Payroll Officer 1

Unique Opportunity:
Join the State of Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS) as a Payroll Officer 1 and become an integral part of our Fiscal/Payroll office. This permanent, hybrid telework/on-site position Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30pm offers the perfect balance of flexibility and stability, ensuring you can achieve flawless work-life harmony. Situated at our Central Office on 39 Woodland Street, Hartford, CT, you will enjoy the advantages of a dynamic and encouraging work environment.

As a Payroll Officer 1, you will support the CTECS Payroll unit and ensure successful payroll and benefits administration for 1600+ agency employees.

• Efficiently manage payroll and benefits using the CORE-CT system, including medical, dental, and group life benefits.
• Oversee employee benefits administration through the E-Benefits platforms, ensuring smooth enrollment processes.
• Process employee data changes, position transactions, and benefit enrollments with precision and accuracy.
• Compose, format, and audit complex financial reports, maintaining high standards of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Interpret and implement state regulations and Connecticut's collective bargaining agreements related to employee benefits, while utilizing advanced Excel skills for data analysis, reporting, and auditing.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• Proven experience with the CORE-CT system for payroll and benefits processing.
• Familiarity with managing employee benefits through E-Benefits platforms.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data analysis, reporting, and auditing.
• Experience in interpreting and implementing state regulations and collective bargaining agreements.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy in financial reporting and audits.

Why Join Us?
By joining the State of Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS), you will be part of a team that values collaboration, inclusion, and excellence. We strictly adhere to high standards and are determined to provide our employees with opportunities for professional growth and development. You will have the chance to work in a hybrid setting, balancing on-site and remote work, while contributing to the success of a vital state system.

• In order to be considered for this job opening, you must be a current State of CT employee, who has worked for the state for at least six (6) months of full-time service or full-time equivalent service, absent any applicable collective bargaining language, and meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on the job opening.  You must specify your qualifications on your application.
• Please visit our 'Applicant Tips on How to Apply' page or view our tutorial. 
• The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.
• Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign on to their Personal Status Board on a daily basis to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.  
• In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process.   
• This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the question's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.  
• Note:  At any point during the recruitment process, applicants may be required to submit additional documentation which support their qualification(s) for this position.  These documents may include:  a cover letter, resume, transcripts, diplomas, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.  Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications as indicated to apply for this position.  
• Should you have questions pertaining to this recruitment, please contact Liz Pinette at elizabeth.pinette@ct.gov. 
• This position will be filled in accordance with contractual language, reemployment, SEBAC, transfer, promotion and merit employment rules. 
• The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class. 
• All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period.  It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception.  Requests should be made to DAS.SHRM@ct.gov. 
• For current state employees, salary calculations are not necessarily comparable from one of the three branches of state government (i.e., Executive, Legislative, Judicial) to the other. 
• Read through this helpful link to prepare for your interview. 

In a state agency, facility or institution this class is accountable for supervising a small payroll operation or assisting in supervising a moderate to large size payroll operation.

• Considerable knowledge of
  • relevant agency policies and procedures;
  • and ability to apply relevant state and federal laws, statutes and regulations;
• Knowledge of
  • and ability to apply state payroll policies and procedures;
  • uses of office machinery used in accounting work;
  • governmental accounting as it applies to payroll;
• Considerable
  • interpersonal skills;
  • oral communication skills;
  • skill in performing arithmetical computations;
• Supervisory ability.

Five (5) years of experience in complex clerical work in accounting or payroll.

Two (2) years of the General Experience must have had payroll preparation as the principal responsibility.

College training may be substituted for the General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester hours equalling one-half (1/2) year of experience to a maximum of two (2) years.

• CORE-CT: Proven experience processing payroll and benefits using the CORE-CT system, including medical, dental, and group life benefits.
• E-Benefits: Familiarity with managing benefits through E-Benefits platforms, ensuring efficient enrollment and administration.
• Microsoft Excel: Experience using Microsoft Excel for data analysis, reporting, and auditing purposes
• Experience interpreting and implementing State Regulations and Connecticut's collective bargaining agreements, relevant policies, and statutory requirements impacting employee benefits.
• Financial Reporting: Experience composing, formatting, and auditing complex financial reports, with attention to detail and accuracy.

Persons having responsibility for supervising or observing the behavior of inmates or custodial individuals will be required to possess a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) certification by the time of permanent appointment.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes.  As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility.