Payroll Specialist

Job Title: Payroll Specialist

Location: Noida, Sector 158

Role Summary

We are looking for a seasoned and detail-oriented Payroll Specialist with deep expertise in end-to-end payroll operations, team management, and hands-on experience using HR One. The ideal candidate will be responsible for ensuring accurate, timely payroll

processing, compliance with statutory requirements, and smooth team coordination.

Key Functional Areas & Responsibilities:

1. Payroll Strategy & Governance

• Policy Development & Review:

  Design, implement, and regularly update payroll best practices to align with organizational strategy, labor laws, tax regulations, and employee compensation philosophy. This includes SOPs for salary processing, incentive disbursement, statutory deductions, and audit readiness.

• Governance Framework:

  Establish a payroll governance structure that defines roles, responsibilities, escalation protocols, and internal controls. Enforce segregation of duties and data confidentiality protocols to mitigate risk and ensure compliance.

• Strategic Advisory:

  Partner with HR and Finance leadership to advise on compensation modeling, incentive alignment, cost implications, and risk factors associated with payroll and statutory obligations. Provide insight for budgeting, headcount forecasting, and business continuity planning.

• Technology & Vendor Oversight:

  Evaluate and recommend payroll technology solutions or third-party vendors. Ensure service level adherence, system compliance, data security, and cost optimization across platforms.

2. Payroll Execution & Validation

• Comprehensive Payroll Management:

  Lead the complete payroll process—from collecting inputs to releasing salaries—for diverse employee types (permanent, contract, consultant, intern), ensuring strict adherence to timelines and zero tolerance for error.

• Payroll Inputs Reconciliation:

  Consolidate and verify attendance logs, overtime, paid leaves, variable pay, deductions (loan, advance, LOP), and additions (bonus, incentives). Cross-check with HRMS and manual inputs from multiple departments.

• Authorization & Disbursement:

  Authorize payroll batches, ensure bank instructions are executed accurately, and verify successful disbursement to employee accounts. Address discrepancies with urgency and professionalism.

• Cross-Functional Integration:

  Synchronize payroll records with HR (for new joins, exits, increments), Finance (for ledger postings and cash flow), and Compliance (for filings and reports) to ensure consistency and alignment.

• Payroll Audit Trail Maintenance:

  Maintain version-controlled documentation of all payroll activities—input logs, authorization records, and correspondence—for audit readiness and traceability.

3. Statutory Compliance Management

• Regulatory Adherence:

  Monitor, interpret, and ensure full compliance with applicable labor laws and taxation policies such as Provident Fund (PF), Employees’ State Insurance (ESI), Professional Tax (PT), Labor Welfare Fund (LWF), TDS, Gratuity Act, Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act, and others specific to regional authorities.

• Filing & Returns:

  Oversee preparation and filing of monthly and annual statutory returns, such as PF ECR, ESIC returns, Form 24Q (TDS), Form 16/16A, PT challans, LWF remittance, and bonus declarations within due dates.

• Audit Support & Liaising:

  Act as the focal point for internal, statutory, and external audits—furnishing documentation, explaining practices, and rectifying audit findings. Establish a cycle of continuous improvement based on audit feedback.

• Regulatory Change Management:

  Keep abreast of legal amendments, government notifications, and circulars impacting payroll and compliance. Lead change implementation in systems and processes proactively, ensuring zero lapses in compliance.

4. System Management & Automation

• Payroll System Configuration & Governance

  : Lead the end-to-end administration of payroll software such as HR One, SAP, Oracle, or equivalent, ensuring proper setup of pay structures, earnings, deductions, taxation rules, leave policies, and approval workflows. Enforce access control protocols and user authorization levels to maintain data confidentiality and system integrity.

• Integration & Alignment

  : Coordinate with HRMS, attendance, and time-tracking systems to establish seamless integration with the payroll engine. Ensure compatibility between payroll, accounting (ERP), and compliance platforms to avoid data mismatches and duplication.

• Process Automation Initiatives:

  Identify manual, repetitive payroll tasks (e.g., timesheet validations, loan EMI adjustments, pay slip releases) and initiate automation using built-in tools or RPA solutions. Collaborate with IT and process excellence teams to implement payroll bots, APIs, and scripts for faster TAT and reduced error margins.

• System Maintenance & Vendor Collaboration

  : Coordinate with software vendors for upgrades, configuration changes, patch implementation, and technical issue resolution. Maintain documentation for system flows, user manuals, and updates for audit and training purposes.

• Data Quality & Reporting:

  Oversee accurate and real-time system dashboards reflecting payroll headcount, cost distribution, compliance status, and pending actions. Proactively monitor data discrepancies, duplicate entries, and synchronization errors across systems.

5. Audit & Internal Controls

• Audit Readiness & Documentation

  : Ensure all payroll activities—such as input validations, payment approvals, bonus disbursements, and F&F settlements—are tracked with timestamped audit trails. Maintain a centralized repository of payroll documentation including challans, tax filings, approvals, and reconciliations.

• Internal Audit Engagements:

  Liaise with internal audit teams to conduct quarterly/annual audits, provide reports, explain control mechanisms, and respond to queries. Implement and follow up on corrective actions or process improvements suggested by auditors.

• Statutory & External Audits:

  Prepare and present records to labor authorities, tax departments, and statutory bodies, ensuring full transparency and legal compliance. Manage inspections under PF, ESIC, Gratuity, Minimum Wages Act, or Income Tax scrutiny with confidence and documentation support.

• Controls & Risk Management:

  Define and enforce preventive controls (e.g., maker-checker policy, approval matrix, exception tracking) across all payroll activities. Periodically conduct self-audits and data sampling to detect and rectify anomalies, leakages, or non-compliance.

• Compliance Checklists & Frameworks:

  Maintain detailed checklists mapped to monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll cycles to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Update SOPs and control documents in line with changes to labor laws or taxation policies.

6. Analytics & Reporting

• Payroll Cost Analysis:

  Generate

  monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll cost reports

  broken down by cost centers, departments, locations, and employee grades. Provide comparative year-over-year and month-over-month data to support budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis. Highlight fixed vs. variable cost trends and track alignment with financial targets.

• Trend Monitoring & Insights:

  Analyze key payroll indicators such as

  overtime payouts, variable incentive utilization, attendance-linked payouts, and headcount movements

  . Track trends in

  statutory deductions

  , such as PF or TDS contributions, to anticipate tax liabilities or benefit restructuring opportunities.

• Tax & Benefit Optimization Reports:

  Deliver reports on

  employee tax-saving utilization

  (HRA, Section 80C, exemptions) to help with future policy design or benefit communication. Identify patterns in underutilization of benefits or deduction mismatches.

• Exception & Deviation Tracking:

  Monitor

  off-cycle payments, corrections, reversals, and high-value outliers

  that deviate from standard payroll rules or policy thresholds. Generate exception reports for management sign-off and audit reconciliation.

• Full & Final (F&F) Settlement Analysis:

  Prepare periodic insights on F&F cases (average settlement time, error rates, disputes), helping improve exit process efficiency.

• Compliance Risk Reports:

  Track compliance metrics such as

  on-time filings, statutory challan payments, and audit readiness status

  . Flag any delays or irregularities for leadership attention.

• MIS for Leadership:

  Create

  dashboard-style reports

  for CHRO, CFO, and senior management—summarizing salary trends, payroll efficiency, compliance health, and cost-saving opportunities.

Key Skills & Competencies

• In-depth knowledge of

  Indian labor laws

  , tax codes, and payroll regulations.
• Hands-on expertise with

  HR One

  and advanced

  Excel/reporting tools

  .
• Strong leadership, people management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail, discretion, and ability to handle sensitive data.
• Problem-solving agility, process orientation, and a commitment to service excellence.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in commerce, Business, HR, or a related field.
• 8+ years of payroll experience, preferably in a mid-to-large organization.
• Proficient in

  HR One

  and Microsoft Excel.
• Sound understanding of Indian payroll regulations and statutory compliance.
• Strong leadership skills with experience in team handling.
• Looking for immediate joiners.