Senior Tax and Payroll Specialist

Risepoint is an education technology company that provides world-class support and trusted expertise to more than 100 universities and colleges. We primarily work with regional universities, helping them develop and grow their high-ROI, workforce-focused online degree programs in critical areas such as nursing, teaching, business, and public service. Risepoint is dedicated to increasing access to affordable education so that more students, especially working adults, can improve their careers and meet employer and community needs. Join Our Mission Risepoint is an education technology company that provides world-class support and trusted expertise to more than 100 universities and colleges. We primarily work with regional universities, helping them develop and grow their high-ROI, workforce-focused online degree programs in critical areas such as nursing, teaching, business, and public service. Risepoint is dedicated to increasing access to affordable education so that more students, especially working adults, can improve their careers and meet employer and community needs. The Impact You Will Make This role plays a critical part in ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time while maintaining compliance with complex payroll tax regulations across multiple jurisdictions. By executing payroll operations and supporting tax compliance, this position helps minimize risk, improve processes, and enhance the overall employee experience. The role directly contributes to operational excellence, compliance integrity, and continuous improvement within payroll. How You Will Bring Our Mission to Life What You Will Do This role will support Risepoint’s mission by ensuring accurate and compliant payroll processing for employees, enabling them to focus on their work and growth. Through attention to detail, strong execution, and collaboration, candidate will help create a reliable payroll experience that supports employees across the organization and reinforces trust in our processes. Payroll Execution • Execute full-cycle payroll processing for salaried and hourly employees across multiple states • Process payroll inputs including new hires, terminations, bonuses, and adjustments • Support on-cycle and off-cycle payroll runs following established processes • Maintain and audit payroll data in Workday, including uploads and system validations Tax Compliance Support • Support payroll tax compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions • Execute tax filings, payments, and reconciliations using ADP SmartCompliance • Review and research tax notices, partnering with internal teams and vendors for resolution • Monitor tax regulations and flag risks or required updates • Support maintenance of tax configurations and employee tax withholdings Reconciliation & Reporting • Perform payroll and tax reconciliations (wages, deductions, tax filings) • Review reports and investigate discrepancies • Prepare audit-ready documentation for internal and external audits • Support quarter-end and year-end activities, including W-2 and W-2c processing Issue Resolution & Employee Support • Research and resolve payroll and tax discrepancies • Respond to employee questions related to pay, taxes, and deductions • Partner cross-functionally to ensure timely issue resolution Process Improvement & Collaboration • Identify opportunities to improve payroll and tax processes • Partner with Payroll, HR, Finance, and vendors to support operations • Contribute to documentation and standardization of procedures • Support training efforts related to payroll and tax processes What Success Looks Like • Payroll is processed accurately and on time across all pay cycles • Payroll tax filings and payments are completed in compliance with regulations • Tax notices are resolved quickly and effectively • Reconciliations are accurate, clean, and audit-ready • Processes improve over time, reducing errors and increasing efficiency • Employees receive timely, clear, and accurate payroll support How Impact Will be Measured • Payroll accuracy and timeliness metrics • Timely completion of tax filings and reconciliations • Resolution time for tax notices and payroll issues • Audit results and compliance outcomes • Employee satisfaction related to payroll support What You’ll Bring to the Team Experience That Matters Most • Strong hands-on experience executing end-to-end payroll in a multi-state environment using Workday, combined with knowledge of payroll tax compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions • Proven ability to manage payroll processing, tax filings, and reconciliations with a high level of accuracy, while using systems like ADP SmartCompliance • Experience handling tax notices, resolving discrepancies, and supporting audits is essential, along with the ability to navigate complex payroll scenarios and meet strict deadlines • Excel skills are a must, including strong proficiency in Pivot Tables and VLOOKUPs for data analysis and reconciliation Experience That’s Great to Have • CPP certification is a plus, but not required • Experience supporting international payroll or working with teams outside the U.S. is also beneficial • Exposure to year-end activities, such as W-2 and W-2c processing, as well as participation in payroll audits, is helpful but not required Risepoint is an equal-opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce. Reliable. Empowered. Adaptable. Customer-centric. Heart. These are some of the words that describe Risepoint employees. We have spent the past nearly 20 years helping universities grow by expanding access to affordable, life-changing education for working adults. As an education technology company that provides trusted partnership and expertise to more than 125 universities and colleges, we primarily work with regional universities, helping them create online programs in critical areas such as nursing, teaching, business, and public service. We are dedicated to increasing access to affordable education so that more students can improve their careers and their communities.