Are you a problem anticipator and resolver? Can you communicate as easily with an accountant as with a labor relations attorney? Do you find the opportunity to be a strategic change maker exciting?
The Director, Payroll Division is a new position within the Finance & Property Services Department. This is a crucial role for a strong leader in an invigorating complex payroll division that is integral to the success of the City. The ideal candidate is a skilled relationship-builder who can work cooperatively with leadership and other departments, but also be an ardent advocate for payroll best practices and necessary proactive innovation.
This self-motivated initiator will be an important contributor to the financial leadership team, a champion of the employees and work of the division, a believer in the meaningfulness and necessity of smooth processes, and a collaborator with multiple stakeholders, including benefits, labor relations, and information technology. The Director will take a proactive, long term, strategic approach to shaping the work of the division for the benefit of the City. This position is also responsible for the management of the 15 personnel on the functional payroll team.
This is a full-time exempt position, with anticipated starting salary between $75,266 – $96,427 annually.
This posting is open until filled. The first review of applications will occur on May 30.
Job Duties and Responsibilities:
- Manage the City’s payroll functions including strategic planning, policy development, supervision, monitoring, and troubleshooting, and taking responsibility for interaction with other City departments, and other stakeholders.
- Manage the proper processing of employee pay, including reviewing, processing, and correcting computer-generated reports each pay period prior to finalization of payroll; calculating various pays; and entering variable payroll information to ensure proper pay in alignment with 24 labor agreements.
- Oversee the reconciliation and payment of payroll/benefit related vendors and the preparation and transmittal of State and federal quarterly and annual reports (e.g. IRS Form 941, W-2s, UI).
- Manage the hiring and supervision of assigned staff, including training assigned staff in payroll processing procedures and regulations.
- Establish priorities, goals, delivery methods and strategies.
- Coach, prepare performance reviews, take appropriate corrective action with the Manager Accounting, and Business Application Analyst, and provide guidance and assistance to the Manager Accounting’s oversight of the Payroll Supervisors and Technician staff.
- Participate in and oversee development and implementation of procedures to provide guidance and documentation for staff working on payroll both within Finance, and in the various other departments.
- Perform outreach and training, serving as a liaison regarding payroll matters, and troubleshooting problems and seeing to their resolution.
- Develop various statistical and narrative reports using both manual and computer system research.
- Analyze, develop and recommend improvements to the payroll computer system to improve efficiency and accuracy.
- Prepare system changes and data for input to test the results on the system.
- Communicate computer-programing needs to technical staff, or consultants for assistance, action, and resolution.
- Ensure all contracts, pay ordinances, administrative guidelines, and Federal and State laws are implemented and correctly adhered to as they pertain to payroll.
- Ensure all legal, regulatory, audits, contractual, or benefit changes affecting the payroll system are properly implemented.
- Solve problems by identifying possible errors or negative consequences of system modifications related to compliance and service issues and taking steps to deal with these issues.
- Develop internal procedures and documentation for implementation of changes and provide staff training.
- Participate as a member of Account Managers group in reviewing, discussing, and changing Human Resources practices at the City.
- Provide input into labor contract proposals regarding feasibility, efficiency, compliance, impact on and/or cost to the payroll system.
- Review and ensure the implementation of the results of labor contract negotiations to assure all City contractual obligations are fairly applied and executed.
- Oversee delivery of both oral and written information to employees, dependents, staff, and vendors regarding the payroll system as well as specific pay and benefits issues.
- Provide accurate and timely data and information; interpret, apply and explain applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
- Participate in various planning and evaluation meetings concerning the payroll and accounting systems, benefits, and other compensation related matters.
- Manage the maintenance of the records and management systems for all Payroll divisional records.
Working Conditions: Normal office setting.
Required Qualifications:
- Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Human Resources, or a related field or equivalent
- Experience: Five years of supervisory payroll experience in an organization with a large staff, and working with an automated payroll system and HRIS software.
- Licensure/Certification: Certified Payroll Professional designation (CPP).
- Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
Cover Letter & Resume: REQUIRED. Please attach these to your application.
Selection Process:
Any one or any combination of a written exam, evaluation of education/experience/screening questionnaire responses, oral exam, work simulation, etc., may be utilized (100%). The right is reserved to limit the number included in any phase. Decisions concerning your qualifications for this position will be based on the information you provide on (or with) your application (complete work history, transcripts, etc.) The interview may also include work simulation exercises, candidate assessments, etc.
Background Check:
The City has determined that a criminal background check and/or qualifications check may be necessary for certain positions with this job title. Applicants may be required to sign an informed consent form allowing the City to obtain their criminal history and/or verify their qualifications in connection with the position sought. Applicants who do not sign the informed consent form will not be considered further for the position.
Pre-Employment Drug / Alcohol Testing:
All job applicants must pass a pre-employment drug and alcohol test once a conditional offer of employment has been made. Applicants will be required to sign a notification and consent form prior to undergoing drug and alcohol testing. Applicants who do not consent to undergo drug and alcohol testing will not be required to do so and the City will withdraw the conditional job offer, resulting in the job applicant no longer being considered for the position.
This position is Non-Represented (CNR).
The eligible list created for this exam will expire three (3) months after being established.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Experience with implementing, adhering to, and understanding union contracts.
- Considerable, demonstrated knowledge of all federal, state, and local laws and rules relating to payroll.
- Considerable experience in payroll best practices.
- Considerable experience working with technology and systems for payroll, and system integration with HR systems.
- Considerable knowledge of administrative and management techniques.
- Considerable knowledge of the various City departments’ functions, policies, practices and procedures.
- Sufficient computer skills necessary for the use of the City’s Financial System and HRIS (COMET/PeopleSoft) and to use Microsoft Office applications.
- Strong analytical abilities in relation to review of financial statements, account, etc.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Click the link below to apply.
Words by Nichelle Brunner | Photos by Josh Olson
Walking in, Damon blends right in. Wearing a sweater and jeans, he sits relaxed with the young leaders in the room. He talks with everyone, never listing off his credentials or what he does; simply introducing himself as Damon. Even as he presented, he sat down to create a more intimate and conversational setting. His career path helps provide insight into his humility and energetic personality.
When it comes to careers, Damon Shoholm has done it all. On a Powerpoint slide with over fifteen jobs and careers, Damon breezes through them with ease and brevity. Over twenty-six years, Damon was an actor, high school social studies teacher, correctional deputy, marketing associate, and an intern in the Mayor of Saint Paul’s Office. While his resume is expansive, impressive, and unexpectant of a nonprofit director, these same careers helped define Damon’s leadership at his current position.
The director of the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute at Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Damon joined us recently at YNPN’s Leadership Breakfast where he outlined his career path through a series of seemingly unrelated jobs and challenges.
“In my 20s, I was in college so I did the normal stuff that was just making sure I could have a little extra food here and there. But it started being a slippery slope. While I was in college, I got a gig and I was thinking, ‘Oh, maybe I can do this,’ and I stopped going to school. The gig was the Mayor’s Office. I did this for two years and I was doing good, but the mayor wasn’t. So when he wasn’t re-elected, I lost my job. By this time, I had started a life of bills and did jobs that I wasn’t drawn to at all.”
For a few years, Damon worked odd jobs, including starting a computer graphics company with friends. Despite being okay at these odd jobs, they never aligned with his skills and talents.
Paying attention to the world
Kicking the breakfast off, Damon asked attendees to answer three questions: What do you do? How do you deploy your skills and talents? And why do you care? Damon did not expect the young leaders to have all the answers, asking each person to only share one or two statements.
After, he told of how soccer came to help him answer each of these questions.
“I grew up playing soccer. I was the Minnesota kid that played hockey for two years, but played soccer the rest of my life,” said Damon, smiling as he reflected on his childhood. “So that community became a big part of my life. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for soccer because of the relationships I developed. The relationships led me down this path that I’m currently on. I had a close friend that asked me to help coach his high school [soccer] team. I came out, did a couple of weeks with them, and at the end of it, he was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you need to be working with kids.”
“That brings me to one of the first lessons I learned. There are so many people in this world who see something in you, that you don’t see in yourself. You can only hope that one, they’re kind enough to share that with you, and two, that you’re listening.”
Damon was moved by this lesson. After two years, he finally jumped at the opportunity to work at a high school as the dean. He was there less than two months when he realized helping young people was something he loved. This helped set him up for his current career at the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute.
Continuing to learn
“Identifying my core values is critical for me. So, lifelong learning is one of those. I love to learn. I love being in spaces where people are learning. That made me recognize that this was the space I needed to stay in some way, shape, or form. But this position allowed me to do that, and work with adults as well as youth.”
Ten years later, Damon is still with Wilder and it is the longest he’s ever been anywhere.
“And it’s been fantastic. It’s great work and I can’t always say the foundation or the organization has always been in alignment with what I care about, but you will always be challenged by some of the decisions your organization makes. But you have to have a set of core values, a clarity of purpose, and decide what type of leadership you want to be behind. During my time at Wilder, I’ve been fortunate to have leaders that I believe exemplified values that have been easy to get behind and made me feel a particular connection to the collective work.”
Defining Leadership
When an attendee asked Damon to define leadership, his energetic demeanor becomes more relaxed, but hesitant. Damon paused for a minute, before taking a deep breath.
“I don’t have a straight definition for leadership, but the first responsibility of any leader is to know yourself. If you’re spending the time to get to know yourself and how you operate, I think you’ll lead yourself to implement or define your own leadership. Second, part of why I support changemakers is because I believe you can be a leader no matter what your place is in a community. We need to stop defining it as only connected to positional leadership, or action, [and] you have to be doing something extraordinary. You can find leadership wherever you need to. You’ll see it in places you never considered before.”
Breakfast of Champions: Damon Shoholm Photo Gallery
May 31, 2017
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) is pleased to host our seventh annual conference for nonprofits in small towns and rural communities, this year in Fargo. We’re pleased to co-host our 2017 Greater Minnesota Nonprofit Summit in conjunction with the North Dakota Nonprofit Leadership Conference, the annual event of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations (NDANO).
This two-day event is designed to bring together staff, board members and volunteers from across North Dakota and Minnesota to learn, network and strategize. The event is especially designed for small to mid-size organizations, especially those working in regional centers, small towns and rural communities.
This year’s Summit will tackle some of the most pressing themes for nonprofits in Greater Minnesota. Namely, we’ll address rural philanthropy, demographic shifts in small communities, and a spectrum of nonprofit leadership including governance, emotional intelligence, legal topics, advocacy and more. Throughout each discussion, we’ll look at the ways that these issues play out in our Greater Minnesota communities and we’ll highlight opportunities for building a vibrant landscape for all.
Join us on Wednesday, May 31 for the one-day Greater Minnesota Nonprofit Summit. Wednesday’s sessions will focus on both Minnesota and North Dakota. Or stay 2 days for the combined event with our allies in North Dakota. Thursday’s sessions will be relevant to all — and will have more of a ND focus.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities’ mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Our vision is that all children achieve success in life. Serving the Twin Cities since 1920, BBBS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supported through individual and corporate gifts, grants, special events and United Way funds.
BBBS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Organizational Overview
Each year over 10,000 youth in Minnesota drop out of school, and Minnesota’s academic achievement gap has grown to be one of the largest in the nation. To address this challenge, Minnesota Alliance With Youth (the Alliance) works to support and invest in schools and communities looking to improve graduation rates. In particular, the Alliance enlists and supports AmeriCorps Promise Fellows at host schools and organizations across the state to promote positive youth outcomes and close the achievement and opportunity gaps, including graduation for all. Promise Fellows serve at their host sites, while working with Alliance Trainers and staff for support and guidance in order to fulfill their service through AmeriCorps.
Host Site Overview
The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities (BBBS) is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Its vision is simple, but ambitious – that all children achieve success in life. To accomplish this, BBBS strives to help children build positive assets so they have the confidence and resilience to overcome current and future adversities. Specifically, the targeted assets include emotional success, avoidance/reduction of risk behaviors, and socio-emotional competency.
Position Background
Promise Fellows tackle issues of educational equity by providing resources to increase high school graduation rates at schools across Minnesota. The Fellows serve at least 30 youth in grades 6-10 specify grades served. in communities that have the highest annual dropout rates and middle schools that feed into those high schools. Each Promise Fellow works with a site supervisor, data coach, and a youth success team comprised of supervisors, school social workers, and other school personnel to analyze data, make referrals, identify youth who need support, and connect the youth to resources and programs that will engage them in school and learning. This role ensures that youth receive access to caring adults, service and leadership opportunities, and high quality in and out of school support. The goal of the Fellow’s service is to build relationships with youth and support them to engage in school.
Position Responsibilities and Essential Functions
Promise Fellows will support and deliver a variety of activities to support students. These activities include:
- Build and foster strong relationships with their selected students.
- Coordinate and deliver in and out of school time academic enrichment activities with the goal that at least 30 youth in grades 9 – 10, primarily 9th grade will experience academic gains.
- Meet regularly with Youth Success Team to review data and identify youth to serve; track student progress; and determine which interventions to connect to individual students or groups of students.
- Develop and organize projects that engage youth participants in service and leadership activities.
- Recruit and/or support community volunteers, including family members, to work with youth participants in areas such as mentoring, tutoring, civic engagement, and college/career exploration.
- Provide attendance and behavior coaching for students targeted for needing assistance as determined through the multi-tiered system of support approach; promote positive behavior expectations.
- Maintain program records, complete ongoing youth assessments and submit weekly and monthly reports using an online database system with support from site supervisor and site coordinator.
- Develop and execute a professional plan for the service year and life after AmeriCorps
- Participate in all required Alliance, AmeriCorps, and Host Site meetings and assignments.
- Make matches between mentors and youth to achieve the BBBS mission.
- Work with corporate and school contacts to ensure a sufficient number of youth and volunteer participants.
- Use professional interview and assessment skills to screen potential program volunteers and youth.
- Guide volunteer mentors through extensive enrollment process.
- Make matching decisions based on information gathered from enrollment process.
- Facilitate volunteer mentor trainings – including preliminary training and on-going pre- and post-activity support and education.
- Uphold documentation and data management standards as they relate to the enrollment process
- Provide support to matches
- Establish rapport with match participants.
- Promote a high quality match experience by ensuring compliance with BBBS National Standards of Practice for match support and adhering to documentation standards.
- Regularly assess the health and progress of the match.
- Develop and coordinate activities for matches that focus on positive youth assets and high school career support.
- Work with Education and Enrichment to support and promote match activities that encourage college access and career planning for youth.
- Work with Education and Enrichment staff to identify individual students for further participation in specialized Education and Enrichment programming (individual counseling, workshops, tours, trips and career exploration).
- Administer evaluation tools and utilize data to help enhance the match relationship.
Other Duties:
- Support teachers and other school and community members to determine the best local dropout prevention strategies, including how community volunteers will help address the needs of the targeted youth.
- Organize field trips and other special events to make learning and being at school more engaging and relevant to youth who are disengaged and at risk of dropping out.
- Contribute to the overall success of the organization by working together to achieve the mission. Develop and maintain sensitivity to employee diversity, and demonstrate cultural competence in the workplace and in the services provided by the agency. Demonstrate respectful treatment of other employees, program participants and all stakeholders. Build community support for the organization by helping to recruit volunteers and to raise money.
Qualifications and Additional Information
Requirements
- Must be at least 18 years old
- Baccalaureate degree in Social Work, Human Services, Psychology, Youth Development, or related field and experience in youth development, program management, education or related field.
- Be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National or have status as a Lawful Permanent Resident Alien
- Please note that final candidates will be required to successfully pass background checks before being officially enrolled by Minnesota Alliance With Youth.
- Have a high school diploma or GED
- Additional experience working with high school youth preferred.
Qualifications
- Interest in youth, service, education, and non-profit work
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Ability to deal effectively with a variety of tasks, priorities, and people in order to meet goals
- Ability to work effectively with people of a variety of backgrounds and cultures
- Self-motivated, able to work in a team, take initiative and work independently
- Able to present oneself in a highly professional manner and be an ambassador of the program
Desirable Characteristics
- Associates Degree or Bachelor of Arts Degree
- Volunteer experience and desire to develop a strong ethic of service
- Experience working collaboratively with youth and adults
- Commitment to positive youth development
- Knowledge and understanding of youth development and family dynamics
- Knowledge and understanding of Socio-Emotional Learning principles and practice
- Skill in case management, interviewing and assessing and volunteer management
- Ability to collaborate and develop relationships with a wide variety of individuals
- Ability to work and deliver services in a public school setting
- Knowledge of confidentiality and mandated reporting
- Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively in oral and written form, on an interpersonal and group level.
- Ability to organize and lead groups of youth.
- Ability to recruit volunteers and children for the program
- Ability to work within a diverse team of individuals.
- Ability to maintain a flexible schedule to accommodate needs of matches.
- Ability to travel in the assigned service area. Must possess a valid driver’s license and provide a reliable means of transportation for the performance of work responsibilities.
Typical Work Environment
- Able to work at a computer for up to 8 hours per day
- Able to work in environment that is noisy with many young people and adults demanding attention
- Able to work independently as well as on teams
- Work setting may include working in a cubicle and/or sharing office and computer with other members/staff
Promise Fellows may NOT be in school full-time or have another full-time position and serve with the Alliance; Promise Fellows must serve in a full time capacity for a minimum of 40 hours per week during their term of service.
Benefits
As a full-time AmeriCorps member, Promise Fellows serve 1720 hours (minimum) from September 1st to July 31st and receive: Modest Living Allowance (approximately $574 twice per month, pre-tax); Health and Dental Insurance; Qualified Student Loan Forbearance; Qualified Childcare Assistance; $5,815 Education Award upon successful completion of service; Ongoing, extensive support and training.
Additional Information:
Desired Start Date: 09/01/2017
