The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is the State Education Agency for the District of Columbia charged with raising the quality of education for all DC residents. There are five teams within OSSE Human Resources (HR); Recruitment, Employee Relations, Payroll, Employee Experience, and Compliance. The OSSE HR department is seeking a Supervisory Human Resources Specialist to manage the payroll & compliance teams.  

We are looking for a Payroll and Compliance Manager with strong organizational and management skills and who will bring passion for mission, team, and continuous improvement to their work. The Manager will lead a 7-member team responsible for the full range of compliance and payroll functions for an agency of more than 1900 full time employees.  

The Payroll & Compliance Manager serves as liaison between the agency and the D. C. Department of Human Resources and oversees all agency compliance and payroll related matters. The Payroll & Compliance Manager works under the policy, direction, and supervision of the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. The Payroll & Compliance Manager exercises full and final accountability for all matters associated with completing work assignments including determining the work to be performed by the payroll and compliance teams.   

Specific functions include: 

Payroll Functions 

• Overseeing all payroll related inquires, disputes and the primary contact for dispute resolution. 
• Overseeing the Payroll reconciliation process. 
• Managing, troubleshooting, and streamlining Payroll operations and processes.  
• Serving as point of escalation and thought partnership for the team. 
• Auditing payroll records, employee records, processing actions, etc. for accuracy and completeness.  
• Overseeing the administration of payroll processing functions included, but not limited to employee Retro Pay requests, monetary pay-outs, leave adjustments and employment verifications.  
• Overseeing the employee leave audit process to include, but not limited to “Use or Lose” leave accrual, leave discrepancies, etc.   
• Maintaining knowledge/updates on Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the agency. 
• Managing the Kronos timesheet submissions and update process. 
• Tracking and reporting on key metrics related to these functions. 
• Supporting the development of tactical tools and technology to improve processes as well as communications to internal and external stakeholders.  
• Overseeing and managing high-profile, high-stakes agency-wide projects as needed. 
• Attending regularly scheduled and special staff meetings to discuss plans, share problems of mutual concern and to communicate OSSE policy guidance or administrative changes to managers.  
• Responding in writing or verbally to written and oral requests for information from constituents, peers, employees, and other District agencies. 
• Building capacity on the team by setting expectations for and coaching current and emerging leaders, strengthening collaboration and alignment of the HR leadership team members, and ensuring intentional professional development for entire team. 

Compliance Functions 

• Serving as the primary/lead Subject Matter Expert (SME) and educating agency leadership on regulations, policies, notices, issuances, reasonable suspicion, drug, and alcohol policy, etc. 
• Serving as a point of contact for post-accident/ incident responses. 
• Ensuring adherence to Chapter 4 Federal DOT Regulations. 
• Managing the completion of agency compliance trainings and pre-employment requirements as required by OSSE and D.C. Department of Human Resources.   
• Researching, interpreting, and applying various pertinent laws and standards including District and Federal regulations and procedures related to personnel matters and administrative issues/problems.  
• Conducting audits of various compliance databases including, but not limited to employee credentials, licensures, pre-employment checks, background checks & drug screens thus ensuring 100% compliance. 
• Managing the completion/adhere of all employee testing to include, but not limited to random drug screenings, return to duty and personnel screenings for the agency.  
• Developing and implementing standard of operating procedures for compliance. 

Key qualifications for the role include: 

• Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.  
• Strong organization and project management skills, with the ability to dig into details of numerous dependencies and delegate as appropriate. 
• Skill, commitment, and passion for people. 
• Demonstrated customer service mindset with an unrelenting focus on being resourceful and creative to find a solution to any challenge. 
• Ability to articulate a vision and inspire others to follow. 
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills, facilitation expertise, and indirect management experience. 
• Understanding of and demonstrated ability to operate with a talent mindset.  
• Familiarity with operating in a mid-to-large size organization or government environment is strongly preferred. 
• Bachelor’s degree is preferred, but not required. 
• PHR Certification preferred, but not required.  

Our ideal candidate will also have: 

• Experience working in a high volume (1000+ employees), fast paced environment with attention to detail is highly desired.   

Interested applicants should register for the OSSE Hiring Fair.