Overview
A market-leading industrial technology organization is seeking a Payroll Operations Manager to oversee accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing for assigned employee populations. The company operates in lighting solutions and intelligent building management platforms, with a global presence across North America, Europe, and Asia, supporting approximately 13,000 employees.
Responsibilities
- Manage complete payroll processing cycles, calendars, cutoffs, and funding coordination for all pay groups
- Oversee off-cycle payments, retroactive adjustments, and final pay calculations while monitoring accuracy and error trends
- Lead payroll workstreams for system implementations, upgrades, and configuration changes
- Collaborate with HR Technology, Finance, and IT teams to assess impacts, coordinate testing, and manage timelines and communications
- Supervise payroll inquiry queues, ticket volumes, escalations, and service level agreements
- Drive case-deflection strategies through knowledge resources and process improvements
- Ensure compliance with payroll tax, wage-hour, and statutory regulations via reconciliations, audits, and validation checks
- Maintain documented procedures, segregation of duties, and audit readiness; support tax and compliance inquiries
- Govern operational rules for upstream workforce processes affecting payroll such as time capture, compensation updates, and pay codes
- Monitor exception trends and work with HR/HRIS to minimize payroll errors
- Develop and maintain payroll-related dashboards and scorecards; analyze trends and provide actionable insights
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- 9+ years of payroll experience
- In-depth knowledge of end-to-end payroll processing including cycles, cutoffs, off-cycles, and final pay
- Strong discipline in payroll calendar and deadline management
- Experience leading payroll projects, system upgrades, and implementations
- Working knowledge of payroll systems, HRIS, and Time & Attendance platforms and integrations
- Ownership of workforce time rules and standards including pay codes, overtime, shift premiums, and union rules if applicable
- Ability to manage time and attendance changes including policy updates and training
- Expertise in troubleshooting time capture issues such as missed punches and scheduling conflicts
- Vendor and service-level agreement management experience
- Oversight of ticket queue and case management
- Knowledge of payroll tax, statutory, and wage-hour compliance
- Experience with reconciliations, audits, and internal controls
- Understanding of upstream pay-impacting processes like time capture and compensation changes
- Ability to build and interpret payroll dashboards and metrics
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with Finance, HRIS, IT, Benefits, and Vendors
- Clear executive communication and escalation management
- Risk identification and structured problem-solving skills
- Willingness to travel as required
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary range: $104,200 to $180,000, dependent on experience and geographic location
- Health care coverage
- Dental insurance
- Vision plans
- 401(k) benefits
- Commissions and incentive compensation depending on the role
Location
Global operations with presence in North America, Europe, and Asia; specific location details to be provided during the hiring process.