Howmet Aerospace is currently in search of a Payroll Tax Specialist to join the Global Financial Services group in Pittsburgh, PA. The principal challenge of the Payroll Tax Specialist is to ensure payroll regulatory compliance. This role partners directly with our payroll outsourcer, Alight, to ensure accurate payroll processing and taxation for Howmet's US employee population, as well as non-US based expatriate employees whose payroll is administered by Alight. The incumbent will participate as an internal expert and consultant to all of Howmet's businesses and customer/user groups. This position is also responsible for managing or participating in projects involving the Alight team as well as other Resource/Business Units within Howmet, and other outside vendors. This role requires detailed knowledge and understanding of payroll and multi-state payroll tax withholding and filing requirements.

Major Activities/Key Challenges:

• Work as part of a team to monitor, develop or procure, implement, and support HR processes and systems by utilizing technically sound methods of requirements and process definition, systems analysis and design, planning, scheduling, and testing
• Establish and maintain a high level of customer interaction and focus in order to identify improvement opportunities and recommend solutions to solve business issues. Customers include: US Payroll, Legal, and HR team members, employees and retirees/surviving spouses, colleagues within the Financial Shared Services team, and third-part vendors such as Alight, Equifax, Weichert, and bargaining units.
• Operate within Howmet standards and conventions BU/RU standards
• Provide solutions that meet the needs of the customer following Howmet standards and conventions and return value to the business; through data analyses identify areas for improvement and develop plans to address those areas
• Provide subject matter expertise in the processes and systems in assigned area(s) of responsibility
• Provide expert advice and counsel to the users of the processes and systems in assigned area(s) of responsibility
• Project management; managing projects independently, provide regular status communications, create and monitor schedules, and own priorities
• Implement the ABS principles - problem solving A3, standard work, Plan-Do-Check-Act - to assigned area(s) of responsibility
• Manage in part or in entirety a Service Level Agreement
• Job Specific Duties:
  • Understand& stay informed of labor agreement changes that may impact payroll
  • Consult on payroll, garnishment and tax related issues
  • Address payroll issues brought to the Payroll team
  • Review error reports and ensure resolution
  • Act as back-up to prepare filings for certain payroll-related taxes
  • Act as back-up to review tax reporting prepared by third-party vendor
  • Request, test and approve set up of new and changes to existing set-up within SAP Payroll system
  • Work with third party vendors to manage unemployment insurance rates
  • Act as back-up to file requests for new tax IDs as needed
  • Heavily involved in year-end payroll processing and W-2 preparation
  • Support Payroll funding activities
  • Work with the corporate Tax team and payroll contacts across US locations to address various payroll tax issues which are brought directly to the Howmet payroll team and coordinate departments and third-party vendors as needed to ensure appropriate system changes and testing are completed
  • Address payroll tax issues efficiently and completely to resolution
  • Other duties as assigned by Payroll Operations management

Essential Knowledge & Skills:

• Demonstrate a deep understanding of the business processes in area(s) of assignment
• Pursue continuous learning consistent with the movement in the job requirements and changes in technology and service delivery
• Proven ability to work independently and ensure management is kept apprised of issues in a timely manner
• Strong interpersonal skills to interact proactively and effectively with a diverse group of individuals and teams
• Excellent communication skills
• Able to quickly learn new subject matter

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited institution
• Minimum three (3) years of payroll-related experience in a corporate environment
• Minimum three (3) years of payroll tax withholding & filing experience
• Minimum three (3) years of account reconciliation experience
• Minimum one (1) year of experience with a payroll application in a corporate environment
• Employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong knowledge of accounting acumen with an ability to apply this knowledge to the payroll process
• Demonstrated capability working with Microsoft Office suite of products; extremely proficient in Excel formulas, look-ups and pivot tables
• Demonstrated effective verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and be able to interact with internal and external customers, vendors and other analysts, management, and other departments
• Strong analytical, organizational and time management skills

Salary Range: $80k - $95k/year approximation (actual compensation is subject to variation due to factors such as education, experience, skillset, and/org location).