Compensation and Benefits Specialist

Who We Are:
Challenge Manufacturing’s mission is to manufacture with operational excellence by empowering our employee-owners. As a leading tier 1 supplier of complex metal assemblies for the global automotive industry, we drive innovative solutions for future mobility. We believe the best ideas come from individual unique perspectives. These ideas combined with the teamwork of industry leaders allow us to accomplish any challenge. Our team members take pride in the work we do and embody our core values of safety, ownership, and teamwork every day; they are the true driving force in our operations.

Challenge is proud to be one of the largest employee-owned automotive companies in North America. One of the many benefits of joining the Challenge team is the ESOP program. This program allows Challenge to give shares of the Company to all employee-owners annually. These shares are an additional retirement benefit that will continue to grow during your time at Challenge. Being part of an ESOP means our employee-owners share in Challenge’s success!

Challenge is #QualityDriven and #PeoplePowered!

Who We Want:
The Compensation & Benefits Specialist supports the accurate, compliant, and consistent administration of payroll, compensation, and acts as a back-up to our Benefit’s Specialists administering Challenge’s benefits. This role partners closely with our plant HR teams to coach, train and guide during their payroll processing, weekly.  The ideal candidate brings strong attention to detail, working knowledge of compensation fundamentals and experience supporting payroll processing within Workday or similar HRIS platforms.  The Compensation and Benefits Specialist (Payroll Processing Focused) processes salary team member payroll, assists employees with benefits enrollment and questions, approves benefit elections, approves benefit vendor invoices, and completes payroll reporting.

What You'll Do:

• Administer bi-weekly payroll processing for over 600 salaried team members, ensuring accurate time and attendance approvals, pay calculations, deductions, and compliance with company policy and applicable laws.


• Support hourly payroll processing for plant locations as needed


• Process manual checks, off-cycle payments, corrections, and replacements for lost or incorrect checks


• Monitor uncashed checks and prepare required annual state reporting


• Compile payroll data including hours worked, earnings, deductions, garnishments, and benefit premiums


• Administer FOC and garnishment deductions for salaried team members


• Respond to employee and manager inquiries regarding pay practices, payroll timing, and deductions


• Support the administration of company compensation programs, including base pay, job classifications, and pay changes


• Assist with the review and processing of merit increases, promotional adjustments, equity adjustments, and other compensation changes to ensure accuracy, consistency, and proper approvals


• Maintain compensation data integrity within HRIS systems, ensuring pay changes are documented and aligned with internal guidelines


• Support job evaluation activities by assisting with job documentation, FLSA status reviews, and market data preparation


• Partner with HR leadership to support annual compensation cycles (e.g., merit, market reviews, audits)


• Assist with compensation reporting and analysis, including headcount, pay changes, and internal equity reviews


• Administer employee benefits programs including medical, dental, vision, FSA, life insurance, disability, 401(k), and wellness programs


• Support employees with benefits enrollment, changes, and general benefit questions


• Review and approve benefit elections and vendor invoices


• Resolve administrative issues with benefit carriers and third-party administrators


• Assist with data collection and reporting for benefit renewals and audits


• Prepare and post required benefit notices


• Maintain accurate payroll, compensation, and benefits records within HRIS systems, including Workday payroll processing


• Ensure data accuracy between payroll, benefits, and compensation systems


• Support audits by providing payroll, compensation, and benefits documentation as requested


• Perform routine file maintenance and electronic record management

When and Where:
This will be a M-F position located at our Corporate Office in Walker, MI.

Occasionally, this may require you to arrive early, stay late, or work on weekends, outside of our regular hours, to ensure we successfully meet customer needs, deadlines, or urgent requests.

What You Need to Have:

• High School Diploma or GED (required)


• Two or more years of full-cycle payroll experience (required)


• Prior experience supporting benefits administration


• Working knowledge of compensation fundamentals, including pay changes, job structures, and compliance considerations


• Experience processing payroll in Workday or another enterprise HRIS/payroll system


• ADP Certified Payroll Specialist (preferred)


• Strong attention to detail, confidentiality, and customer service skills