Senior Manager, Global Payroll

Overview

This role is responsible for owning global payroll end-to-end, including U.S. multi-state payroll and international/EOR payroll operations across multiple jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processing for all U.S. employees in Rippling across 30+ states, including:
  • Bi-weekly pay runs on separate schedules for hourly and salaried employees
  • Off-cycle runs
  • Bonuses, commissions, relocation, fringe benefits, deductions, garnishments, and final pay
• Own international and global EOR payroll delivery by coordinating with Rippling, Deel, and local providers to ensure accurate, on-time, compliant payments in every jurisdiction.
• Own payroll tax compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions, including:
  • Registrations
  • Withholding and unemployment accounts
  • Filings, amendments, and agency notice resolution
• Own payroll readiness for expansion into new U.S. states and countries, including standing up new jurisdictions within business timelines and advising on EOR versus direct entity when calculations change.
• Own payroll-related equity processes, including:
  • Maintaining clean data and ensuring correct treatment of taxable equity events
  • Coordinating with Finance and Legal
  • Building withholding, sourcing, and reporting processes ahead of liquidity events
• Prepare and reconcile payroll journal entries and payroll-related balance sheet accounts; partner with Accounting on accruals and month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close.
• Own year-end processing end-to-end, including W-2 production and corrections, plus equivalent filings across international and EOR populations.
• Serve as primary payroll liaison for state and workers’ compensation audits, compiling wage records, tax filings, and supporting documentation for auditor requirements.
• Design, document, and maintain payroll controls, approval workflows, segregation of duties, and desktop procedures; serve as the primary payroll contact for external auditors and the annual 401(k) audit.
• Set the payroll calendar, cut-off deadlines, and data handoffs with People Operations, Talent Acquisition, and Finance to maintain data integrity from offer through final pay.
• Evaluate and implement payroll systems and automation as the organization scales, including potential addition of or migration to platforms such as ADP, and systematically reduce manual reconciliation.
• Build the payroll function: define the target operating model, make the case for headcount when volume supports it, and hire, onboard, and develop the payroll team.
• Produce payroll metrics, variance analysis, and labor cost reporting for People and Finance leadership.

Requirements

• Full-cycle payroll ownership: 8+ years of hands-on payroll experience with end-to-end ownership of U.S. multi-state payroll, including at least 2 years as the most senior payroll person in a company or leading a payroll team.
• Rippling depth: Direct experience administering payroll in Rippling (including EOR populations) at a level where you can configure and troubleshoot the platform rather than escalate to support.
• U.S. multi-state tax command: Knowledge of nexus determination, reciprocity, SUI and SDI, supplemental withholding rates, local levies, and agency management across a comparable footprint.
• International and EOR fluency: Experience managing payroll through EOR and local provider models.
• Equity payroll readiness: Familiarity with equity payroll mechanics and stock plan administration data, including understanding RSU settlement, option exercise withholding, and income sourcing well enough to partner with Finance on equity accounting.
• Payroll accounting fundamentals: Comfort with GL mapping, balance sheet reconciliation, accruals, and supporting month-end close alongside Accounting.
• Builder instinct: Experience scaling a payroll function (not only operating it), including building calendars, controls, documentation, system selection, and audit readiness while the organization grows faster than infrastructure.
• Certification: CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) strongly preferred.
• Judgment and influence: Ability to advise leadership, escalate early, push back when upstream data is wrong, and hold partner teams to deadlines while preserving relationships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Deel or another secondary EOR platform
• Experience implementing or migrating a payroll platform such as ADP or Workday
• Experience taking a company from pre-IPO through a liquidity event, including equity payroll at settlement
• Exposure to SOX, IPO readiness, or building financial controls from scratch
• Experience with payroll and equity tax treatment for mobile employee populations
• Experience supporting a venture-backed technology company scaling past 500 people and into new countries
• Excel proficiency, including formulas and v-lookups for managing data outputs from multiple sources

Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation: $138,800 USD - $173,500 USD
• Equity and subsidized benefits (details available upon request)
• Medical, dental, and vision (subsidized cost)
• Health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), and dependent care FSAs (DCFSA)
• Retirement plan options, including 401(k) and Roth 401(k)
• Unlimited paid time off (PTO)
• 14 paid company holidays per year

For U.S.-based candidates, the starting base salary range is determined by location, experience, skills, and qualifications and uses a geographic pay structure:

• Tier 1 (e.g., SF Bay Area, NYC, Seattle): $159,620 – $199,525
• Tier 2 (most U.S. metro areas): $1138,800 – $173,500
• Tier 3 (other cities): $131,860 - $164,825

Final compensation will be determined by experience, scope, and level, and may vary from the posted range.

Location

Remote-based on the continental U.S.