Best suited to detail-oriented payroll professionals with multi-company experience working in commercial security and field-service industries.
Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.
Original posting from Cobalt Service Partners via Greenhouse
Cobalt Service Partners (CSP) is building the nation's leading commercial access and security integration platform. Backed by Alpine Investors, we partner with founder-led businesses that install, maintain, and repair commercial gates, doors, loading docks, and integrated security systems.
Since launching in late 2023, we've welcomed 22 partner companies into Cobalt. Each one has its own team, practices, and local history. Bringing them onto shared processes and systems without disrupting the people who built them is central to how we grow. Payroll sits right at the heart of that work.
About the role
Cobalt Service Partners is hiring a Payroll Specialist to own accurate, on-time payroll for a group of operating businesses. Each business has its own employees, pay schedules and quirks, and you'll be the person they count on to get it right every cycle.
We're a startup, so our payroll processes, procedures, and systems are still taking shape. Processing payroll is the core of this job. Helping us build the way we do it — documenting steps, tightening controls, and shaping our systems as we grow — is the other part.
What you'll do
Payroll processing (most of your time)
Run end-to-end payroll for multiple businesses on weekly, biweekly and semimonthly schedules
Collect and verify hours, new hires, terminations, pay changes, bonuses and commissions before each run
Calculate and process deductions, garnishments, PTO accruals and benefit withholdings
Review payroll registers for accuracy and resolve discrepancies before funds are released
Make sure federal, state and local payroll taxes are withheld, filed and paid on time, including quarterly and year-end filings (941, W-2, W-3)
Answer employee and manager questions about pay, deductions and tax forms
Reconcile payroll to the general ledger and prepare journal entries or reports for accounting
Support audits, workers' comp reviews and year-end close
Building how we work
Write and maintain step-by-step procedures and checklists for each business you support
Spot errors, manual workarounds and risks, and propose fixes
Help evaluate, set up, or migrate payroll and HR systems as we standardize
Bring newly added businesses onto our payroll process smoothly
Partner with HR, accounting, and local business managers to keep data flowing cleanly
What you bring
3+ years of hands-on payroll processing, ideally across more than one company or EIN
Working knowledge of federal and multi-state payroll tax rules, wage and hour law, and garnishments
Experience with at least one major payroll platform (for example ADP, Paychex, Paylocity, Gusto or UKG)
Strong Excel skills: lookups, pivot tables and reconciliations
A high bar for accuracy and confidentiality
Clear, friendly communication with employees and managers who aren't payroll experts
Nice to have
Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC) or Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)
Experience with field-service or hourly workforces (overtime, shift differentials, job costing)
Experience helping implement or migrate a payroll system
Exposure to acquisitions or onboarding new entities
Who thrives here
You're comfortable when the answer is "we haven't decided that yet" and you'll help decide it
You fix the root cause, not just this cycle's error
You write things down so the next person doesn't have to guess
You can juggle several pay calendars without missing a deadline
You ask questions early and flag problems before payday, not after
Why Cobalt
Real variety. You'll support multiple partner companies, each with its own team, pay practices and history. It's not the same payroll every week.
A hand in building it. Our payroll processes and systems are still taking shape, and you'll help design them instead of inheriting someone else's.
Work that matters to people. The technicians and installers keeping our customers' buildings secure count on you to get their pay right.
Competitive base salary, full health benefits, 401(k) with match, paid time off, paid holidays, life and disability coverage, and professional development support.
Cobalt Service Partners and its operating companies are equal opportunity employers. Employment is at-will.