Overview
This role leads Payroll Tax Operations (PTO) as a people manager overseeing a team of payroll tax experts (Tax Processors). The team is responsible for end-to-end resolution of payroll tax issues across four core processes:
- Notices
- Corrections
- Amendments
- Pay & File
You will manage a high-volume case environment, drive operational discipline, and lead improvements that ensure performance, quality, and strong customer outcomes. The ideal candidate is a payroll tax specialist with deep hands-on expertise who can coach others through complex, multi-jurisdictional tax scenarios.
Responsibilities
- Translate PTO priorities into a team strategy and maintain a 1+ year operating plan aligned to department goals.
- Own delivery and quality outcomes for the assigned team, ensuring SLA compliance and eliminating backlogs to reduce customer burden.
- Lead Tax Processors through recurring Monthly Check-Ins, structured feedback, performance coaching, and career development conversations.
- Serve as the final internal escalation point for the most complex IRS and state agency notices, penalty assessments, cross-jurisdictional discrepancies, and multi-quarter audit inquiries—providing a resolution strategy.
- Drive lean management practices, including Daily Huddles, WIP reviews, and performance board management to surface and solve problems in real time.
- Monitor team WIP daily; identify aging cases, holds, and systemic blockers; enforce intake and closure workflows so notices, payroll corrections, and amended returns do not exceed agency deadlines without documented action.
- Own SOP and Knowledge Base (KB) governance: direct team authoring and validation of process documentation; translate IRS and state regulatory updates into team briefings and SOP revisions with effective dates.
- Drive hiring, onboarding, and skills calibration for new team members; proactively build succession depth at the team level.
- Continuously assess and improve processes within team scope; identify upstream and downstream dependencies and recommend/implement improvements to eliminate non-value-added work.
- Demonstrate the ability to lead teams delivering high-quality customer experiences in a high-volume, high-stakes service environment.
Requirements
- 5+ years of people management experience in a payroll tax operations or related service environment, including a demonstrated track record of developing others’ skills and careers.
- 5+ years of hands-on payroll tax experience with a strong focus on notice resolution, amended return preparation, and payroll error correction across multiple states (beyond general payroll administration).
- Proven experience resolving complex IRS and state agency correspondence, including penalty assessments and state balance-due and delinquency notices.
- Demonstrated experience preparing and approving amended Federal (Form 941-X, W-2c) and State payroll tax returns across 10 or more states, including jurisdictions with complex local requirements such as PA, OH, and more.
- Deep knowledge of federal payroll tax law, including FICA, FUTA, FITW, employment tax deposit schedules, and associated penalty and interest structures.
- Multi-state payroll tax expertise, including reciprocal agreements, resident and nonresident taxation, SUI account management, and local tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
- Strong analytical skills to identify trends in case data, conduct root-cause analysis, and translate findings into corrective actions and process improvements.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to simplify complex payroll tax issues for processors at all levels and for cross-functional partners.
- Proficiency with at least one enterprise payroll platform and experience with case management systems such as Salesforce. Prior experience at a payroll service bureau, PEO, or multi-client tax operations centers strongly preferred.
- BS/BA in Accounting, Finance, or Business preferred; equivalent experience accepted.
- Possess an active Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) preferred; required within 12 months of hire. Enrolled Agent (EA) designation is a strong differentiator. FPC accepted candidates actively pursuing CPP.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience at a payroll service bureau, PEO, or multi-client tax operations centers.
- Enrolled Agent (EA) designation.
- FPC candidates actively pursuing CPP.
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive compensation package with pay for performance rewards.
- This position may be eligible for a cash bonus, equity rewards, and benefits, in accordance with applicable plans and programs.
- Pay offered is based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location.
- Regular comparisons across categories of ethnicity and gender are conducted to support fair pay.
Location
Work location factors into pay offered.