Associate Director, Payroll Services

Job Description

The Associate Director - Payroll Services manages and coordinates the operations and activities of the Payroll Office, ensuring the accurate and timely preparation and disbursement of employee paychecks. This includes the maintenance and payment of related taxes and liabilities, and producing biweekly labor distribution reports and monthly budget statements. This position applies and monitors labor change transactions, reconciles faculty deferred payments and liabilities, and assists in the presentation of campus-wide payroll and timekeeping training.

Characteristic Duties

Formulates, recommends, and implements changes to procedures to ensure the integrity of the payroll system, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations governing payment of wages.

• Administers biweekly payroll processing for approximately 2,850 employees, including balancing salary changes, tax documents, miscellaneous deductions, leave information, overtime, time-off payroll, and straight-time exceptions.
• Advises certain academic support departments on federal contract rules and regulations, particularly Office of Management and Budget (OMB) A-21; collaborates with Contract & Grant Accounting and the Office of Sponsored Programs to resolve external financial issues.
• Serves as the liaison between the Payroll Office and Research units, including the Office of Sponsored Programs, all Research Centers, Contract and Grant Accounting, Effort Reporting, and the Budget Office, supporting the University’s extensive externally funded research contracts, where approximately 70% of expenditures are personnel-related.
• Manages the preparation, balancing, and distribution of three biweekly payrolls and weekly manual check processes, including all aspects of payroll registers.
• Processes University benefit liabilities biweekly and reconciles liability accounts in Banner HR/Finance; prepares and enters journal entries to balance accounts and correct defaulting liability errors.
• Assists with payroll-related training programs across campus, including Web Time Entry, ELabor, EPrints, and TCP.
  
  

Collaborates with the Director of Payroll Services and Financial Services to develop customized labor reports supporting administrative decision-making; ensures reports are accurate, confidential, and compliant for submission to external agencies.

• Assists the Director of Payroll with testing updates, upgrades, or changes in payroll software, including Banner, TCP, and Glacier.
• Supports the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs on financial issues related to external grants and contracts, particularly labor distributions for academic support departments lacking a dedicated budget analyst.
• Assists in the development and implementation of the Business Interruption Insurance process, which mitigates costs associated with school closings due to weather or other emergencies.
• Assists in the development and implementation of the Leave Loaded System process.
• Applies technical expertise from Payroll and Contracts & Grants Accounting to improve operational efficiency without additional staffing in a growing research environment.
• Analyzes and resolves complex payroll issues; determines causes and implements corrective actions.
• Maintains knowledge of recent changes in payroll regulations, notifying affected staff of updates and implications.
• Performs monthly reconciliation of deferred faculty benefit charges, requiring a detailed understanding of organizational charges and liabilities.
• Coordinates with supervisors and departmental representatives to align payroll-related activities.
• Compiles and reviews data for state and federal reports; monitors staff submissions to ensure accurate recording of transactions.
• Generates and distributes labor distribution and budget reports biweekly and monthly, including EPrints and ELabor setup and training.
• Ensures familiarity and compliance with OMB A-21 and A-133 regulations.
• Supports payroll and encumbrance feeds, as well as LSS and Business Interruption Insurance coordination with Accounting & Finance multiple times per week.
  
  

Develops and implements changes to work assignments, procedures, or methods to meet operational needs and improve payroll accuracy and efficiency.

• Participates in GRA/GTA orientation.
• Acts as the primary contact for payroll questions, audits, or related inquiries.
• Prepares vacation and sick rollover reports, including reconciliation of employee leave.
• Assists with campus new hire orientation.
• Serves as payroll representative for all benefit setup on the new employee benefit site (Benefit Focus).
  
  

Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field with 7-8 years of related professional experience (of which should include experience in accounting, payroll, and budgeting), or an equivalent combination of education and years of experience.

• Must have a minimum of 1–2 years of experience providing employee training.
• Must be proficient in Excel
• Strong proficiency in the use and management of payroll and finance Systems, including budgeting and tax-related platforms.
• Excellent communication skills, strong attention to detail, high level of accuracy, and comfortable working with numbers.
  
  

Desired Qualifications

University payroll experience, including contracts and grants administration

• Proficient in Ellucian Banner HR/Finance systems and Microsoft Office Suite
• Experience in payroll, accounting, and budgeting within a university environment
• Knowledge of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21
• Knowledge of Power BI
• Experience with automated payroll, accounting, and budgeting systems, preferably mainframe-based
• Supervisory oversight, Banner/HR systems expertise, and university payroll/financial compliance knowledge strongly preferred
  
  

Auto req ID

469819BR

Minimum Education Required

Bachelors

Job_Category

Administrative and Support Services

City*

Huntsville

State*

Alabama

Job Code

Director Director

Affiliate Sponsor

The University of Alabama

Salary Range

$75,000-$100,000