Sr. Payroll Specialist

About Engine
At Engine, we’re transforming business travel into something personalized, rewarding, and simple. For too long, managing travel and spend has been overwhelming and fragmented — we’re here to change that. We believe the future of travel should be seamless and powered by technology that delights customers at every step. That’s why we’re building a platform that brings together corporate travel, a powerful charge card, and modern spend management in one place.

To make this vision real, we’re looking for exceptional, mission-driven people to help redefine how businesses manage and experience travel.

More than 20,000 companies already rely on Engine to support over 1 million travelers and billions in annual bookings each year. Cash flow positive with rapid growth, we pair exclusive Engine-only rates, industry-leading rewards, and intelligent automation to help businesses save money while delivering world-class personalization and convenience.

Backed by Telescope Partners, Blackstone, and Permira, Engine has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing travel and fintech platforms in North America, with honors including the Deloitte Fast 500 and Built In’s Best Places to Work.

About the Role:

We are searching for a highly skilled Senior Payroll Specialist to own the accuracy, validation, and execution of our biweekly payroll functions. As a fast-paced, high-growth company, our payroll environment requires someone who is exceptionally detail-oriented, confident working with complex data, and proactive in identifying and resolving issues before they impact employees. 

Reporting to the Senior Payroll Manager, you'll lead end-to-end payroll processing, validate all employee changes and system inputs for bi-weekly payroll processing, become a subject matter expert on our payroll operations, seek out areas of improvement, and represent the Accounting department in a collaborative and positive manner across the Company. 

Requirements and responsibilities:

• Process and validate all payroll-impacting data (new hire & termination information, salary changes, one-time payments, bonuses, commissions, liens, garnishments, and timecards) against source documents and HRIS records; proactively resolve discrepancies before payroll runs.
• Perform detailed pre- and post-payroll audits, including reconciling payroll registers to internal reports, validating completeness of employee populations, and confirming accurate tax/deduction calculations. 
• Own the preparation and processing of bi-weeklyl payroll for exempt and non-exempt employees, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and maintaining auditable supporting workpapers.
• Ensure 100% compliance with timekeeping requirements by reviewing timecard records, validating accuracy, and securing all required approvals. Cultivate positive relationships with managers for quick timesheet approvals. 
• Own off-cycle ACH requests end-to-end, ensuring all requests are validated against approved documentation, calculated accurately, and processed with a sense of urgency and precision.
• Partner with the People Team to ensure all benefits and withholding elections (401K, FSA, HSA, etc), are accurately captured in payroll, and own the monthly reconciliation of benefit vendor bills to payroll records. 
• Serve as the directly responsible individual for employee payroll inquiries, delivering timely, accurate resolutions and representing Engine with a collaborative and team-oriented approach.
• Support payroll-related audits such as 401k & workers compensation, ad-hoc analyses, and special projects as needed.

Qualifications:

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Certified Payroll Specialist (CPS), strongly preferred
• Minimum 3 years of payroll experience in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, required
• Strong Excel user, including prior experience with large data sets, required
• Exceptional communication skills, both written & verbal, required
• Strong sense of speed with precision, required
• Experience with UKG, HiBob or Workday, strongly preferred
• Self-directed worker with the ability to be proactive in trying to resolve issues, but also asks appropriate questions as needed

The Engine Edge: Perks & Compensation
We believe in rewarding great work with great benefits:

• Compensation: Competitive base pay tied to role and experience, with opportunities for bonuses, commissions, and equity.
• Benefits: Check out our full list at engine.com/culture.
• Environments for Success: Different roles have different needs in terms of the environments that drive success which is why we have a hybrid-hub model. Whether you are in one of our amazing offices or fully remote, we’ll make sure you have what you need to succeed.

Perks and benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and more.

Ready to Build the Future of Work Travel?
Join us on our mission to transform how work travel works—for businesses, for travelers, and for the industry. Apply now and let’s make travel simpler, smarter, and more enjoyable—together.