Find Payroll, Benefits and Total Rewards Jobs In Vancouver

Who - the Organization:
Swim Recruiting is partnering with a well-established Vancouver-based post-secondary institution known for its collaborative, people-focused culture and long employee tenure. The organization is currently navigating a period of transition, including internal restructuring and a planned merger with a university that is expected to expand program offerings into bachelor’s degrees and strengthen long-term sustainability. While there are short-term changes, the organization is positioning itself for future growth and stability. Leadership is looking for someone who brings reliability, accountability, and a steady presence, and who is interested in contributing to a function that is expected to evolve as the organization grows.

What - the Role:
Swim Recruiting is conducting a search for a Payroll & Accounting Specialist. This is a newly restructured full-time role that blends core payroll responsibilities with accounting support. Reporting to the Accounting Manager and working closely with HR, the Specialist will play a key role in ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll operations, while supporting payroll-related accounting processes.
Key responsibilities include:
Payroll (primary focus)

• End-to-end processing of a BC-based payroll using Avanti.
• Ensuring compliance with BC Employment Standards and statutory requirements.
• Managing payroll changes including hires, terminations, ROEs, leaves, and benefits updates.
• Handling a higher volume of terminations and employee inquiries in a restructuring environment.
• Responding to employee questions in a clear, professional, and timely manner.
• Maintaining accurate payroll records and audit-ready documentation.

Accounting (secondary focus)

• Preparing payroll-related journal entries in Microsoft Dynamics.
• Supporting reconciliations and month-end close processes.
• Assisting with payroll reporting and variance analysis.
• Partnering with Finance and HR on compensation, benefits, and policy-related matters.

This is a hands-on role suited to someone who enjoys being directly involved in the work, understands payroll in detail, and can operate independently while collaborating across teams.

Who - the Candidate:
We are seeking a payroll professional who is comfortable working in a changing environment and who brings both technical capability and a strong sense of ownership over their work.
Ideal candidates will bring:

• 3–5+ years of full-cycle payroll experience in British Columbia.
• Strong working knowledge of BC Employment Standards and payroll compliance.
• Experience processing payroll in a structured system environment (Avanti is an asset).
• Exposure to payroll accounting, including journal entries and reconciliations.
• Ability to clearly explain payroll processes and demonstrate hands-on ownership.
• Experience handling employee inquiries with professionalism and sound judgment.

You will stand out if you:

• Have completed or are pursuing the PCP designation.
• Bring experience in a post-secondary or similarly structured environment.
• Show interest in developing your payroll and accounting skillset over time.

Are proactive, detail-oriented, and able to work with minimal supervision.
This role is best suited to someone who is engaged in payroll as a function and interested in growing within it over time.
 

Systems & Skills:

• Experience with Avanti (payroll system) is an asset.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics (ERP/accounting) is an asset.
• Strong Excel skills for data validation, reporting, and analysis.
• Ability to work with structured systems and maintain data accuracy.

How Much:

• Base salary: $75,000 – $80,000.
• Potential for salary progression following initial performance review (approx. 6 months).
• Comprehensive health and dental benefits.
• RRSP matching.

Where:
The role is based in Vancouver and requires regular on-site presence. Current structure is four days in office and one day from home, subject to operational needs. Candidates should be comfortable working primarily on-site and being present with the team.

When & How to Apply:
Swim Recruiting is presenting short-listed candidates directly to the hiring team. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to your Swim contact or apply through our website.
 

Manager, Payroll Projects & Strategy. Unique senior leadership opportunity with a large, fast-paced, complex, and stable Canadian company with a friendly and down-to-earth corporate culture. Great opportunity for someone with great mentorship and leadership abilities who wants to work with a collaborative and supportive team. Strategic leadership of the company’s overall payroll function. Base salary of $120K to $150K and solid total compensation.
 

Who- the Company: 

Our client is a very well-established, interesting, and reputable company with operations throughout Canada and the US. The company has a dynamic culture and friendly people. Many people have worked at the company for 5+ years.
 

What- the Role:

On behalf of our client, Swim Recruiting is looking for a new Payroll Manager who will lead 2-3 direct reports (Team Leads) who in turn have their own direct reports, for a total payroll team size of over 12 people. This is the top Payroll position in the whole company, reporting into a senior HR leader. The total payroll size is around 4000, with a mix of salaried and hourly employees, across multiple Canadian provinces and multiple US states. Using various payroll systems and time & attendance systems.
The Payroll Manager will NOT be regularly processing payroll themselves (other than to support their team very occasionally if needed during sick days, vacations, emergencies, etc.).  This is NOT a hands-on position involved in the nitty gritty day-to-day of payroll operations.  Instead, the Payroll Manager will be focused on overall strategic leadership of the payroll function for this large organization.

• Performance managing the payroll team (team members distributed across Canada and the US).
• Taking the lead on modernization and automation of payroll processes, and shifting the entire payroll function toward streamlined, efficient, and tech‑enabled processes.
• Analyzing the current payroll team structure and ensuring strategic succession planning and workforce planning.
• Reviewing existing payroll technologies and seeking out opportunities for system optimization or new system implementation.
• Representing the payroll function in leadership meetings with HR, Finance, and other functions.
• Managing post-acquisition payroll integration (this company is growing both organically and through M&A).

Who- the Candidate:

On behalf of our client, Swim Recruiting is looking for an experienced HR & Payroll leader with excellent people management experience and some expertise in Canadian payroll operations. Qualified candidates will have 10+ years of payroll (or very related- such as HR, total rewards) experience, including at least 5 years working in a formal people-management capacity.

• Strong, compassionate, and supportive leadership and mentorship capabilities.
• Excellent change management, process improvement, and automation experience, with the proven ability to lead a team through growth and transformation.
• Experience with workforce management and organizational development.
• Experience leading a team that processes a large, complex, high-volume, multi-provincial payroll, with diverse employee groups, including hourly, salaried, permanent, and casual.
• US payroll experience is considered a nice-to-have, but knowledge of  Canadian payroll is the top priority.
• Payroll Technology:
  • Experience with modern, enterprise-level payroll, time & attendance, and workforce management systems, such as Ceridian, UKG, Workday, ADP, etc.
  • Experience leading payroll system projects is highly preferred (conversions, implementations, etc.).
• Warm, approachable, and professional communication skills (written and verbal).
• Professional payroll certification (PCP and/or PLP) is preferred.
• Additional qualifications such as MBA or Leadership certificates will be viewed very favourably.

How Much:

Competitive base salary commensurate with payroll experience, skills, and qualifications, in the range of $120,000 to $150,000, with the high end of the range reserved for candidates with very relevant experience who have all the desired qualifications.  

Additionally, the Manager, Payroll Projects & Strategy will be eligible for an annual bonus, 4 weeks’ paid vacation, great health & dental benefits, a generous RRSP matching program, an employee share purchase program, relevant professional development support, and other perks. Please discuss your total compensation expectations in further detail with SWIM!
 

Where:

The company is headquartered in Burnaby, close to rapid transit. Full-time in office for the first few months to build relationship, and after that the Manager can choose to work from home 1 day/week, with flexibility based on work and personal life schedules. There will be some work travel in this role (in Canada and the US), no more than once a quarter, on average. These work trips are typically scheduled months in advance, so the Manager can plan their personal/family life accordingly.
 

When & How to Apply: 

Swim Recruiting will be presenting the profiles of short-listed candidates directly to the hiring team. If you already have a Recruiter at SWIM, please reach out very soon. If you do not yet have a contact at Swim Recruiting, please hit “APPLY” to send us your resume. Thank you!