Payroll analyst

Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX, TSX:TC) is possibly the biggest Internet company you’ve never heard of. We started as a simple shareware site in 1993 and have since grown into a stable of businesses: Tucows Domains, Ting Internet and Wavelo.

We embrace a people-first philosophy that is rooted in respect, trust, and flexibility. We believe that whatever works for our employees is what works best for us. It’s also why the majority of our roles are remote-first, meaning you can work from anywhere you can connect to the Internet!

Today, over one thousand people work in over 20 countries to help us make the Internet better. If this sounds exciting to you, join the herd!

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a highly analytical and project-ready Senior Payroll Analyst to join our Global Payroll team during a high-growth, project-intensive cycle. In this role, you will play a critical operational role in executing core payroll processes while supporting high-priority strategic initiatives, including organizational projects, a multi-jurisdictional Tax Reconciliation project, and upcoming Year-End operations.

Working alongside our Payroll Manager and Regional Analysts, you will help maintain operational continuity across our US, Canadian, and global jurisdictions. The ideal candidate brings a strong balance of hands-on North American payroll expertise, advanced reconciliation capabilities, and prior experience navigating complex organizational initiatives and payroll process rollouts.

As a subject matter expert in North American payroll, you’ll partner across functions to maintain accuracy, streamline operations, and support our people with care and professionalism.

This is a 3-month contract opportunity, with opportunity for extension.

Key Responsibilities

• Tax Reconciliation & Audits: Statutory federal and state tax filings; prepare supporting audit documentation and correction files for US (Federal/State/Local) and Canadian tax bodies.
• Year-End Operations & Balancing: Lead pre-year-end audit checks, data hygiene reviews (SSN/SIN, tax setups, address formatting), and balancing runs for US W-2/1099 and Canadian T4/RL-1 issuance. Assist with UK/EMEA year-end data verification where needed.
• Organizational Project Support & Data Alignment: Support organizational projects by assisting with report generation, legacy data extraction, employee profile audits, system alignment, and parallel test run validations between platforms.
• BAU Payroll Processing & Backfill: Validate biweekly/monthly payroll inputs for hourly/salaried populations across US and Canadian legal entities, including variable compensation, taxable benefits, reimbursements, and statutory deductions.
• Employee Support & Ticketing Queue: Manage and resolve escalation tickets regarding pay inquiries, tax withholding adjustments, and historical pay adjustments with high accuracy and customer service focus.
• Compliance & Vendor Alignment: Liaise with tax authorities (CRA, Revenu Québec, IRS, State agencies) and third-party vendors (e.g., ADP, iiPay) to resolve discrepancies and keep project milestones on track.
• Ensure compliance with payroll legislation and support internal audits, SOX reviews, and government reporting.
• Partner closely with HR and Finance to resolve payroll issues and provide responsive, professional support to employees.
• Administer benefits and RRSP programs, including deductions, vendor reporting, and reconciliations.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced Data Analysis: Expert-level proficiency in Microsoft Excel (XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, nested formulas, data matching) for heavy reconciliation and audit tasks.
• Organizational Project & Systems Experience: Proven ability to execute payroll data mapping, process audits, parallel run testing, and data migrations during major corporate initiatives.
• Multi-Jurisdictional Tax Knowledge: Deep understanding of US Federal/State/Local tax setups and Canadian payroll legislation, tax forms (T4, ROE, RL-1), and remittance rules. EMEA/Global payroll awareness is a strong asset.
• Project Management & Autonomy: Ability to independently manage high-volume tasks against strict deadlines without sacrificing precision or data integrity.
• Systems Competency: Experience navigating major enterprise platforms (ADP, iiPay)
• Proven ability to meet strict deadlines with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills with a customer-service orientation.
• High level of confidentiality, integrity, and discretion in handling sensitive information.
• Experience reconciling payroll and benefit accounts and preparing related journal entries.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of hands-on payroll processing and reconciliation experience (US & Canada required).
• Demonstrated experience supporting organizational projects, system implementations, or complex tax reconciliation initiatives.
• Post-secondary education in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline.
• PCP (Payroll Compliance Practitioner) or CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) designation preferred.
• Prior experience operating in a remote-first, multi-entity environment.
• Advanced knowledge of third-party payroll systems (e.g., ADP, iiPay, Hibob).

The base salary range for this position is $72,680 to $85,500. Range shown in $CAD for Canadian residents. Other countries will differ. Range may vary on a number of factors including, but not limited to: location, experience and qualifications. Tucows believes in a total rewards offering that includes fair compensation and generous benefits.

Want to know more about what we stand for? At Tucows we care about protecting the open Internet, narrowing the digital divide, and supporting fairness and equality.

We also know that diversity drives innovation. We are committed to inclusion across race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability status. We celebrate multiple approaches and diverse points of view.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.

We use AI-enabled tools throughout our recruitment process to help us work more efficiently and consistently. These tools support our hiring teams by organizing and reviewing information, while final hiring decisions are always made by people.

Tucows and its subsidiaries participate in the E-verify program for all US employees.

Learn more about Tucows, our businesses, culture and employee benefits on our site here.