Mgr, Payroll

GCI's Mgr, Payroll will provide strong leadership and manage the daily responsibilities and results for a team in the payroll department. Oversee and direct payroll procedures, ensuring that employees are paid accurately, on time, and in compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations, as well as company policies and procedures. Ensure compliance with labor law and government regulations related to payroll reporting, taxing, and garnishments. Ensure compliance with 401(k) regulations and the GCI 401(k) Plan Document.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AT ALL LEVELS:

This leadership position requires the following non-delegable responsibilities:

- Fully own the mission, goals, operations, and results of the team and areas of responsibility.

- Provide strong leadership to span of control (direct and indirect reports); demonstrate effective leadership in all interactions companywide. This leadership includes generating enthusiasm and shared commitment; identifying and setting direction; teaching, growing, and empowering; owning outcomes; and leading by example. Specific leadership duties include:

- Establishing the vision and tone for the department, consistent with company culture and mission.

- Establishing clear, measurable, and achievable goals and performance expectations and following up appropriately.

- Hiring individuals who can accomplish those goals and meet those expectations; providing them the open communication, training, tools, and mentoring needed to be successful and develop professionally; establishing a development path commensurate with capabilities and potential.

- Providing clear and accurate feedback to individuals and teams on a timely and consistent basis. Identifying and addressing performance problems early and effectively before they damage GCI’s interests and demoralize other employees.

- Effectively managing processes including annual performance reviews, compensation adjustments, promotions, demotions, transfers, and disciplinary actions up to and including termination in an unbiased and consistent manner.

- Manage the timely and accurate processing of payroll, which includes terminations within state specific laws.

Research related issues and provide solutions.

- Create and review payroll tax reports, W-2’s, and other government reporting.

- Provide payroll data to support audits.

- Provide additional ad hoc reports as needed.

Track, organize and prioritize status of any/all open items that relate to payroll and 401K.

Ensure compliance with 401(k) regulations and the GCI 401(k) Plan.

- Work closely with the Human Resources team to confirm interpretations of labor law and company policies in addition to exchanging information required for the processing of the payroll.

Act as liaison to government agencies and auditors.

- Additional duties, including but not limited to the following:

- Oversee system upgrades and certificate renewals

- Deal diplomatically with questions and escalated concerns about payroll and 401(k) issues from employees and management.

- Teach the Payroll module of the GCI-U RISE supervisor training course.

- Work with upstream teams to support and maintain data quality and protect data from unauthorized access.

Internal Control Considerations: Payroll system administrative rights; general approval authorization up to $10,000. Responsible for ensuring company policies and legal requirements are met each payroll through the proper design and function of the payroll systems, and the documentation and preparation of the payroll data. Ensure appropriate accounting policies and procedures are employed for the Payroll Team and are followed by yourself and your direct reports.

COMPETENCIES:

- ACCOUNTABILITY- Takes ownership for actions, decisions, and results; openly accepts feedback and demonstrates a willingness to improve.

o Demonstrated ability to successfully direct a complex payroll process to meet unyielding deadlines with accurate results despite system or other challenges.

- BASIC PRINCIPLES - Interacts with people in a way that builds mutual trust, confidence, and respect; adheres to GCI’s Code of Conduct for Employees – the Basic Principles.

- COLLABORATION - Works effectively with others to accomplish common goals and objectives; maintains positive relationships even under difficult circumstances.

o Demonstrated strength in interpersonal skills to work with employees at all levels of the company from top executives to temporary employees, external auditors, and business partners.

o Ability to manage and guide the payroll team through fostering a team approach designed to meet the unyielding payroll deadlines timely, accurately, and efficiently.

- COMMUNICATION- Conveys thoughts and expresses ideas appropriately and professionally.

o Ability to accurately communicate information virtually (i.e., Teams), over the phone, and in-person in a clear and concise manner to a range of audiences.

o Ability to accurately read, write, and respond to business correspondence such as emails, chat messages, policies, procedures, reports.

o Demonstrated ability to give successful presentations at company training sessions and meetings.

- COMPLIANCE - Follows internal controls; protects confidential information; abides by GCI’s Code of Business Conduct & Ethics.

- CUSTOMER FOCUS - Demonstrates commitment to service excellence; gives high priority to customer satisfaction.

- RELIABILITY - Consistently follows through on assigned tasks as expected; demonstrates timely attendance at meetings, training, and other work obligations.

- RESULTS - Uses a combination of job knowledge, initiative, sound decision making, innovation, adaptability, and problem solving.

o Thorough understanding of payroll compliance issues, standard payroll processing through an in-house payroll system, and reporting of payroll and 401(k) data from the payroll system to support both legal requirements and GCI corporate culture requirements.

o Demonstrated proficient working knowledge of federal and local labor law and federal and state tax compliance requirements including ability and skill in researching compliance issues and recommending solutions.

o Demonstrated proficient working knowledge of compliance requirements of 401(k) plans in general. Ability to work closely with Plan Administrator/Trustee to ensure compliance with regulations.

o Combined accounting (general ledger), payroll and systems technical expertise, and analytical thought processes necessary to work closely with IT programmers and ADP support staff to set-up Kronos Workforce Central (“GCI Time”) and ADP Payroll module to process payroll according to Company guidelines. A combination of big picture as well as ADP and Oracle infra-structure understanding, and detail orientation are preferred.

o Thorough understanding of the general ledger effect of the payroll process as demonstrated by appropriate costing of payroll transactions and accurate reconciliation of general ledger payroll liability accounts.

- SAFETY & SECURITY - Supports a safe work environment by following all workplace safety rules and guidelines; complies with applicable Security policies and procedures.

- CHANGE MANAGEMENT: champions and supports department and company change.

- DECISION MAKING: uses sound, logical judgment based on data, research, and experience to choose an appropriate course of action.

- PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION: analyzes workload and establishes appropriate priorities; sets measurable and achievable goals and objectives for the team.

o Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

- MENTORING & DEVELOPMENT: utilizes interpersonal skills to guide, direct, and influence others to achieve results.

o Demonstrated leadership skills including melding diverse personalities into a cohesive team, dealing with personnel conflicts, coaching and training team members to increase their skills, and reduce impact of absences.

o Ability to innovate, inspire, and guide payroll team to process and distribute the payroll accurately and timely no matter what obstacles present themselves.

- PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: sets clear performance expectations for team.

- Proficient computer skills and MS Office knowledge (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel) to complete job duties effectively, such as using the company intranet and to accurately retrieve and input information into database or equivalent.

o Demonstrated ability to create and manipulate complex Excel spreadsheets from database downloads.

o Demonstrated ability to create downloads and ad hoc reports using query tools.

Minimum Qualifications:

Required: A combination of relevant work experience and/or education sufficient to perform the duties of the job may substitute to meet the total years required on a year-for-year basis*

- High School diploma or equivalent. - Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related field. * - Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible payroll accounting experience in a medium to large organization of 1000+ employees. *

- To include at least three (3) years of supervision/management of a payroll team processing complex payroll on integrated payroll/human resources software.

Preferred:

- Certified Payroll Professional Certification.

- Telecommunications experience.

Other relevant telecom industry or job specific certifications.

DRIVING REQUIREMENTS :

- This position may require access to reliable transportation for occasional travel between retail store locations, offices, worksites, or other locations as needed.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS and WORKING CONDITIONS:

- Work can be intense and stressful due to time and resource limitations when managing multiple tasks with inflexible deadlines.

- Work is primarily sedentary, requiring daily routine computer usage.

- Ability to work shifts as assigned, work in standard office/home office setting, and operate standard office equipment.

- Ability to accurately communicate information and ideas to others effectively.

- Physical agility and effort sufficient to perform job duties safely and effectively.

- Ability to make valid judgments and decisions.

- Available to work additional time on weekends, holidays, before or after normal work hours when necessary.

- Must work well in a team environment and be able to work with a diverse group of people and customers.

- Virtual workers must comply with remote work policies and agreements.

The company and its subsidiaries operate in a 24/7 environment providing critical services to Alaskans and may need to respond to public health and safety matters or other business emergencies. Due to business needs employees may be contacted outside of the core business hours to respond to the immediate emergency. As such, you will be requested to provide emergency after hours contact numbers, to include your home and cell phone numbers if you have those services.

Culture, Engagement, and Connection: At GCI, we foster an environment where the unique perspectives of our employees, customers, and fellow Alaskans are celebrated. We add value to our community by nurturing and empowering each member of our workforce, ensuring equal opportunities for every Trailblazer.

EEO: GCI is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, veteran status, or any other status or classification protected under applicable state or federal law.

DISCLAIMER: The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

All employees of GCI work in support of the GCI Mission Statement and Declaration of Principles which are located on the GCI Career page and Employee portal.