Senior Payroll Specialist – Human Resources Liaison at EPIC Health System LLC – Southfield, Michigan

Department: Finance / Accounting (with cross-functional partnership with Human Resources)
Location: Southfield, MI ( In-Person)

At EPIC Health, operational excellence is critical to delivering care to our most vulnerable communities. The Senior Payroll Specialist – Human Resources Liaison plays a vital role in ensuring our people are paid accurately, compliantly, and on time—while maintaining strong governance between Payroll, Finance, and Human Resources.

This is a senior-level role for a payroll professional who thrives in complex, multi-state environments and takes ownership of payroll operations from end to end. You’ll serve as the process owner for payroll, ensuring HR-approved employee lifecycle changes are executed with precision, payroll accounting is accurate and auditable, and payroll operations meet the highest standards of compliance and internal control.

Experience with ADP Workforce Now or similar enterprise payroll platforms is highly preferred.

• Independently process full-cycle payroll for exempt and non-exempt employees across multiple states and legal entities.

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll laws, including wage and hour regulations, overtime, final pay, and state-specific requirements.

• Administer payroll for all employee lifecycle events, including new hires, terminations, pay changes, bonuses, commissions, retroactive pay, and off-cycle payrolls.

• Review, validate, and reconcile time and attendance data prior to payroll submission.

• Oversee payroll deductions including benefits, retirement plans, garnishments, and other statutory or voluntary deductions.

• Resolve complex payroll issues, adjustments, and escalations with accuracy, discretion, and professionalism.

• Serve as the primary payroll liaison to Human Resources, ensuring all payroll system changes are executed only with documented HR approval.

• Translate HR-authorized actions into accurate payroll and HRIS updates, including:

  • New hires and rehires

  • Terminations, leaves of absence, and status changes

  • Compensation, job, and classification updates

  • Benefit eligibility and enrollment changes

• Enforce consistent documentation standards and approval workflows between HR and Payroll.

• Maintain complete audit trails supporting all payroll-related changes.

• Partner with HR on payroll-related policy interpretation, employee communications, and training initiatives.

• Ensure payroll activity is accurately mapped and posted to the general ledger by entity, department, and cost center.

• Prepare and review payroll-related journal entries, accruals, and reallocations.

• Perform payroll reconciliations for cash, liabilities, taxes, and benefit accounts.

• Support monthly close by providing payroll expense analysis, variance explanations, and supporting schedules.

• Collaborate with Accounting on payroll audits, financial statement reviews, and management reporting.

• Develop, document, and maintain comprehensive payroll Standard Operating Procedures, including:

  • Payroll processing cycles and deadlines

  • HR-to-Payroll approval workflows

  • Time and attendance validation

  • Payroll corrections and off-cycle runs

  • Payroll tax and benefit reconciliations

• Design and enforce internal controls and appropriate segregation of duties.

• Implement and maintain checklists, control logs, and review sign-offs to ensure consistency and compliance.

• Periodically review and update SOPs to reflect system changes, regulatory updates, and operational improvements.

• Act as the primary payroll contact for internal and external audits.

• Prepare and maintain payroll documentation supporting audits, including approvals, reconciliations, and control evidence.

• Monitor payroll-related compliance requirements and proactively identify and mitigate risk.

• Support year-end processes, including W-2 preparation, payroll tax filings, and reconciliations.

• Partner with Finance and HR leadership to address audit findings and implement corrective actions.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• 5+ years of full-charge payroll experience, including multi-state payroll environments.

• Demonstrated experience developing payroll SOPs, internal controls, and audit support processes.

• Strong understanding of payroll accounting, general ledger posting, and reconciliations.

• Proven ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in compliance-driven environments.

• Hands-on experience with ADP Workforce Now (Payroll, Time & Attendance, HR modules).

• Experience in healthcare, clinical, or professional services organizations.

• Experience supporting internal and external payroll audits.

• Payroll certification (CPP or FPC) preferred.

At EPIC Health, we believe strong systems support strong care. You’ll join a mission-driven organization where precision, accountability, and collaboration directly support the health and well-being of the communities we serve.