Remote Senior Payroll Specialist Jobs
Remote Senior Payroll Specialist jobs are open across the U.S. at remote-first firms, distributed enterprises, and multi-state employers in technology, healthcare, and financial services. Employers hiring remotely right now include Rippling, EIP, and RSM. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
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Showing 5 of 27+ Remote Senior Payroll Specialist jobs
Job Summary
The Senior Payroll Tax Specialist is a senior-level subject matter expert responsible for the accurate, timely, and compliant administration of federal, state, and local payroll tax services for uAttend Payroll and Polaris Payroll customers. This position manages complex payroll tax filing and payment obligations across all 50 states and applicable local jurisdictions, supports payroll tax notice resolution, performs high-level account research and reconciliation, and helps strengthen tax operations, controls, documentation, and service quality within a multi-client payroll service bureau environment.
The role requires broad technical knowledge of employment taxes, extensive hands-on experience managing tax services for multiple employer clients, sound judgment in resolving complex tax matters, and the ability to communicate clearly with customers, taxing authorities, internal teams, and external partners. The ideal candidate can operate independently, prioritize high-volume deadlines, identify and address risks before they become issues, and serve as a resource for complex or escalated payroll tax matters.
This position provides technical leadership, guidance, coaching, and quality review but does not have direct reports or authority over hiring, discipline, compensation, performance evaluations, or other personnel decisions.
Essential Functions:
- Serve as the company’s lead subject matter expert and primary representative for complex, escalated, or high-risk payroll tax matters involving uAttend Payroll and Polaris Payroll customers.
- Independently evaluate escalated tax issues, determine root cause, assess customer and company exposure, develop resolution strategies, and coordinate required corrective action through final resolution.
- Interpret federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, analyze their application to complex customer accounts, transactions, notices, and compliance circumstances and determine the best course of action
- Communicate directly with customers, the IRS, state and local taxing authorities, unemployment agencies, paid-leave agencies, banking partners, and external vendors to resolve disputed, time-sensitive, or financially significant matters
- Represent the company in escalated customer discussions by explaining findings, available resolution options, compliance requirements, responsibilities, corrective actions, and anticipated timelines
- Advise leadership and internal stakeholders regarding material payroll tax risks, potential financial exposure, customer-impacting errors, agency enforcement matters, and recommended corrective or preventive actions
- Direct the technical handling of complex amendments, corrected wage and tax statements, payment transfers, agency adjustment requests, penalty-abatement requests, account corrections, and other remedial filings or correspondence
- Lead investigations involving out-of-balance conditions, rejected or missing filings and payments, duplicate or misapplied payments, incorrect tax configurations, registration failures, funding discrepancies, and other complex payroll tax exceptions
- Provide technical leadership, guidance, coaching, and quality review to Payroll Tax team members
- Establish recommended resolution approaches, technical priorities, and quality standards for escalated matters; coordinate work across internal teams when multiple departments are required to achieve resolution
- Review and approve or recommend action on complex or high-risk tax filings, payments, reconciliations, customer configurations, conversion balances, and agency correspondence within the position’s delegated authority
- Identify recurring compliance failures, customer-impacting trends, control weaknesses, and operational risks; conduct root-cause analysis and lead the development of corrective and preventive solutions
- Lead the development and improvement of payroll tax procedures, controls, escalation protocols, documentation standards, training resources, and audit-ready recordkeeping practices
- Provide senior-level tax guidance to Payroll Operations, Customer Service, Implementation, Sales Operations, Finance, Product, Technology, Banking/Treasury, and company leadership
- Lead or participate in tax-system enhancements, automation initiatives, agency file-format changes, testing activities, and implementation of new or revised compliance requirements
- Maintain sufficient oversight of federal, state, and local filing, payment, reconciliation, and notice activities to identify risks, validate corrective action, and ensure escalated obligations are resolved accurately and timely
- Perform other advanced payroll tax, compliance, resolution, and technical-lead duties consistent with the position’s level of responsibility
- This position requires candidates to reside in one of the states where the company is currently authorized to hire: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, Taxation, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience will be considered
- Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible payroll tax experience, with substantial experience in a payroll service bureau, payroll provider, professional employer organization, or other multi-client payroll environment strongly preferred
- Demonstrated experience managing payroll tax compliance for employer customers operating across multiple states; direct experience with all 50 states and complex local jurisdictions is strongly preferred
- Extensive hands-on experience with federal and state payroll tax filings, tax payments, tax notice resolution, reconciliations, amendments, quarter-end processing, and year-end processing
- Experience working directly with the IRS, state revenue agencies, unemployment agencies, and local taxing authorities
- Prior supervisory, team lead, quality assurance, training, or workflow management experience is strongly preferred
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred. Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC), Enrolled Agent (EA), CPA, or other relevant tax/payroll credential is a plus
- Experience with payroll tax software, service bureau payroll platforms, tax filing systems, agency portals, and high-volume data or file processing is required; experience with uAttend Payroll, Polaris Payroll, or related systems is a plus.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Advanced knowledge of federal employment tax requirements, including wage and withholding rules, Social Security and Medicare taxes, federal unemployment tax, deposit rules, information reporting, and correction procedure
- Broad knowledge of state and local income tax withholding, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, paid family and medical leave, local occupational taxes, reciprocal agreements, nexus considerations, and multi-state payroll taxation
- Ability to interpret tax agency notices, regulations, instructions, filing requirements, account transcripts, payment records, and correspondence
- Strong reconciliation, analytical, and investigative skills, with the ability to trace complex variances across payroll, tax, banking, and agency records
- Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail in a deadline-driven environment where errors may create financial, legal, and customer-service consequences
- Ability to manage multiple filing calendars, competing priorities, high transaction volumes, and time-sensitive escalations without losing control of follow-up items
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex tax matters in clear, customer-friendly language
- Professional judgment, discretion, accountability, and a strong sense of ownership for customer and company outcomes
- Ability to collaborate across Payroll Operations, Customer Service, Sales, Finance, Product, Technology, Banking/Treasury, and external vendor teams
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, lookups, filters, pivot tables, reconciliations, and analysis of large data sets. Advanced Excel skills are strongly preferred
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications and comfort learning payroll, tax, workflow, document-management, and customer-service systems
- Ability to document processes clearly and consistently and to maintain organized, audit-ready records
- Ability to recognize patterns, conduct root-cause analysis, and recommend practical controls or automation opportunities
- Commitment to customer service, regulatory compliance, data security, confidentiality, and continuous improvement
Physical Requirements:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical demands:
While performing duties of job, incumbent is required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by the job include spending extended hours in front of a computer screen.
Pay: $85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Location:
- Florida (Required)
Work Location: Remote
Job Summary
The Senior Payroll Tax Specialist is a senior-level subject matter expert responsible for the accurate, timely, and compliant administration of federal, state, and local payroll tax services for uAttend Payroll and Polaris Payroll customers. This position manages complex payroll tax filing and payment obligations across all 50 states and applicable local jurisdictions, supports payroll tax notice resolution, performs high-level account research and reconciliation, and helps strengthen tax operations, controls, documentation, and service quality within a multi-client payroll service bureau environment.
The role requires broad technical knowledge of employment taxes, extensive hands-on experience managing tax services for multiple employer clients, sound judgment in resolving complex tax matters, and the ability to communicate clearly with customers, taxing authorities, internal teams, and external partners. The ideal candidate can operate independently, prioritize high-volume deadlines, identify and address risks before they become issues, and serve as a resource for complex or escalated payroll tax matters.
This position provides technical leadership, guidance, coaching, and quality review but does not have direct reports or authority over hiring, discipline, compensation, performance evaluations, or other personnel decisions.
Essential Functions:
- Serve as the company’s lead subject matter expert and primary representative for complex, escalated, or high-risk payroll tax matters involving uAttend Payroll and Polaris Payroll customers.
- Independently evaluate escalated tax issues, determine root cause, assess customer and company exposure, develop resolution strategies, and coordinate required corrective action through final resolution.
- Interpret federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, analyze their application to complex customer accounts, transactions, notices, and compliance circumstances and determine the best course of action
- Communicate directly with customers, the IRS, state and local taxing authorities, unemployment agencies, paid-leave agencies, banking partners, and external vendors to resolve disputed, time-sensitive, or financially significant matters
- Represent the company in escalated customer discussions by explaining findings, available resolution options, compliance requirements, responsibilities, corrective actions, and anticipated timelines
- Advise leadership and internal stakeholders regarding material payroll tax risks, potential financial exposure, customer-impacting errors, agency enforcement matters, and recommended corrective or preventive actions
- Direct the technical handling of complex amendments, corrected wage and tax statements, payment transfers, agency adjustment requests, penalty-abatement requests, account corrections, and other remedial filings or correspondence
- Lead investigations involving out-of-balance conditions, rejected or missing filings and payments, duplicate or misapplied payments, incorrect tax configurations, registration failures, funding discrepancies, and other complex payroll tax exceptions
- Provide technical leadership, guidance, coaching, and quality review to Payroll Tax team members
- Establish recommended resolution approaches, technical priorities, and quality standards for escalated matters; coordinate work across internal teams when multiple departments are required to achieve resolution
- Review and approve or recommend action on complex or high-risk tax filings, payments, reconciliations, customer configurations, conversion balances, and agency correspondence within the position’s delegated authority
- Identify recurring compliance failures, customer-impacting trends, control weaknesses, and operational risks; conduct root-cause analysis and lead the development of corrective and preventive solutions
- Lead the development and improvement of payroll tax procedures, controls, escalation protocols, documentation standards, training resources, and audit-ready recordkeeping practices
- Provide senior-level tax guidance to Payroll Operations, Customer Service, Implementation, Sales Operations, Finance, Product, Technology, Banking/Treasury, and company leadership
- Lead or participate in tax-system enhancements, automation initiatives, agency file-format changes, testing activities, and implementation of new or revised compliance requirements
- Maintain sufficient oversight of federal, state, and local filing, payment, reconciliation, and notice activities to identify risks, validate corrective action, and ensure escalated obligations are resolved accurately and timely
- Perform other advanced payroll tax, compliance, resolution, and technical-lead duties consistent with the position’s level of responsibility
- This position requires candidates to reside in one of the states where the company is currently authorized to hire: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, Taxation, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience will be considered
- Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible payroll tax experience, with substantial experience in a payroll service bureau, payroll provider, professional employer organization, or other multi-client payroll environment strongly preferred
- Demonstrated experience managing payroll tax compliance for employer customers operating across multiple states; direct experience with all 50 states and complex local jurisdictions is strongly preferred
- Extensive hands-on experience with federal and state payroll tax filings, tax payments, tax notice resolution, reconciliations, amendments, quarter-end processing, and year-end processing
- Experience working directly with the IRS, state revenue agencies, unemployment agencies, and local taxing authorities
- Prior supervisory, team lead, quality assurance, training, or workflow management experience is strongly preferred
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred. Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC), Enrolled Agent (EA), CPA, or other relevant tax/payroll credential is a plus
- Experience with payroll tax software, service bureau payroll platforms, tax filing systems, agency portals, and high-volume data or file processing is required; experience with uAttend Payroll, Polaris Payroll, or related systems is a plus.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Advanced knowledge of federal employment tax requirements, including wage and withholding rules, Social Security and Medicare taxes, federal unemployment tax, deposit rules, information reporting, and correction procedure
- Broad knowledge of state and local income tax withholding, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, paid family and medical leave, local occupational taxes, reciprocal agreements, nexus considerations, and multi-state payroll taxation
- Ability to interpret tax agency notices, regulations, instructions, filing requirements, account transcripts, payment records, and correspondence
- Strong reconciliation, analytical, and investigative skills, with the ability to trace complex variances across payroll, tax, banking, and agency records
- Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail in a deadline-driven environment where errors may create financial, legal, and customer-service consequences
- Ability to manage multiple filing calendars, competing priorities, high transaction volumes, and time-sensitive escalations without losing control of follow-up items
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex tax matters in clear, customer-friendly language
- Professional judgment, discretion, accountability, and a strong sense of ownership for customer and company outcomes
- Ability to collaborate across Payroll Operations, Customer Service, Sales, Finance, Product, Technology, Banking/Treasury, and external vendor teams
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, lookups, filters, pivot tables, reconciliations, and analysis of large data sets. Advanced Excel skills are strongly preferred
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications and comfort learning payroll, tax, workflow, document-management, and customer-service systems
- Ability to document processes clearly and consistently and to maintain organized, audit-ready records
- Ability to recognize patterns, conduct root-cause analysis, and recommend practical controls or automation opportunities
- Commitment to customer service, regulatory compliance, data security, confidentiality, and continuous improvement
Physical Requirements:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical demands:
While performing duties of job, incumbent is required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by the job include spending extended hours in front of a computer screen.
Pay: $85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Location:
- Florida (Required)
Work Location: Remote
See All 27 Remote Senior Payroll Specialist Jobs
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Find JobsRemote Senior Payroll Specialist Job Market
Who's Hiring
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in remote senior payroll specialist jobs.
- 3-5 years of end-to-end payroll processing experience in a mid-to-large organization
- Proficiency in at least one major HRIS or payroll platform such as Workday, ADP, or Ceridian
- Working knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations and filing requirements
- Experience processing multi-state payroll and managing tax withholding across jurisdictions
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC) preferred or required
- Strong Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP, and reconciliation-focused formulas
Tips for Your Remote Senior Payroll Specialist Job Search
Apply early to remote roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists remote senior payroll specialist openings from across the U.S. in one place. Check it regularly and apply directly to roles that match your experience, as competitive remote openings often close faster than on-site postings.
Showcase your payroll platform depth upfront
Remote hiring managers can't watch you work, so name your platforms explicitly: Workday, ADP, Ceridian, Paycom, or others. List specific modules you've owned, such as year-end processing or multi-state tax setup, so your technical depth is clear before any interview.
Prove async communication in your application
Remote payroll teams depend on written clarity. Use your cover note to show you communicate precisely under pressure, especially for compliance deadlines and payroll discrepancies. Concise, well-structured writing signals you can operate without in-person check-ins.
Highlight multi-state compliance experience directly
Distributed employers prioritize candidates who've already navigated multi-state payroll tax rules, wage and hour regulations, and year-end filings independently. Call out the states and employee counts you've managed to give remote hiring teams immediate confidence in your scope.
Remote Senior Payroll Specialist Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a remote senior payroll specialist job?
Target companies built around distributed teams, where remote payroll operations are the norm rather than an exception. Remote employers screen hard for self-direction, precise written communication, and hands-on experience with cloud-based payroll platforms like Workday, ADP Workforce Now, or Ceridian Dayforce. Candidates who can document multi-state payroll compliance experience and demonstrate they resolve issues independently, without needing in-person escalation, stand out most.
Which companies hire remote senior payroll specialists?
Employers currently hiring remote senior payroll specialists include Rippling, EIP, and RSM, per current remote listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Remote-first technology companies, distributed healthcare organizations, and large financial services firms are among the most consistent hirers of this role across the country.
Can you get a remote senior payroll specialist job with no experience?
Yes, but remote roles at the senior level are harder to land without experience because you're expected to work independently from day one. Entry paths include remote payroll coordinator or specialist roles at smaller distributed companies, where you build multi-state processing and compliance skills. Demonstrating proficiency with payroll software certifications and showing structured async communication habits can help bridge the experience gap early.
Do you need a degree for remote senior payroll specialist jobs?
Not always. Remote employers weigh hands-on payroll experience, platform proficiency, and certifications like the Certified Payroll Professional credential heavily alongside or instead of a degree. Demonstrated ability to manage end-to-end payroll cycles, navigate multi-state tax compliance, and communicate clearly in writing often matters more to distributed teams than formal education credentials alone.
See All 27 Remote Senior Payroll Specialist Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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