Payroll Specialist

Job Title: Payroll Specialist / Certified Payroll Administrator Job Description
The Payroll Specialist / Certified Payroll Administrator is responsible for administering payroll and ensuring accurate, timely certified payroll reporting for construction and public works projects. This role manages prevailing wage requirements, employee classifications, payroll reconciliations, compliance documentation, and reporting, while partnering closely with Accounting, HR, Operations, and project teams to support accurate job costing and regulatory compliance.
Responsibilities
- Process and administer weekly and/or biweekly payroll for hourly and salaried employees in a high-volume environment.
- Prepare, review, and submit certified payroll reports for public works and prevailing wage projects in accordance with applicable regulations.
- Ensure compliance with state and federal prevailing wage requirements, including Oregon BOLI/PWR and Davis-Bacon requirements when applicable.
- Review and validate employee job classifications, wage determinations, fringe benefits, hours worked, and applicable overtime to ensure accuracy.
- Maintain accurate payroll records across multiple projects, job codes, cost centers, and employee classifications.
- Prepare Oregon WH-38 Payroll and Certified Statement documentation, or equivalent payroll reports accompanied by the WH-38 certified statement, for covered Oregon projects.
- Audit timesheets and payroll data to identify and resolve discrepancies before payroll is finalized.
- Research and resolve payroll discrepancies, employee questions, and compliance issues in a timely and professional manner.
- Reconcile payroll registers, deductions, benefits, and general ledger entries to ensure accurate financial reporting.
- Maintain documentation required for internal and external payroll audits and support audit requests as needed.
- Coordinate with project teams and accounting to ensure accurate job costing, labor allocation, and coding of payroll to appropriate projects and cost centers.
- Monitor changes to prevailing wage rates, certified payroll requirements, and related regulations, and incorporate updates into payroll processes.
- Assist with year-end payroll activities, including W-2 reconciliation and reporting.
- Maintain confidential employee and payroll information and adhere to all privacy and data protection standards.
- Perform accurate data entry related to payroll, deductions, benefits, and tax withholdings for a workforce of approximately 300 or more employees.
Essential Skills
- 35+ years of payroll experience, preferably within construction, engineering, government contracting, or another project-based environment.
- 2+ years of certified payroll and/or prevailing wage experience strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience processing payroll for 300+ employees, including payroll tax calculations and deductions.
- Working knowledge of Davis-Bacon regulations, prevailing wage requirements, certified payroll processes, and wage classifications.
- Hands-on experience with Oregon BOLI/PWR requirements is highly preferred.
- Experience with multi-state and/or multi-project payroll processing.
- Strong Excel skills, including use of lookups, PivotTables, reconciliations, and large-data review.
- Proficiency with payroll and ERP systems such as ADP, UKG, Workday, Paylocity, Viewpoint Vista, CMiC, or Sage 300 CRE.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of payroll processing and reporting.
- Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks effectively, and meet strict payroll deadlines.
- Solid data entry skills with a focus on speed and accuracy for payroll-related information.
- Understanding of payroll taxes, deductions, and fringe benefits in a project-based environment.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) or FPC (Fundamental Payroll Certification) through PayrollOrg is a plus but not required.
- Experience supporting internal and external payroll audits.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with Accounting, HR, Operations, and project teams.
- Strong problem-solving skills for researching and resolving payroll discrepancies and compliance issues.
- Comfort working with complex wage structures, multiple job codes, and cost centers.
- Ability to adapt to changing prevailing wage rates and regulatory requirements.
Work Environment
This is an in-office position, working Monday through Friday with a start time of 7:00 or 8:00 AM, offering reasonable flexibility within that window. The role is based in an open office environment with half-wall workstations that encourage collaboration while still providing individual workspace. You will work extensively with payroll and ERP systems such as ADP, UKG, Workday, Paylocity, Viewpoint Vista, CMiC, or Sage 300 CRE, as well as Microsoft Excel for data analysis and reconciliations. The environment is deadline-driven, particularly around weekly and biweekly payroll cycles and year-end reporting, and requires consistent attention to detail and confidentiality in handling employee and payroll information.
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Portland, OR.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $38.46 - $43.27/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

Medical, dental & vision
Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
Short and long-term disability
Health Spending Account (HSA)
Transportation benefits
Employee Assistance Program
Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Portland, OR.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Nov 20, 2026.
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Portland,OR.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.