Summary
Description
As one of the fastest growing cities in Alberta, the City of Airdrie is a recognized leader in building a vibrant and sustainable community through innovation.
At the City of Airdrie, incredible opportunities happen every day in a flexible work environment that is tailored to each department. Our inclusive culture and values create a workplace where we welcome aspiring, driven and creative individuals to help us accomplish our business and community goals. We are supportive of one another, and we have fun while we serve our community. We are passionate about improving the lives of our residents through care and respect; that is the foundation of our organization. At the City of Airdrie, we learn, grow and accomplish great things together. We’re proud to foster a workplace culture built on dedication, teamwork, and genuine care. Our commitment to creating a positive environment is reflected in our employee feedback from the 2025 Employee Engagement Survey, with 92.8% of employees saying they enjoy their work, and 92.6% feeling equipped with the resources they need to stay safe on the job.
If you have a passion for building a better community and are ready to join the excitement, we’d love to hear from you!
The Opportunity:
The Senior Payroll Specialist provides advanced payroll processing expertise to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing within a complex payroll environment. This role focuses primarily on the execution and review of complex payroll transactions, payroll balancing, payroll reconciliations, year-end processing, and issue resolution. Working within established policies, procedures, collective agreements, and direction set by the Team Leader, Payroll the Senior Payroll Specialist applies expert knowledge of payroll legislation and payroll practices to ensure all payroll transactions meet legislative and organizational requirements.
This role serves as a senior technical resource to Payroll Advisors and Payroll Specialists by providing guidance on complex transactions, calculations, compliance requirements, and issue resolution, while not having formal people-management accountability.
The position plays a key operational role in payroll quality assurance through the review of payroll transactions, validation of payroll data, audit preparation, reconciliations, and statutory reporting. The Senior Payroll Specialist identifies payroll discrepancies, compliance risks, process gaps, and system issues, resolving or escalating matters as appropriate. The role also contributes to continuous improvement initiatives, payroll projects, testing activities, system enhancements, and documentation updates that support payroll accuracy, operational efficiency, strong internal controls, and service excellence.
Responsibilities include:
• Execute and support complex payroll processing activities, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and adherence to established policies, collective agreements, and legislative requirements
• Execute and coordinate year-end payroll processing and reconciliations, including T4 preparation, pension and benefit reconciliations, WCB reporting, and statutory filings, ensuring accuracy and audit readiness
• Coordinate and perform complex payroll processing activities, payroll balancing, payroll quality reviews, and payroll reconciliations, ensuring accurate and timely payroll results while maintaining compliance with legislative and organizational requirements
• Perform payroll quality assurance activities, including auditing payroll transactions, reviewing time entry irregularities, validating payroll calculations, and ensuring payroll data integrity. Support internal and external audit activities through documentation preparation, reconciliation analysis, and audit response activities
• Independently investigate, analyze, and resolve complex or high-risk payroll issues of a technical and transactional nature, including retroactive adjustments, overpayments, underpayments, system-related issues, and legislative compliance matters
• Act as a senior technical resource to Payroll Advisors and Payroll Specialists by providing guidance on complex payroll transactions, calculations, payroll legislation, collective agreement interpretation, payroll processes, and issue resolution, without formal supervisory responsibility
• Serve as a senior functional resource for the HRIS and payroll systems by supporting system configuration, testing, reporting, troubleshooting, data integrity reviews, upgrades, implementations, and process improvements. Identify system issues, data inconsistencies, process gaps, and control weaknesses, and recommend enhancements to improve payroll accuracy, efficiency, compliance, and service delivery
You Bring:
• Post Secondary education in Business Administration, Accounting, Human Resources, or related field is an asset
• Payroll Compliance Professional (PCP) designation required
• Payroll Leader Professional (PLP) – Considered an asset
• Minimum 5 – 7 years’ experience in a full cycle pay
• Advanced knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation and payroll
• Experience developing and validating HRIS and payroll reports to support operational, audit, and compliance requirements
• Advanced knowledge of HRIS and payroll systems, including payroll configuration, business process workflows, reporting, testing, troubleshooting, and data validation
• In‑depth knowledge of year‑end payroll processes, including T4 reporting, pension reconciliations, WCB reporting, and statutory filings
• Highly proficient with computer skills and technology, including Microsoft Office including Excel
• Analytical, problem solving and troubleshooting skills
• Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Highly self-motivated and self-directed
• Demonstrates a strong commitment to meeting deadlines and ensuring work is completed accurately and on time
• Maintains a high level of customer service with a focus on delivering timely, helpful, and respectful support
• Ability to build and maintain strong collaborative relationships within the team
• Maintains confidentiality and consistently demonstrates ethical behavior when handling sensitive payroll and employee data
We Offer:
Along with a competitive compensation program and City paid health and dental premiums, our employees also enjoy:
• Excellent health, dental, paramedical, and benefits plan
• Career development and tuition reimbursement
• Employee discounts, gym membership, social events, and health & wellness initiatives
Continuous learning through training and development is encouraged as are flexible work arrangements, when possible. We recognize that our people work best when they feel engaged in their environment and appreciated for their efforts and our overall benefits package reflects that.
Additional Information:
This is a 18-month temporary role scheduled at 37.5 hours per week. An extension of the term is dependent on operational needs.
Please include a cover letter along with your resume.
Next Steps:
Candidates are invited to apply online. We only accept resumes and additional application documents through our online recruitment system. In-person applications, email or other online forms will not be considered.
If you require an accommodation during any part of the application or hiring process, please contact us at careers@airdrie.ca and we will work with you to meet your needs.
The City of Airdrie is committed to fostering a workplace culture where belonging, equity, accessibility, and diversity are deeply ingrained into all parts of the City, where employees feel they belong, are treated with respect, and where everyone can thrive and contribute to the City’s success.
Postings close at 10:00 PM MT (Mountain Time) on the closing date listed in the posting. We recommend applying as soon as possible as we are not able to accept late applications.
Please review the job competition carefully and be sure to attach any specifically requested documentation in the My Documents section of your application.
Interviewing and hiring may commence prior to the posted closing date.
Thank you for your interest in the City of Airdrie.
