Senior Payroll Specialist

Red River Commodities is a leading processor of sunflower seeds and specialty grains, specializing in high-quality, nutritious food products. We pride ourselves on our sustainable practices, innovation, and commitment to delivering superior products to our customers. Our team shares core values focused on family, pride, passion, safety, and integrity. We work hard, play harder, embrace authenticity, and always support one another to achieve our goals.

Location: 501 42nd St N, Fargo, ND 58102

Position Summary:

If precision, process excellence, and operational leadership are your strengths, you’ll thrive here. As our Senior Payroll Specialist, you’ll take ownership of the full payroll cycle and serve as a trusted expert in payroll accuracy, compliance, and process optimization. You’ll work closely with HR, Finance, and organizational leaders to ensure our payroll operations are not only accurate and timely, but also scalable, compliant, and employee‑centric.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, strengthening internal controls, and elevating payroll operations to the next level. Your work will directly shape the employee experience and support the company’s operational success.

• Lead bi‑weekly payroll processing with a high degree of accuracy, timeliness, and consistency.
• Oversee complex payroll changes, including new hires, terminations, pay adjustments, bonuses, commissions, and special payments.
• Process and audit payroll transactions such as benefits, garnishments, taxes, and deductions.
• Review and validate timekeeping data, wage calculations, and multi‑state payroll requirements.

• Ensure payroll practices comply with federal, state, and local wage‑and‑hour laws, tax regulations, and internal policies.
• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively implement updates to payroll processes and documentation.
• Oversee payroll tax reporting and year‑end activities, including W‑2s, 1095s, and other required filings.
• Support internal controls and risk‑mitigation efforts related to payroll compliance.

• Prepare, analyze, and distribute payroll reports for HR, Finance, and leadership.
• Provide insights and recommendations based on payroll data trends.
• Support financial audits, budgeting, and forecasting with accurate payroll data.

• Maintain accurate and audit‑ready payroll and employee records.
• Ensure timekeeping, tax with holdings, benefits, and deduction information is updated and accurate.
• Uphold data integrity across payroll and HR systems.

• Serve as the senior escalation point for payroll questions, discrepancies, and complex issues.
• Provide clear, professional guidance to employees and managers.
• Resolve issues with a customer‑focused, solutions‑oriented approach.

• Lead or support internal and external payroll audits.
• Drive payroll‑related projects, including process improvements, system enhancements, and policy updates.
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and strengthen compliance.

• Maintain payroll systems and ensure accurate configuration and data flow.
• Recommend and support system upgrades, enhancements, and integrations.
• Manage user access, permissions, and security settings.

• Create, update, and maintain payroll SOPs and compliance documentation.
• Provide coaching, training, and support to HR team members on payroll processes and best practices.

• Partner with HR, Finance, and other departments to support onboarding/offboarding, benefits administration, and cross‑functional initiatives.
• Contribute to broader people‑operations projects that enhance the employee experience.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, HR, or related field—or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 3–5 years of hands‑on payroll administration experience, ideally in a multi‑state environment.
• Strong experience with payroll systems (ADP a plus) and advanced Excel skills.