• Job Tag: #LI-DS2
• Posted: June 08,2026
• Salary: $97,500

Senior Payroll Specialist

Belle Plain, MN | Onsite 5 Days/week

Multi-State Construction Payroll & Systems Specialist

Jordan, MN | Fully Onsite | $80,000–$95,000 Base Salary

The Opportunity

We’re partnering with a well-established specialty construction organization seeking a Multi-State Construction Payroll & Systems Specialist to take ownership of weekly payroll for a field-based workforce operating across multiple states and projects.

This is an excellent opportunity for a payroll professional who enjoys solving problems, improving systems, and digging into the details until everything ties out. You’ll build on your existing multi-state payroll foundation while developing specialized expertise in construction payroll, including prevailing wages, certified payroll, fringe benefits, job-cost coding, and multi-jurisdiction compliance.

You do not need construction payroll experience on day one. What matters most is strong full-cycle payroll experience, systems aptitude, sound judgment, and the intellectual curiosity to research an unfamiliar issue and carry it through to resolution.

An experienced payroll professional will provide hands-on transition support and training, creating an opportunity to learn a highly specialized area of payroll while gradually taking broader ownership of the function.

What You’ll Own

• Manage full-cycle weekly payroll for a multi-state workforce, including time review, overtime, deductions, garnishments, benefit withholdings, per diem, reimbursements, and payroll adjustments.
• Partner directly with project managers, superintendents, accounting, and field employees to research and resolve time, pay, wage, fringe, tax, and job-coding questions.
• Maintain accurate employee pay rates, multi-state tax settings, deductions, workers’ compensation codes, job phases, and payroll-related employee data.
• Learn and ultimately own prevailing-wage and certified-payroll administration, including wage determinations, fringe requirements, reporting, and documentation.
• Manage payroll-tax filings, reconciliations, and multi-state payroll matters after training.
• Prepare payroll journal entries and supporting schedules and assist with payroll-related general ledger reconciliations and audits.
• Coordinate payroll-related onboarding records, I-9 and E-Verify administration, employee changes, benefit deductions, and established leave processes.
• Serve as a key administrator of Arcoro onboarding workflows while supporting payroll, accounting, timekeeping, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and other workforce systems.
• Identify recurring errors, inefficient processes, and opportunities for stronger controls; recommend practical improvements and document procedures.
• Help create payroll processes that are accurate, scalable, well-documented, and less dependent on institutional knowledge.

This Is a Payroll-First Role

This position is designed for someone who wants to deepen their payroll expertise and systems ownership. It is not a traditional HR Generalist or employee-relations position.

You’ll have exposure to employee administration and HR-related processes, but your primary responsibility will be payroll, compliance, systems, reporting, and process improvement. Employee relations, investigations, compensation strategy, policy decisions, and employment-law matters remain with company leadership.

What We’re Looking For

• 2+ years of hands-on, full-cycle payroll experience, including employees working in multiple states.
• Strong attention to detail and the judgment to recognize when something doesn’t look right.
• Natural curiosity and resourcefulness—you ask good questions, research unfamiliar issues, and follow them through to resolution.
• Comfort working across payroll, accounting, timekeeping, onboarding, spreadsheet, and Microsoft 365 systems.
• Ability to manage recurring deadlines and competing priorities within a weekly payroll cycle.
• Strong Excel and data-management skills with an aptitude for learning new technology.
• Clear, respectful communication with employees, field leaders, project teams, vendors, and company leadership.
• Professional discretion and a strong commitment to confidentiality, accuracy, and reliable follow-through.

Helpful, But Not Required

Experience in any of the following areas would be valuable, but the company is prepared to train the right payroll professional:

• Construction, specialty contracting, job-cost, union, or field-workforce payroll
• Certified payroll and prevailing wages
• Davis-Bacon requirements and fringe benefits
• Multi-jurisdiction payroll taxes
• Arcoro, SharePoint, or comparable payroll/workforce systems
• Accounting, business, HR, or related education
• FPC or CPP certification

Training & Career Growth

One of the most compelling aspects of this opportunity is the transition plan.

An experienced payroll professional will remain involved to provide hands-on training in the company’s projects, systems, payroll processes, prevailing-wage requirements, certified payroll, and construction-specific compliance.

The goal is not simply to inherit a weekly payroll process—it is to develop into a trusted internal payroll and systems resource.

As the organization and workload continue to grow, this role has the potential to advance into a Payroll Supervisor position with responsibility for training and overseeing a payroll or administrative assistant.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

• Ownership: Become the go-to resource for a complex, multi-state payroll function.
• Specialized expertise: Learn construction payroll, certified payroll, prevailing wages, and fringe administration—valuable skills that can significantly expand your payroll career.
• Hands-on training: Learn directly from an experienced payroll professional rather than being expected to figure everything out alone.
• Systems exposure: Work across payroll, accounting, timekeeping, onboarding, Arcoro, Microsoft 365, and SharePoint while helping improve how the function operates.
• Leadership visibility: Work closely with company leadership, accounting, project teams, and field operations.
• Career runway: Grow from individual contributor into broader payroll ownership and potentially payroll supervision as the organization expands.
• Competitive compensation: $80,000–$100,000 base salary, depending on experience, plus a strong overall benefits package.

About the Company

Our client is an established specialty contractor supporting complex industrial and field-based projects throughout the United States. The organization has built its reputation around quality work, accountability, practical problem-solving, and supporting the employees delivering work in the field.

This is a fully onsite position in Jordan, Minnesota and is best suited for someone who values being close to the operation, building relationships with the people they support, and taking meaningful ownership of an important business function.

If you have strong multi-state payroll fundamentals and enjoy figuring out how systems, data, compliance requirements, and operational processes fit together, we’d love to hear from you.

If you’re a payroll professional who enjoys ownership, problem-solving, and supporting a growing organization, I would love to connect with you. Please apply using the link below or send me your resume and availability to meet virtually at DSmith@skywatersearch.com