escalated or particularly non-routine issues.
• Implements APL’s schedule for payroll program activities related to fiscal period closings.
Analysis:
• Maintains the application of the annual APL Leave Accrual Rate and APL Professional Health Care Rate, ensuring consistent costing across fund sources. Partners with the Manager and UW Management Accounting and Analysis to incorporate APL rates into University’s rate schedule, and to submit APL rates to the University’s cognizant oversight agency, the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Reconciles and analyzes APL’s Leave Liability Pool.
• Performs a variety of complex analyses, modeling, forecasting, and reporting tasks. Analyzes and synthesizes large datasets from several sources, including Workday HR/P and Financials and UW data repositories. Applications for these analyses include APL’s prorated direct cost (PDC) budget proposal that is submitted to the Office of Naval Research for annual review and approval.
• Develops and communicates timely and accurate metrics, reports, and process improvement recommendations to the Business and Finance Team.
• Evaluates payroll cost transfer requests for allowability and escalate to Manager as needed.
Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration, or related field, and 3 years of payroll experience, including:
• Coordinating highly complex payroll requests.
• Coordinating payroll processing for a large employee base.
• Interpreting, applying, and communicating institutional, administrative, and fiscal compliance requirements: regulations, laws, policies, and practices.
• Responding quickly to challenges, assessing options, and exacting the best plan for resolution.
• Collaborative and independent problem-solving.
• Managing multiple competing deadline-driven priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Commitment and orientation to excellent service, focused on proactivity and responsiveness.
• Excellent written and spoken communication with a focus on clear, concise, solution-centered messaging.
• Ability to teach, troubleshoot, and mentor staff and peers.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite of applications, with intermediate to advanced Excel skills.
• Proficiency with remote communication tools (e.g., Teams, Zoom, online collaboration applications).
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Desired:
• Additional years of relevant payroll experience.
• Experience coordinating payroll in a high volume-research program, within an academic institution, a federal research program, or other compliance-focused programs.
• Experience with complex payroll activities.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt to new software, web-based applications, and tools.
• Experience with Workday.
• Prior experience with enterprise-wide system implementation.
Application Process:The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.