Payroll Specialist with German

Responsibilities:

• Recording and documentation of absence data (employee notification, validation by supervisors, data entry).
• Recording of vacation entitlement (calculation of credit & compliance).
• Classification of absence types (paid vs. unpaid).
• Payroll adjustments for absences (salary deductions for unpaid absences, processing of paid leave, overtime and shift adjustments, etc.).
• Integration of time tracking and attendance.
• Compliance and documentation (legal and union requirements, audit trails).
• Reporting and analysis (absence reports and trends, cost tracking, employee notifications).
• Employee communication and support (policy communication, answering employee questions, reintegration process, etc.).
• Update, compile and process salary data and check data completeness.
• Process payroll (Check for repeated payroll processing and receive payroll inquiries)
• Prepare bank transfer documents and statutory reporting.
• Categorize and prioritize inquiries (type and urgency).
• Investigation and data verification.
• Solution finding and, if necessary, implementation of required adjustments.
• Documentation and audit-compliant filing.
• Feedback and process improvement (analysis of inquiry trends and recommendations for improvements).
• Conduct audits and respond to auditors' questions (SOX, etc.).
• Support with tax audits and respond to tax auditors' questions (wage tax audits, etc.).
• Registration and calculation of short-time work.
• Knowledge of collective agreements and internal company regulations.
• Working with Hansalog and GFOS.
• Payroll for multiple companies.
• Calculations for phased retirement, income protection, pensions, etc.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Business Administration or Human Resource Management etc.).
• Preferable 5 to 7 years of experience in a similar role.
• Strong knowledge of German labour law & German wage tax law.
• Strong IT skills: proficient in MS Office (Excel), Hansalog and GFOS.
• Fluency in German and English, both spoken and written.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Accuracy and attention to detail - Works meticulously and ensures that tasks are completed with a high degree of precision, minimizing errors and maintaining quality standards.
• Planning and organizing - Works in a structured way and maintains an overview of tasks and priorities.
• Result-oriented - Acts with purpose and focuses on achieving agreed objectives.
• Sense of responsibility - Takes ownership of tasks and accepts the consequences of own decisions.
• Team oriented - Strong team player with a customer-oriented mindset.
• Decisiveness - Problem-solving and able to independently plan and manage own work.
• Customer focus / Stakeholder management - Takes into account the needs of both internal and external customers.
• Stress resilience - Continues to perform effectively under time pressure or in challenging circumstances.
• Adaptability - Responds flexibly to changing situations, priorities, or working conditions.
• Solution-oriented thinking - Focuses on finding practical and workable solutions to problems.