Senior Manager, Payroll Operations

Lead Payroll Operations for a Growing, Complex Organization

Are you a payroll leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, improving processes, and ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time?

We're seeking a Senior Manager, Payroll Operations to lead payroll delivery for approximately 28,000 employees across 25+ locations. This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for overseeing payroll operations, driving compliance and internal controls, leading system and process improvements, and partnering across the business to support organizational growth.

This opportunity is ideal for someone who combines deep payroll expertise with strong people leadership skills and enjoys driving operational excellence in a fast-paced, complex environment.

What You'll Do

Lead Payroll Operations

• Oversee end-to-end payroll processing for a large, multi-state workforce.
• Ensure payroll is delivered accurately, timely, and in compliance with all regulatory requirements.
• Manage all payroll types, including regular, bonus, commission, off-cycle, termination, and special payrolls.
• Oversee payroll reconciliations, tax filings, deductions, garnishments, PTO processing, and year-end activities such as W-2 reporting.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex payroll issues and drive resolution with a focus on employee experience.

Drive Compliance & Governance

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll regulations, including FLSA, IRS, Department of Labor, and SOX requirements.
• Strengthen payroll policies, procedures, and internal controls to minimize risk and improve accuracy.
• Partner with Internal Audit, Legal, Tax, HR, and Finance teams to support audits, regulatory changes, and compliance initiatives.

Build & Develop a High-Performing Team

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of payroll professionals.
• Establish clear performance expectations, accountability, and development plans.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, customer service, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Support succession planning and talent development across the payroll function.

Lead Systems & Process Improvements

• Act as the payroll systems subject matter expert.
• Lead payroll implementations, upgrades, integrations, testing efforts, and optimization initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to automate, standardize, and streamline payroll processes.
• Support payroll integration activities related to acquisitions, reorganizations, and organizational growth.

Partner Across the Business

• Collaborate with HR, Accounting, Finance, Treasury, Benefits, Compensation, Tax, Legal, Internal Audit, and Technology teams.
• Support payroll accounting, funding, budgeting, vendor management, and reporting activities.
• Provide insights and recommendations that enhance operational effectiveness and support business objectives.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive payroll experience.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience managing payroll teams.
• Experience supporting payroll operations within a large, complex, multi-state organization.
• Strong knowledge of payroll processing, payroll taxation, wage-and-hour laws, garnishments, audits, and year-end reporting.
• Experience using major payroll or HCM platforms such as Workday, ADP, UKG, SAP, Oracle, or similar systems.
• Demonstrated success leading process improvements and operational enhancements.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills.
• Ability to handle highly confidential employee and company information with discretion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification.
• Experience in a publicly traded or Fortune 500 environment.
• Experience supporting SOX compliance and audit activities.
• Experience managing payroll across multiple legal entities or complex business structures.
• Experience leading system implementations, acquisitions, integrations, or transformation initiatives.
• Familiarity with payroll analytics, automation tools, employee self-service technologies, and case management platforms.

Key Competencies for Success

We're looking for a leader who brings:

• Payroll Operations Expertise
• Operational Leadership
• Regulatory Compliance & Internal Controls
• Process Improvement & Change Management
• Analytical Problem Solving
• People Leadership & Team Development
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Executive Communication
• Customer Focus
• Strategic Thinking

Why This Role?

This is an opportunity to make a significant impact on a critical business function. You will lead a talented payroll team, influence enterprise-wide initiatives, partner with senior leaders, and help shape the future of payroll operations through automation, transformation, and continuous improvement.

If you're passionate about building scalable payroll processes, developing teams, and driving operational excellence, we'd love to hear from you.