People Operations Specialist

About the Role

We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive People Operations Specialist to support our clients growing U.S. employee population of approximately 400 employees. This role will focus heavily on payroll administration, benefits coordination, HR/people analytics reporting, and managing our PEO relationship. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-moving environment, enjoys process improvements, and brings strong customer-service orientation to employee support.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Administration

• Coordinate end-to-end payroll processing through the PEO Paychex, ensuring accuracy and compliance across multiple states.
• Review payroll data (comp changes, bonuses, stipends, deductions, leaves, terminations) for accuracy before submission.
• Troubleshoot payroll issues and work with the PEO to resolve discrepancies quickly.
• Maintain payroll documentation, audit reports, and approval workflows.
• Ensure payroll changes are processed in a timely manner aligned with pay cycles and deadlines.

Benefits Administration

• Serve as the first point of contact for employee benefits questions related to health, dental, vision, disability, FSA/HSA, 401(k), and other offerings through the PEO.
• Coordinate annual open enrollment, communications, and employee support.
• Process benefit enrollments, life event changes, leaves of absence, and terminations in the PEO system.
• Partner with the PEO on compliance with ACA, ERISA, COBRA, and other benefit regulatory requirements.
• Support vendor escalations including claims issues and coverage corrections.

PEO Administration & HR Operations

• Act as day-to-day liaison with the PEO for payroll, benefits, HRIS updates, compliance, and employee records.
• Audit employee data in the PEO system for accuracy and compliance.
• Maintain employee personnel files, onboarding/offboarding checklists, and standard HR workflows.
• Assist with multi-state compliance tasks including employment posters, onboarding state requirements, and reporting.
• Support policy updates, employee handbook revisions, and compliance with federal/state employment laws.

Reporting & Analytics

• Create, maintain, and distribute People Ops reports and dashboards (headcount, turnover, compensation, demographics, benefits utilization, etc.).
• Pull data from the PEO HRIS and other systems to support audits, budgeting cycles, and leadership requests.
• Support quarterly and annual audits (401k, workers comp, payroll, compliance).

Employee Support

• Provide timely, high-quality service to employees and managers regarding payroll, benefits, HR systems, and general People Ops inquiries.
• Support onboarding and offboarding interactions, ensuring a smooth and compliant employee experience.
• Maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of HR or People Operations experience, preferably in a multi-state U.S. environment.
• Strong hands-on experience with PEO platforms (e.g., Insperity, TriNet, ADP TotalSource, Justworks, Paychex, etc.).
• Solid working knowledge of payroll processes, wage and hour rules, and standard HR controls.
• Experience administering benefits in partnership with a PEO or third-party administrator.
• Strong proficiency in HR systems, payroll tools, and Excel/Google Sheets (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs/INDEX MATCH).
• Excellent attention to detail, organization, and ability to maintain accuracy with high volumes of data.
• Strong customer-service skills and ability to handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately.
• Experience with multi-state employment compliance a plus.
• Bachelor's degree preferred, or equivalent experience.