Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is Americas Queen City opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety health and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork openness accountability productivity and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous responsive accessible and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify analyze and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

1) Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop a high-performing payroll team; set goals assign work coach/mentor and conduct performance reviews.
• Establish and maintain SOPs controls checklists calendars and evidence repositories to ensure consistency compliance and audit readiness.
• Serve as the final escalation point for complex calculations employee inquiries and interdepartmental issues; build consensus among stakeholders.

2) Payroll Operations & Processing

• Own end-to-end weekly payroll processing for 9000 employees including gross-to-net calculations off-cycle payments retroactive adjustments shift differentials premium pay leave payouts and final pay.
• Oversee and validate special pay transactions garnishments tax levies and other payroll adjustments; ensure accurate prioritization and timely remittances.
• Supervise the processing of time and labor data employee job data and retro transactions related to compensation time off benefits and terminations.
• Manage and approve on-demand checks and coordinate retiree payouts and deferred compensation documentation.
• Coordinate benefits-related payroll deductions ensure proper reconciliation to vendor invoices and manage benefits billing for employees on leave of absence.

3) Systems Interfaces & Data Integrity

• Serve as subject matter expert for HRMS/Payroll systems (Workday Payroll) including interfaces to banks ORBIT retirement benefit integrations timekeeping issues and financial questions
• Review and analyze payroll audits reports and interface files; ensure proper transmission validation and reconciliation of data across systems; partner with IT to resolve integration issues.
• Validate and adjust monthly ORBIT retirement files; manage submission of the monthly and quarterly files; perform manual adjustments for short-term disability and other statutory programs as needed.
• Own payroll data integrity and audit logs; reconcile data between HRMS Finance/GL and third-party systems; maintain robust documentation.

4) Audit Compliance & Internal Controls

• Design implement and maintain a comprehensive payroll audit program (annual plan quarterly reviews monthly control checks) covering:
  • Payroll-to-GL reconciliation; variance analysis against budget prior periods and trend KPIs.
  • Tax audits and remittances (federal/state/local) including FUTA/SUTA multi-jurisdiction nexus 941 alignment W-2/W-3 balancing and W-2c corrections when needed.
  • Garnishment/child support compliance (setup accuracy priority timeliness returns).
  • Timekeeping audits (missing punches approvals overtime/FLSA standby/on-call pay comp time FMLA-related pay).
  • Leave accruals & payouts (vacation/sick/PTO integrity eligibility cash-out rules).
  • Benefits & deduction reconciliations (vendor files eligibility/effective dates arrears/catch-ups).
  • Retirement reporting (ORBIT contributions eligibility and compliance)
  • Elections reviews (tax/payment elections wage discrepancies holiday eligibility 401(k) participation and limits).
• Maintain and test segregation of duties role-based access and approval workflows in HRMS/Payroll; perform periodic user access reviews.
• Oversee change management for payroll configurations (earnings codes tax tables deductions) and complete UAT for patches/upgrades; coordinate production validations.
• Draft and maintain policies SOPs control narratives process maps and risk/control matrices; ensure evidence retention meets audit standards.
• Coordinate and lead internal/external audits (City Internal Audit external CPA firm State agencies); drive remediation plans and timely closure of findings.
• Ensure compliance with Federal State of North Carolina and local regulations (e.g. FLSA IRS SSA unemployment insurance statutes NC payroll requirements).

5) Reporting Finance Liaison & Customer Service

• Produce timely operational reports and management insights; prepare dashboards/KPIs for leadership (accuracy rate on-time rate exception volume audit findings correction cycle time).
• Liaise with Finance to resolve outstanding payroll check issues; ensure accurate financial documentation including journal vouchers and accounts payable requests.
• Deliver high-level customer service to internal stakeholders; provide advanced support on time entry payroll procedures and system troubleshooting; communicate clearly via phone email and in-person interactions.

6) Continuous Improvement & Strategy

• Drive process improvements (Lean/continuous improvement) automation and standardization to reduce errors and cycle time.
• Lead root cause analyses for defects; implement preventative controls and targeted training.
• Assess policies and pay practices for equity compliance clarity and operational feasibility; propose updates and manage change with stakeholders.

Knowledge Skills & Abilities

• Advanced understanding of payroll principles practices and procedures including wage calculations deductions garnishments and compliance with federal state and local regulations.
• Considerable knowledge of FLSA garnishments W-2 forms and year-end processing; tax laws/regulations and tax reporting (e.g. 941 W-2/W-2c).
• Knowledge of employee benefits and how they affect payroll (eligibility arrears retro vendor reconciliation LOA billing).
• Extensive knowledge and ability to research Governmental payroll requirements ORBIT retirement reporting and interface file transmissions; familiarity with Employment Security reporting.
• Experience partnering with auditors; strong understanding of internal controls segregation of duties and evidence management.
• Expertise in HRMS/Payroll systems (Workday) including absence management earning/deduction codes integrations and UAT.
• Advanced Microsoft 365 skills particularly Excel (pivot tables lookups conditional logic); ability to create and manage reports interface files and financial documentation.
• Strong analytical problem-solving documentation and communication skills; resourceful and proactive in troubleshooting payroll discrepancies and integration challenges.
• Ability to lead and mentor team members foster collaboration and coordinate with cross-functional departments.
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive employee and payroll information with the highest level of confidentiality and professionalism.
• Self-starter who works effectively as part of teams; ability to manage multiple and sometimes competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school graduate or equivalent and seven (7) years of progressively responsible in-house payroll processing experience in a complex high-volume environment.
• At least 3 years of supervisory experience leading payroll teams including a Lead Payroll Specialist

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Accounting Business Administration Human Resources Information Systems or related field.
• Experience with Workday.
• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) or FPC credential preferred.
• Public sector/government payroll experience and knowledge of ORBIT retirement reporting preferred.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Tax and garnishment remittance timeliness and exceptions.
• Employee case resolution time and satisfaction scores.

Work Conditions

• Full-time exempt position. Occasional evening/weekend work may be required during year-end audits or major payroll events.
• Hybrid/onsite schedule aligned with City policy.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The Citys Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes but is not limited to: reference checks social security verification education verification criminal conviction record check and if applicable a credit history check sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidates written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process candidates may be asked to take a skills test and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race religion color sex national origin marital status age disability sexual orientation political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress appearance or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street Suite 200 Charlotte NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST) excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process please email .

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request auxiliary aids written materials in alternate formats language access and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Clickhereto learn more about the City of Charlottes benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.