Payroll Specialist

Company Overview

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries. At Bridgestone, you are Free to Be We believe people can only provide superior service and quality to others when they bring their whole self to work. We believe in championing all perspectives, individuals and teams because we understand the importance of seeing the world and our business through many different lenses. We are building a team as diverse as the world we serve. So, show us what you are made of, because who you are is what we need.

Position Summary

The Payroll Specialist is the leader within the team and primary owner of payroll processing and leave management. This role will focus on designing and ensuring compliance with all the following payroll processes including, but not limited to calculating gross and net pay amounts, records maintenance and reconciliation of payroll and leave records. It will also monitor and manage payroll legislation compliance and answer questions from employees and supervisors regarding payroll matters.

You will do well in this role if you are a proactive and enthusiastic individual with exceptional communication and customer service skills. You have strong organizational abilities and a keen attention to detail and enjoy working in a team setting. You have a demonstrated aptitude for problem-solving, business process improvement, case/ticket management, and generating insightful reports.

The preference for this role is to work a hybrid schedule (Tu-Th) at the Bridgestone America's Technology Center (ATC) office in Akron, OH. However, this role is able to be remote for the right candidate.

Responsibilities

• Subject matter expert for all payroll matters related to leave policies.
• Audit internal record of LOA against vendor records to ensure accuracy and resolve discrepancies.
• Process monthly pension payroll and occasional weekly payroll as needed.
• Ensure accuracy of payroll results.
• Prepare and analyze payroll reports to be distributed to leadership.
• Collaborate regularly with colleagues from Compliance, Legal, Total Rewards and external providers as necessary to ensure adherence to internal policies, applicable local, state/provincial, and federal requirements.
• Identify continuous improvement/automation activities and makes frequent recommendations based on detailed analyses and applying results to drive improvements.
• Contribute to projects or processes of complex scope, with limited oversight from manager.
• Adapts precedent and may holistically change standard operating procedures to develop new solutions.
• Supports relationships through strong communication and negotiation skills with internal and external stakeholders.

• Bachelor’s degree with 3 years of experience; or requires a minimum of 8 years of payroll related experience.
• Solid understanding of advanced excel skills such as: pivot tables, VLOOK-UPS and formulas.
• Strong customer service skills.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to develop new skills quickly.

Nice to Have Skills/Experience:

• Prior experience with: SAP, Workday, ServiceNow and/or Day Force.
• Payroll experience working with pensions and leave management payroll.