Director, Payroll & Benefits Services

Type of Appointment: Full-time, Management Personnel Plan (MPP II)

Anticipated Salary Range: $54,996 to $149,808 annually (Commensurate with qualifications and experience)

Recruitment Closing Date: Open Until Filled

First Application Review Date: March 17, 2023

REQUIRED- All candidates must submit the following:

• Application
• Cover letter
• Resume or CV
• Three References

THE DEPARTMENT:

Payroll and Benefits Services maintains leave accounting, time and attendance records, counsels, approves and maintains medical and personal leaves of absences and processes all types of pay as well as benefits administration for all categories of CSU employees. Administration of employee benefits programs includes health, dental, vision, retirement, tax-sheltered annuity plans and other programs consistent with federal state and CSU mandates. All data related to these functions is maintained in the State Controller's Office Personnel Information Management System (SCO PIMS}, ACES (CalPERS benefits system) and in the campus HCM PeopleSoft database.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Incumbent is responsible for the hiring, counseling, training, evaluating and scheduling of the staff for Payroll and Benefits and ensures that CSU campus employees are paid in a timely manner, benefits processed and provided high quality customer service; documentation completed by the staff is accurate and prepared and processed in accordance with federal and state laws, CSU and State Controller's Office (SCO) policies and guidelines; HCM PeopleSoft functionality for Workforce Administration, Develop Workforce, Employee Self-Service, Time and Labor, Absence Management, Base Benefits and Benefits Administration performs as expected, test all new functionality, patches and fixes, maintain table setup; employee, employment and benefits records are properly maintained in accordance with prescribed rules regarding confidentiality and retention; proper authorizations are on file for each campus department for faculty, staff, administrators and student assistant certifications and paycheck distribution; Student payroll programs, policies and operations are coordinated with appropriate staff in the Career Center, Financial Aid and Faculty Affairs; procedures established with Student Administration are adhered to in regards to maintaining data that is shared with HCM (HR PeopleSoft).
• Manages the coordination of the Workers' Compensation program, ensuring that the University is in compliance with interpreting and applying applicable laws and regulations.
• Medical related leaves, personal leaves, family medical leaves (FML) and Catastrophic Leave Donation program are administered in accordance with federal and state law and CSU guidelines.
• Manages the administration of all employee benefit programs, including health, dental, vision, retirement, tax-sheltered annuity plans and other programs consistent with federal, state and CSU mandates.
• Prepares and delivers manager and staff performance reviews. Provides performance feedback as needed.
• Under oversight of AVP, Human Resource Operations, manages the department budget.
• Incumbent participates in regular meetings with the Human Resources Operations management team to provide updates, discuss projects, new programs, and staff and budget issues, and to plan, troubleshoot and resolve issues.
• This position works closely with the managers of Human Resources Operations to coordinate programs and operations to ensure that each other is providing the proper level of support to the other. This position also works closely with Faculty Affairs to ensure both areas are consistent with their interpretation of all academic related rules and procedures. This position provides assistance to Faculty Affairs and Employee and Labor Relations in determining strategies for handling complex and sensitive employee relations matters. This position also works closely with Faculty Affairs, Budget Services and Employment and Organizational Development and Advancement to review salary program guidelines and determine processing timelines and implementation strategies.
• This position serves as a resource to management regarding State policies and procedures related to employment, salaries, leaves and benefits.
• Periodically, the incumbent provides assistance to administrative personnel in Foundation Services and Associated Students Inc. (ASI) regarding State policies and procedures related to employment, salaries, fringe benefits/employee business expenses, overtime and leave accounting.
• The Director, Payroll and Benefits Services meets regularly with the HCM PeopleSoft Manager to strategize on PeopleSoft technology needs, implementation schedules and timelines, functionality and security access. This position serves as the alternate campus HR User Group (HUG) representative who is responsible for representing the campus on all strategic HR PeopleSoft matters and communicating to the campus community on CSU system-wide events and issues in the absence of the primary HUG representative.
• This position also works closely with the Student Administration system administrator to discuss and resolve PeopleSoft campus community related issues and administrative personnel in Photo ID, Campus Help Desk, Campus Information Security Officer and Registrar's Office to resolve issues regarding services provided to the campus employees that are dependent on the person identification number from PeopleSoft such as email accounts, library access, building access, key requests, etc.
• The incumbent serves as the Campus Security Monitor for the State Controller's Office on-line applications for employment history, pay generation, leave accounting and data management reporting. The Campus Security Monitor is responsible for ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to the hardware and systems and that the proper security guidelines are adhered to at all times. This position is also the Campus Information Retrieval System (CIRS) Security Coordinator for the campus. In this capacity, the incumbent approves CIRS access for on-campus for employment history, personal information, payment history, benefit state share costs, pay deductions, leave accounting and mailing labels. This position serves as the liaison to the Information System group in regards to the SCO connections and maintenance of the Human Resource Services network and server that supports it.
• During state or CSU audits of employment and payroll records, this position serves as the contact person for all auditors and is responsible for ensuring that all requested files, data and explanations are provided. The incumbent also represents the unit on various university task forces and committees.
• Initiate improvements: Incumbent regularly seeks opportunities to optimize efficiency, provide the best level of customer service, spearheads appropriate projects with IT to ensure we are able to use technology to provide the best outcomes for staff and campus clients. Encourages staff to regularly practice continuous improvement.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Familiarity with CSU payroll systems
• Familiarity with CSU benefits programs
• General understanding of payroll and compensation programs at CSU
• Must have the ability to research and analyze data. Provide leadership to manage and motivate a diverse staff.
• Oversees all procedural matters regarding payroll and benefit operations and has direct and continuing contact with administrators, faculty, staff and student employees with assistance and clarification of the interpretation of the state payroll system develops, evaluates and implements department procedures for unit and campus users.
• Knowledge of CSU FMLA policies and collective bargaining agreements.
• Responsible for training and supporting the payroll and benefit staff to ensure timely and accurate payroll and benefit processing.
• Promotes an excellent customer service culture and maintains a strong functional team through effective training, coaching, team building, and succession planning.
• Responsible for responding to emergencies that occur after work hours and on the weekends. Responsible for monitoring and responding to emails after hours and on weekends.
• Serves as a subject matter expert in supporting our system upgrades and implementing new processes as instructed by the SCO, CSU Chancellor's Office, and campus partners.
• Knowledge of systems and administrative procedures for planning, organizing and directing human resources operations in the CSU. Excellent communication, leadership and motivational skills. Ability to research, analyze and extrapolate data. Ability to develop and implement effective and efficient processes procedures and solutions. Ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a diverse environment.
• Ability to manage a budget
• Ability to apply complex policies and procedures to daily operations
• Ability to communicate and collaborate with individuals at all levels of the campus community and outside organizations.
• Ability to clearly communicate with effective oral and written skills Ability to speak and provide training to large group of employees
• Ability to organize, prioritize and complete projects with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail. Ability to collaborate and work as a team
• Ability to work independently, troubleshoot problems, meet deadlines. Ability to project the needs for future assignments
• Able to proficiently use a personal computer
• Ability to research and resolve pay and benefit discrepancies
• Ability to meet multiple deadlines scheduled in regular monthly cycles to generate accurate and timely results. Available to work the standard Cal Poly "Normal Operational Work Hours" is required.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: 

• Management experience
• Hands on experience with enterprise resources planning systems such as CMS/PeopleSoft with HR modules.
• Ability to identify and critically assess data and apply towards implementation of HR procedures.
• Ability to establish and meet deadlines.
• Experience with higher education institution within a collective bargaining environment, CSU preferred.

COVID-19 Vaccination

CSU requires faculty, staff, and students who physically access campus facilities or programs to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which includes obtaining a COVID-19 booster dose, or declare a medical or religious exemption from doing so.  Any candidates advanced in a currently open search process should be prepared to comply with this requirement. See policy at https://calstate.policystat.com/policy/11030468/latest.

Out of State Work

The California State University (CSU) system is a network of twenty-three public universities providing access to a quality education through the support of California taxpayers. Part of CSU's mission is to prepare educated, responsible individuals to contribute to California's schools, economy, culture, and future. As an agency of the State of California, the CSU's business operations almost exclusively reside within California.   The CSU Out-of-State Employment Policy prohibits hiring employees to perform CSU-related work outside California. See policy at https://calstate.policystat.com/v2/policy/10899725/latest/. 

Background Check

Cal Poly Pomona will make a conditional offer of employment, pending the satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check). The conditional offer of employment may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information.  In determining the suitability of the candidate for the position, Cal Poly Pomona will give an individualized assessment to any criminal conviction history, considering such factors as the nature, gravity and recency of the conviction, the candidate's conduct, performance or rehabilitation efforts since the conviction and the nature of the job applied for. See policy at https://www.cpp.edu/eoda/employee-labor//documents/employment-policies/hr2017-17.pdf.  

I-9

Cal Poly Pomona hires only individuals lawfully authorized to work in the United States. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.  See Form I-9 Acceptable Documents at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents.

Conflict of Interest 

This position is a "designated position" in the California State University's Conflict of Interest Code.  The successful candidate accepting this position is required to file Conflict of Interest forms subject to the regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission.  See policy at https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/faculty-staff/systemwide-human-resources/conflict-of-interest/.

Outside Employment Disclosure

Prospective Executive and Management Plan Personnel employees must disclose all current outside employment at the time of hire as a precondition of hire and at the following times after hire: annually in July, within 30 days of accepting outside employment, and upon their manager's request.  See policy at https://www.cpp.edu/eoda/employee-labor//documents/employment-policies/hr2016-06.pdf.

Child Abuse/Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA)