Payroll Specialist

Mission. You run the company's payroll and salary accounting autonomously, ensure compliance with wage-tax and social-security law, and are the central point of contact for employees, health insurers, the tax office and the Steuerberater:in (tax advisor) on all payroll matters. You report to the [commercial lead / HR lead / management].

Key responsibilities.

• Monthly payroll and salary accounting for [X] employees with [DATEV-LODAS / SAP HCM / Sage HR / Lexware Lohn / Personio].
• Master-data management: joiners, leavers, contract changes, tax-class changes, ELStAM queries, health-insurer registration and deregistration, garnishment setup, bAV (company pension).
• Producing the routine filings: the Lohnsteueranmeldung (wage-tax return) via ELSTER, the Sozialversicherungs-Beitragsnachweis (social-security contribution statement) via DEÜV, the Berufsgenossenschaft (employer's liability insurance) report, [SOKA-BAU where applicable in construction].
• Handling edge cases: geldwerter Vorteil / benefit in kind (company car, Sachbezug / payment in kind, bAV / company pension), Mutterschutz and Elternzeit (maternity protection and parental leave), garnishments, continued pay in case of illness, Kurzarbeit (short-time work) where applicable.
• Preparing the year-end: the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung (wage-tax certificate), the Berufsgenossenschaft annual report, adjusting contribution rates, the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (contribution ceiling), the Mindestlohn (minimum wage) and Sachbezugswerte (payment-in-kind values).
• Supporting social-security and wage-tax audits in coordination with the Steuerberater:in (tax advisor).
• Direct exchange with employees on payroll questions; explaining taxes, social-security contributions, payments in kind and special payments in plain terms.
• Compliance with the GoBD (principles for proper electronic bookkeeping), the DSGVO (GDPR Article 9 for payroll and health data) and the statutory retention obligations (10 years under § 257 HGB and § 147 AO, 6 years for payroll records under § 41 EStG).

Profile.

• Required: a completed commercial apprenticeship (Steuerfachangestellte:r / tax clerk, Industriekauffrau:Industriekaufmann / industrial clerk with a focus on HR or payroll) or equivalent experience; [3 to 8] years of payroll and salary accounting experience, of which at least [2] years in a comparable role with autonomy; mastery of at least one common payroll system (DATEV-LODAS, SAP HCM, Sage HR, Lexware Lohn, Personio); solid knowledge of wage-tax, social-security and employment law (EFZG, ELStAM, DEÜV).
• Desired: the IHK qualification Geprüfte Fachkraft für Lohn- und Gehaltsbuchhaltung (certified payroll specialist) or Geprüfte:r Personalfachkaufleute (HR specialist); experience in a tariff-bound business [IG Metall / retail / construction with SOKA-BAU / care]; experience with interfaces to time tracking and to financial accounting; advanced spreadsheets.
• Disqualifying: no experience with autonomous monthly runs; no familiarity with the routine filings (Lohnsteueranmeldung, SV-Beitragsnachweis); rejection of modern tools (cloud software, employee self-service portals).

What we offer.

• Gross annual compensation, fixed [38 to 62] k€. No structural variable component; a possible 13th-month salary or profit share according to company practice.
• Model: [full-time, hybrid 2 to 3 days / week on-site, based in [city]].
• Benefits: [company pension, bike leasing, employee shares, vacation, home-office policy, professional development (e.g. the IHK Fachkraft für Lohn- und Gehaltsbuchhaltung)].
• Stack: [payroll software, HR system, time-tracking tool, accounting-software interface].