Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Senior Payroll, Benefits & Compensation Administrator
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Department: Human Resources & Volunteer Services
Reports To: Senior Director of Human Resources
Schedule: Full-Time, Salary, Exempt
Be Part of a World-Class Employee Experience
The Senior Payroll, Benefits & Compensation Administrator plays a key role in supporting the employee experience at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park through the accurate and effective administration of payroll, benefits, and compensation programs.
This position independently manages the organization’s bi-weekly payroll process, administers employee benefit programs, supports compensation and market-pricing activities, and helps ensure the accuracy and integrity of employee and HRIS data. As a key Total Rewards resource, this role works closely with Human Resources, Finance, employees, and external partners to resolve issues, strengthen processes, and ensure programs are administered accurately and consistently.
The ideal candidate combines strong technical knowledge with exceptional attention to detail, analytical ability, sound judgment, and a service-oriented approach.
Why This Role Matters
Payroll, benefits, and compensation touch every employee at Meijer Gardens. This role helps ensure employees are paid accurately and on time, can confidently navigate their benefits, and are supported by compensation programs that are consistent, competitive, equitable, and rewarding.
Behind the scenes, you'll also help strengthen the data, processes, and controls that allow Human Resources and organizational leaders to make informed decisions.
What You’ll Do
Payroll Administration & Compliance
- Independently manage the end-to-end bi-weekly payroll process, including calculations, deductions, approvals, reconciliations, and timely processing.
- Audit payroll records, research and resolve discrepancies, and maintain appropriate documentation and internal controls.
- Support payroll compliance, year-end processing, W-2s, reporting, taxation, wage-and-hour requirements, and employee payroll questions.
Benefits Administration
- Administer employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, and other benefit offerings.
- Manage enrollments, qualifying life events, terminations, annual open enrollment, employee communications, and benefit recordkeeping.
- Partner with carriers, brokers, and other vendors to resolve eligibility, enrollment, billing, deduction, and service issues.
Compensation Administration
- Administer compensation programs and processes in alignment with established compensation philosophy, structures, and guidelines.
- Conduct market pricing and benchmarking, maintain salary ranges and job grades, and prepare analyses supporting new hires, promotions, internal equity, and organizational changes.
- Support annual compensation and merit planning and identify potential market competitiveness, compression, or internal equity concerns for HR leadership review.
HRIS, Data & Process Management
- Serve as a key functional resource for payroll, benefits, and compensation within the HRIS and related systems.
- Maintain accurate employee and Total Rewards data and develop reports, reconciliations, dashboards, audits, and documentation.
- Identify opportunities to streamline workflows, strengthen controls, improve data accuracy, and support HRIS implementations, upgrades, testing, and system configuration.
Organizational & Vendor Partnership
- Serve as a primary day-to-day contact for payroll, benefits, compensation, and related HR vendors and external partners.
- Partner closely with Human Resources and Finance to reconcile information and support reporting, budgeting, audits, and employee data needs.
- Provide knowledgeable, responsive guidance to employees, managers, and HR team members regarding established payroll, benefits, and compensation programs and processes.
What You Bring
Required Qualifications
- 5-7 years of progressively responsible experience in payroll, benefits, compensation, or broader HR operations
- Demonstrated experience independently managing payroll processes and administering employee benefit programs
- Working knowledge of payroll practices, payroll taxation, wage-and-hour requirements, benefits administration, and compensation practices.
- Strong analytical skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience analyzing and reconciling complex employee and payroll data.
- Exceptional attention to detail, organization, judgement, confidentiality, and ability to independently research and resolve discrepancies.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Experience with Paycor or a comparable HRIS/payroll platform.
- Experience conducting compensation market pricing and benchmarking; PayFactors or comparable platform experience preferred.
- Experience working directly with benefit carriers, brokers, payroll providers, and other HR vendors.
- CCP, FPC, CEBS, CPP, or another relevant payroll, benefits, or compensation credential.
- Experience within a nonprofit or similarly complex organization.
What Makes This Opportunity Unique
- Support a mission that brings together gardens, the arts, education, and community experiences at one of the Midwest's leading cultural institutions.
- Make an impact that reaches every employee.
- Advise leaders on broad Total Rewards expertise
- Collaborate across the organization in a highly varied and mission-driven environment
- Shape how we work by bringing ideas for stronger processes, better use of technology, and an increasingly effective employee experience.
Our Values
We seek team members who embody our shared Values:
- Welcoming: Fostering joy and an inclusive, accessible environment for everyone
- Excellence: Approaching all we do with world-class intentionality
- Innovation: Creating engaging experiences in art, culture, and nature
- Integrity: Operating with honesty, transparency, and accountability
- Stewardship: Preserving and enhancing our community and resources
If you enjoy working with data, solving complex problems, improving processes, and helping to create a positive employee experience, we'd love to hear from you.
Working Conditions: This position works primarily in a professional office environment with regular interaction with employees, Human Resources, Finance, organizational leaders, and external vendors. The role involves extensive computer and systems work, handling confidential and sensitive information, managing recurring deadlines, and balancing multiple priorities with a high degree of accuracy. Occasional work outside of standard business hours may be required to support payroll deadlines, annual benefits enrollment, year-end activities, or other organizational needs.
Physical Requirements: This position requires prolonged periods of sitting and working at a computer, frequent use of standard office equipment, and the ability to communicate and exchange information effectively in-person, electronically, and by phone. The role also requires occasional movement throughout offices and other areas of the organization and the ability to occasionally lift, carry, or move typical office materials and equipment.
As part of our onboarding process, all new hires are required to complete our background check.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
We believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace.
