US Payroll & Benefits Analyst

About The Role:

We are seeking a process-driven Payroll & Benefits Analyst to own US benefits administration, 401(k) audits and payroll processing for a US client with a multi-state, field-based workforce. The role is

benefits-first: enrollment, carrier EDI feeds, invoice reconciliation and vendor coordination, with hands on payroll cycles in Paylocity. This is a processing role with direct accountability for data integrity, deadlines, state-wise compliance templates and audit-ready records.

Key Responsibilities:

Benefits Administration: Enrollment and Eligibility

• Enrollment: Process new hire enrollments, qualifying life events, open enrollment elections and terminations across medical, dental, vision, life, disability and voluntary plans.
• Eligibility: Track eligibility and waiting periods, resolve eligibility disputes and enrollment discrepancies, and keep plan rules documented by state and employee class.
• COBRA: Initiate and track COBRA notices and continuation coverage on terminations and reductions in hours.
• Employee Support: Manage and triage the benefits inbox, answer employee and manager questions, and close out requests within agreed turnaround times

Carrier, EDI and Vendor Management

• EDI Feeds: Monitor carrier EDI feeds (UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, The Hartford and others), work error and discrepancy reports, and confirm elections and terminations land correctly with each carrier.
• Invoice Reconciliation: Reconcile monthly carrier invoices against payroll deductions and enrollment records, flag variances, and raise credits and corrections with carriers and the broker.
• Vendor Tracker: Maintain the shared vendor request tracker (including WEX account items) with daily status updates, owners, dependencies and turnaround times for the client's accounting and HR teams.
• Broker and Carrier Liaison: Coordinate directly with brokers and carriers on open items, plan changes, renewals and reporting requirements.

401(k) Administration

• Contribution Audits: Audit employee deferrals, employer match and loan repayments each pay cycle against plan rules and payroll output; identify and correct errors before remittance.
• Changes and Remittance: Process deferral and loan changes into payroll, verify remittance files and timing, and keep the recordkeeper and payroll in sync.
• Plan Compliance: Build the plan year-end census for the recordkeeper, support nondiscrimination testing, Form 5500 data requests and plan audits.

Payroll Processing

• Payroll Cycles: Run weekly and bi-weekly payroll cycles in Paylocity: timesheet and hours imports, rate changes, new hires and terminations, deductions, garnishments and one-time earnings.
• Pre- and Post-Process Audits: Validate payroll registers before submission, reconcile benefit and 401(k) deductions to enrollment, and document every correction and off -cycle run.
• Tax and Year-End Reconciliation: Reconcile payroll to quarterly Form 941 filings, verify state tax account registrations and filings, and support W-2, W-3 and W-2c year-end reconciliation.
• Prevailing Wage: Support prevailing wage pay notices, fringe rate calculations and certified payroll data for field employees where applicable.

Compliance and Reporting

• ACA: Maintain the data behind Form 1095-C reporting: offers of coverage, affordability and measurement periods.
• Leave and Disability: Coordinate short-term disability, state leave and employer-paid leave with the carrier and payroll so pay and deductions stay correct while employees are on leave.
• State-Wise Compliance: Create and maintain benefit and compliance templates for the states the client operates in, and keep them current as rules change.
• Records and Audit Readiness: Maintain employee benefit and payroll files to retention policy, and prepare workpapers for 401(k) audits, workers' compensation premium audits and internal reviews

Operations and Reporting

• Issue Tracking: Track open items and projects in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, document resolutions, and send weekly status reports to the client and internal leads.
• Process Documentation: Write and maintain SOPs, checklists and calendars for every recurring benefits and payroll task you own.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify root causes of recurring discrepancies, propose fixes, and build Excel tools that reduce manual work.

Required Qualifications:

• Experience: 2 to 5 years in US benefits administration and payroll within HR operations, shared services or a payroll/benefits outsourcing firm, with benefits as the primary area of expertise.
• Education: Graduate degree in any discipline. MBA or postgraduate qualification in HR or Finance is preferred, not mandatory.
• Systems: Hands-on experience with Paylocity or ADP Workforce Now (or a comparable US HRIS/payroll platform), carrier and broker portals, and 401(k) recordkeeper platforms.
• Excel: Power user: VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, data cleaning and reconciliation of large files is mandatory.
• Domain Knowledge: US group benefits (medical, dental, vision, life, disability, FSA/HSA), COBRA, ACA reporting, 401(k) plan operations, payroll taxes and multi-state employment rules.
• Confidentiality: Strict adherence to data privacy and security protocols; you will handle medical, compensation and personal data every day.
• Communication: Excellent written and spoken English for direct work with US client teams, brokers, carriers and vendors.
• Work Pattern: Able to work the 1 PM to 10 PM IST shift onsite in Hyderabad and meet US payroll and carrier deadlines