Job Description

Senior Payroll Tax Specialist

(50% Payroll Tax Ownership/ 50% Payroll Operations)

What you’ll do:

Payroll Tax Ownership (50%) Primary Focus

• Serve as the subject-matter expert for all federal, state, and local payroll tax matters.
• Independently manage all tax notices, amendments, agency correspondence, and escalations.
• Own state and local tax registrations, including complex jurisdictions such as PA, OH, and KY LST.
• Assess tax implications for address change, reciprocity, multi-state moves, and remote work scenarios.
• Ensure accurate taxation of equity, ESPP, fringe benefits, imputed income, and other complex earnings.
• Perform prior-quarter and prior-year tax adjustments in Workday and coordinate amendments with OSV.
• Support quarterly and year-end audits, including W-2 accuracy, income reporting, and reconciliation.
• Provide tax training to the payroll team and serve as a tax escalation point and backup to the Payroll Director.
• Stay current on tax legislation and ensure Workday configuration remains compliant.

Payroll Operations (50%)

• Process biweekly, multi-state exempt payroll ended in Workday and OSV with minimal errors.
• Reconcile payroll results period-over-period and resolve discrepancies proactively.
• Calculate prorated wages and deductions for hires, terminations, and job/status changes.
• Ensureaccurate withholding of taxes and payroll deductions, strong understanding of reciprocity rules.
• Demonstrate deep knowledge of Workday retros and associated processing requirements.
• Perform Workday administrative tasks, including integration testing for Payroll, Time Tracking, and Absence.
• Maintain payroll records in compliance with SOX, federal, state, and local regulations.
• Troubleshoot and resolve all payroll issues-including tax-related items-with limited supervision.
• Provide excellent customer service through the ticketing system and partner with HR and Finance as needed.

What you’ll need:

Mandatory Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive payroll administration experience, with Workday as the primary and most recent system.
• 7+ years of experience independently handling payroll tax notices, amendments, and multi-state registrations.
• Strong experience with PA, OH, KY LST and other complex local tax jurisdictions.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience supporting finance and accounting with month end closing and reconciliation.
• Experience in ticketing systems (i.e., Fresh Service, Zendesk).
• Ability to prioritize (and re-prioritize) in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience leading meetings and providing backup support to the Payroll Director.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent additional experience strongly preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to interact with all levels of the organization and provide strong customer service.
• Excellent problem solving/judgment skills with a high level of attention to detail.
• Superior written and oral communication skills.
• Strong commitment to the development and knowledge sharing.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other Office applications.
• Ability to work Eastern Time Zone hours and occasional overtime during payroll cycles.
• CPP/FPC Certification preferred

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environmental characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This position is virtual and open to residents of the 50 states, D.C.

Compensation & Benefits: Stride, Inc. considers a person’s education, experience, and qualifications, as well as the position’s work location, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value when determining a new employee’s salary level. Salaries will differ based on these factors, the position’s level and expected contribution, and the employee’s benefits elections. Offers will typically be in the bottom half of the range.

• We anticipate the hourly range to be $22.63 - $39.50 per hour. The upper end of this range is not likely to be offered, as an individual’s compensation can vary based on several factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, geographic location, experience, training, education, and local market conditions. Eligible employees may receive a bonus. Stride offers a robust benefits package for eligible employees that can include health benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off.

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is “at-will” as governed by the law of the state where the employee works. It is further understood that the “at-will” nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.

Job Type

Regular

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is “at-will” as governed by the law of the state where the employee works. It is further understood that the “at-will” nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.

If you are a job seeker with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to apply for one of our jobs, you can request the appropriate accommodation by contacting stridecareers@k12.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

Stride, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants receive consideration for employment based on merit without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law. Stride, Inc. complies with all legally required affirmative action obligations. A pplicants will not be discriminated against because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.