Payroll Lead

Location: Mississauga, ON (Hybrid)
Industry: National Organization

Our client, a well-established national organization headquartered in Mississauga, is seeking an experienced Payroll Lead to oversee payroll operations for a workforce of more than 2,000 employees across Canada.

Reporting to the Finance Department, this role will take ownership of the end-to-end payroll function, ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll processing while driving process improvements and partnering closely with HR and Finance. This is an excellent opportunity for a senior payroll professional looking to step into a leadership role and make a meaningful impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end payroll function for more than 2,000 employees across Canada.
• Process bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly payrolls, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Oversee payroll for hourly, salaried, and unionized employees while ensuring compliance with company policies and collective agreements.
• Act as the payroll subject matter expert and primary escalation point for complex payroll inquiries.
• Ensure compliance with Canadian payroll legislation, including statutory deductions, remittances, and year-end reporting.
• Administer garnishments, levies, wage attachments, and other payroll deductions.
• Manage payroll reconciliations, government remittances, and year-end filings, including source deductions, WSIB, EHT, T4s, and other statutory requirements.
• Partner with Finance, HR, and external vendors to maintain payroll data integrity and support audits and reporting.
• Identify and implement payroll process improvements, automation initiatives, and best practices to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
• Support payroll-related projects, system enhancements, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive payroll experience in a high-volume environment.
• Experience leading or owning a full-cycle payroll function for a large employee population.
• Strong knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation and payroll best practices.
• Experience with UKG, or another enterprise payroll system.
• PCP or PLP designation is preferred.
• Strong understanding of payroll accounting, reconciliations, remittances, and internal controls.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining confidentiality and accuracy.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to build effective relationships across Finance, HR, and the wider business.

Why Join?

• Lead payroll operations within a well-established national organization.
• Report directly to Finance with ownership of the payroll function.
• Opportunity to drive process improvements and enhance payroll operations.
• Collaborative culture with strong leadership support.
• Competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for career growth.

If you’re an experienced payroll professional ready to take ownership of a high-volume payroll function and make a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you. Apply today to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

Portfolio are acting on behalf of our client in recruiting for this position. To the best of our knowledge, this vacancy is for a new or existing role within their organization.