The posting
Join a Challenger
At EQ, we're remaking banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Serving nearly 4 million Canadians from coast to coast, we offer a wide variety of financial services from banking and lending, to trust and credit union solutions.
We've been at this since 1970, challenging the conventions of traditional banking with smarter, faster, and more connected financial experiences.
What's kept us moving? The people behind it all: challengers who ask better questions, push back on old assumptions, and look for a better way forward.
If you're driven to help reshape how banking works for Canadians and the businesses that power our economy, this could be your next big opportunity.
We can’t wait to get to know you!
Purpose of the role
The Senior Payroll Specialist is a senior individual contributor and payroll operations lead responsible for delivering accurate, compliant, and well-controlled payroll across multiple Canadian legal entities in a modern, lean payroll operating model. This role goes beyond payroll processing. The incumbent is accountable for end-to-end payroll execution, payroll accounting, statutory compliance, audit readiness, control effectiveness, issue prevention, and continuous improvement. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the Senior Payroll Specialist serves as the escalation point for complex payroll matters and partners closely with Finance, HR, Tax, Benefits, vendors, and leadership. The role is expected to identify risks before they result in payroll errors, perform root cause analysis when issues arise, implement sustainable corrective actions, and strengthen payroll processes through documentation, controls, automation, and proactive governance.
The Work !
Let’s Talk About You!
- Minimum 7 to 10 years of progressive payroll experience in a complex, multi-entity Canadian payroll environment.
- Have an accredited payroll compliance professional certification
- Experience independently processing payroll for multiple legal entities and complex payroll populations with a group ranging between 1500-3000 employees
- Experience supporting payroll accounting, journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, financial reporting, and variance analysis.
- Experience owning or supporting internal audit, external audit, control testing, and audit evidence preparation.
- Experience with Dayforce payroll strongly preferred.
- Experience with payroll integrations, implementations, acquisitions, system testing, or payroll transformation projects considered an asset.
- Demonstrated experience with payroll accounting, audit ownership, controls, root cause analysis, and cross-functional issue resolution.
- Canadian payroll legislation, employment standards, statutory remittances, and year-end reporting requirements.
- Income Tax Act requirements, CPP, EI, taxable benefits, employer payroll obligations, and provincial payroll requirements.
- Payroll accounting principles, general ledger reconciliations, accruals, variance analysis, and payroll liability management.
- Internal controls, audit practices, evidence standards, documentation requirements, and operational risk management.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel and payroll reporting capabilities.
What we offer [For full-time permanent roles]
💰 Competitive discretionary bonus
✨ Market leading RRSP match program
🩺 Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits
📝 Employee Share Purchase Plan
👶🏽 Maternity/Parental top-up while you care for your little one
🏝 Generous vacation policy and personal days
🖥 Virtual events to connect with your fellow colleagues
🎓 Professional development and comprehensive Career Development program
💛 A fulfilling opportunity to join one of the top FinTechs and help create a new kind of banking experience
The incumbent will be working hybrid and in office time will be spent working from EQ Bank’s additional office space located at 2200-25 Ontario Street, Toronto, ON.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
EQ is committed to building an inclusive, accessible environment where every employee feels valued, respected, and supported. We believe our organization is stronger — and our people thrive — when we honour and celebrate diverse experiences, identities, and perspectives. We’re equally committed to supporting your growth, both professionally and personally.
We provide a barrier‑free recruitment process and work environment. If you require accommodations at any stage, we will work with you to ensure you can bring your best self to the process and beyond.
As part of our recruitment process, EQ uses AI to help screen, assess, and/or select applicants for this position. All AI-enabled outputs are reviewed and validated by our talent team. All candidates considered for hire must successfully complete a criminal background check and credit check. While we appreciate every application, an EQ recruiter will contact only those whose skills and experience most closely match the requirements of the role.
EQB Inc. (TSX: EQB) is the parent company of Equitable Bank, the country's seventh-largest Schedule I bank by assets, which operates EQ Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™. EQB Inc. serves nearly 4 million Canadians and manages approximately $150 billion in combined assets under management and administration.
To learn more, visit eqb.investorroom.com and eqbank.ca.
