About this role
Employment Opportunity: Payroll & Benefits Specialist Permanent, full-time | Hybrid work arrangement | Subject to probationary periodEstablished in 1789, the University of King's College is Canada's oldest chartered university and is associated with Dalhousie University. A small and extraordinarily lively academic community located in Halifax (Kjipuktuk), Nova Scotia, King's is known nationally and internationally for its highly acclaimed interdisciplinary programs in the humanities, including its renowned Foundation Year Program, its professional programs in journalism and its fine arts programs in creative writing. King's is a community where students, faculty, alumni, and staff work to bring greater understanding, creativity, and compassion to the world.OverviewReporting to the Controller, with a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Human Resources Manager, the Payroll & Benefits Specialist is responsible for the accurate and compliant administration of payroll and benefits for all employee groups, including faculty, staff, and casual employees.The role supports institutional accountability through timely processing, regulatory compliance, and responsive service. Working closely with both Finance and Human Resources, the Specialist helps ensure effective communication, policy alignment, and a positive employee experience.This position also coordinates technical aspects of employee onboarding and offboarding, such as system access, account provisioning, and security protocols, in collaboration with internal and external partners.This role operates in a predominantly Excel-based environment with several manual processes and requires a high attention to detail, organization, and comfort working with data.Key ResponsibilitiesThe Payroll & Benefits Specialist will perform the following core duties:Payroll AdministrationAdminister full-cycle payroll for faculty and staff (monthly), and casual/student employees (bi-weekly)Prepare and submit monthly remittances to the Canada Revenue Agency and benefits providersReconcile payroll-related general ledger accountsCalculate and issue annual salary adjustments and retroactive paymentsProcess T4s and T4As, including pension adjustments and taxable benefitsCoordinate payroll tax updates and benefits rate changes with external service providersCalculate maternity/parental leave top-ups and other salary adjustmentsEnsure timely and compliant preparation and submission of Records of Employment (ROE's) in line with federal guidelinesAdminister student refunds and emergency bursaries through payrollSupport administration of faculty supplemental leave grants and travel/research grant paymentsManage wage garnishments and other government-mandated deductionsSupport payroll-related inquiries from employeesBenefits and HR AdministrationServe as administrator for all group benefits plans (Blue Cross, Manulife, Greenshield, Beneva) as well as the Nova Scotia Public Service Superannuation Plan (PSSP) including onboarding and offboarding and online benefits enrollmentProvide benefits information packages to new employeesCoordinate annual group benefits renewal with external consultantsTrack and manage employee absences (vacation, sick leave, parental leave, long-term disability, sabbaticals)Calculate and monitor vacation accruals and banked overtime and distribute monthly reports to managersMaintain and update the employee handbook and benefits information as required on the university websiteLiaise with Dalhousie University for ID card issuance and system access (Banner, NetID, email), including provisioning and deactivation aligned with onboarding and offboarding processesSupport access governance by maintaining accurate records and following established proceduresManage benefits administration for retiree members including communication of benefit rate changes and reconciliation of paymentsCreate and maintain annual faculty and staff listMaintain confidential personnel fi