Finance role
Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) Recruiters
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
Financial Headhunters: Stop hiring payroll staff who struggle with Davis-Bacon accuracy and union fringe calculations. Hire a specialist who treats compliance risk as a daily duty.
This is what we do all day: recruit accounting, finance, banking and insurance professionals.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- Certified Payroll Administrator
- Prevailing Wage Payroll Specialist
- Union Payroll Specialist
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Accounting, finance, banking and insurance
- We reach people who aren’t on job boards
- Replacement terms on standard searches
01
What does this hire really come down to?
Prevailing wage payroll is an audit process rather than data entry. You need someone who knows that a single incorrect fringe remittance or a missed wage determination update creates financial liability for your firm. The person you hire must manage the entire workflow from timecard entry to certified report submission.
A payroll specialist treats labor laws as their instructions. They verify that every hourly rate and benefit contribution matches federal Davis-Bacon or state-specific mandates. They prevent your team from underpaying crews and avoid the disputes that arise when union requirements are misinterpreted across job sites.
You need a person who survives an external state audit. This hire maintains records that satisfy government investigators and union representatives. When this role functions, it protects your eligibility for future infrastructure projects and keeps labor costs aligned with project budgets.
02
What do we check before you see anyone?
- 01We verify experience with WH-347 forms and state-specific reports to confirm they know the documentation burden for every project.
- 02We test their command of prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon classifications to see if they managed these rules across disparate labor categories.
- 03We confirm their ability to calculate union fringe benefits by verifying they have resolved discrepancies between collective bargaining agreements and payroll outputs.
- 04We audit their use of LCPtracker or similar software, confirming they submit reports to digital portals without relying on vendor support.
- 05We ask how they handled wage determination changes, requiring they describe how they updated records during active projects to avoid back-pay issues.
- 06We confirm they have filed amended reports and communicated with labor inspectors after a reporting window closed. What is your specific process for updating a submitted fringe report after the pay date?
03
Where do we find them?
We identify specialists within infrastructure, heavy civil, and commercial construction firms. These people work in environments where regulatory scrutiny is constant. We target professionals who have managed payroll for large-scale federal contracts and operate under strict government oversight.
We contact people who want to leave because their current firm lacks systems to handle growth or struggles to update compliance workflows. They seek roles where they can change processes, implement documentation standards, or work with project management platforms that integrate with payroll data.
We search firms performing heavy civil work that recently transitioned from manual spreadsheets to automated project tracking systems. You can find the right specialist by looking for professionals who managed that transition and now seek firms where they can implement similar standardized documentation workflows. We specifically ask candidates to explain a time they discovered an error in a fringe benefit calculation after a report was already filed with a union local. If they describe a process of notifying project leadership, calculating the precise adjustment, and self-reporting to the local before an audit occurred, they possess the necessary transparency. If they mention waiting for an inquiry or failing to document the adjustment trail, they are not suited for your firm. We also ask what specific federal wage determination codes they manage and how they reconcile these against actual timecard logs. Their answer should demonstrate they understand the difference between a rate classification and a task code. A successful candidate will explain exactly how they mapped those differences to satisfy specific state labor departments during a spot check.
04
Which hiring mistakes should you watch for?
- 01Hiring candidates who only know standard commercial payroll, assuming they can pick up prevailing wage complexity without audit experience.
- 02Prioritizing general software proficiency over regulatory knowledge, resulting in a specialist who uses a tool but cannot interpret labor law.
- 03Failing to check experience with external auditors, leaving the firm exposed during the first visit from state or federal labor officials.
05
The search in three steps
- 01We define your regulatory mix, identifying the union locals and prevailing wage mandates you face to target candidates with matching experience.
- 02We conduct screening interviews focused on payroll logic and audit resolution, filtering out those who have not handled the full compliance burden.
- 03We provide a shortlist of professionals pre-vetted for stability, technical command, and their ability to operate under project scrutiny.
In this family
Construction contractors (GCs, CMs, subcontractors)
OpenHealthcare providers (hospitals, physician groups, ASCs, senior living, behavioral)
OpenManufacturing and distribution
OpenTechnology and SaaS
OpenNonprofits and foundations
OpenHospitality, restaurants and multi-unit franchise
OpenProfessional services firms (law, architecture/engineering, consulting)
OpenPayroll and Timekeeping
Open
How your Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
One sequence, from a well-defined seat to a shortlist you can judge.
Search Calibration
We start with a call about the seat, the books, the owners and the people the hire will work with. We learn what the role must fix in the first year and what would make a candidate wrong even if the resume looks right.
You get: A written search brief: scope, must-haves, deal-breakers and the pay range, agreed with you.
Market Mapping
We map the companies and institutions where the right people already work: similar size, similar ownership, similar complexity, in your market and in others.
You get: The target list of companies and institutions we will search, reviewed with you before outreach.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We find direct ways to reach the people on the map. Most are employed and not reading job boards, so reaching them takes real research.
You get: Direct routes to people who are not on job boards, researched for your search.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We call and write to people individually and follow up. Interest varies, so we discuss the actual opportunity rather than promising a particular response.
You get: One-to-one conversations about your actual role, followed up, never a mass email blast.
Live Candidate Qualification
We speak with every candidate before you do. We check scope, systems, reporting lines, compensation expectations, location and why they would move.
You get: Only candidates we have spoken with, checked on scope, systems, pay, location and motive.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You receive a short written brief on each finalist covering what they have done, where they are thin and what they want. Then we help with interviews, references and the offer.
You get: A short written brief on each finalist, plus help with interviews, references, counteroffer risk and the offer.
Questions people ask
How long will it take to identify candidates with the right experience in prevailing wage reporting?
We provide an initial market update within three days. We deliver candidates once they pass our technical audit standards.
Are your services billed exclusively as a contingency-based search?
You pay only after you hire a candidate we vet. We outline these terms in a written agreement before starting.
What measures do you take to prevent our firm's name from being shared prematurely?
We manage outreach discreetly. We discuss anonymity with you and share no information with candidates without your approval.
Beyond payroll software proficiency, how do you verify a candidate's ability to communicate with union reps?
We evaluate how they explain compliance issues and handle active audits. We verify they can interact with project managers and union representatives while keeping data accurate.
Do you offer solutions if we determine we need a temporary specialist instead of a permanent hire?
Permanent placement is our standard. If you have an urgent seasonal need, tell us when you reach out so we can discuss the scope.
What is the fee for a Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) search?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The fee and terms are agreed in writing before we start.
What about counteroffers on a Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) hire?
We ask every Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) candidate early why they would move and what their employer might do to keep them. Counteroffer risk goes in the written brief before you make an offer.
What is your guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) job and forward whoever applies. We do not send stacks of unscreened resumes, and we do not recruit outside accounting, finance, banking and insurance.
Start a search
Tell us about the seat.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Not ready to start a search?
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What does the published pay data show?
$58,260 national annual median. SOC 43-3051: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks.
BLS reports Certified and Union Payroll Specialist (prevailing wage) within a broader occupation. It does not publish separate wages for this exact title, credentials, seniority or industry. Compare the listed SOC duties with your actual role before using this range.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Released 2026-05-15. This is not a separately measured salary for this exact title.
Read the full salary guide