Senior Payroll Compliance Manager - Payroll Tax Specialist, US & Canada

Overview

The Senior Payroll Compliance Manager - Payroll Tax Specialist is responsible for managing the accuracy and health of a complex portfolio of payroll tax jurisdictions. This role acts as a liaison between tax agencies, engineering teams, and operations to detect changes in tax requirements, translate those changes into actionable product tasks, maintain critical compliance data, and ensure reliable execution of recurring compliance obligations. The position also involves designing scalable and auditable compliance systems and standards.

The role supports payroll tax compliance efforts as they evolve, with a focus on building automation and tooling to reduce manual workload.

Responsibilities

• Design and build intake, tracking, and routing systems for compliance changes in partnership with leadership.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for compliance issues reported by the Tax Operations team; diagnose root causes, prioritize, and route issues appropriately.
• Monitor tax agencies for changes in forms, filing frequencies, and specifications using agency portals, direct contacts, and comparison tools.
• Assess the impact of agency changes on customers and internal systems and create actionable work items.
• Write clear, technically accurate requirements for engineering teams, including file formats, agency contacts, go-live dates, and customer impact.
• Track implementation progress through release and confirm go-live with agencies as needed.
• Own and maintain the master database of all supported tax jurisdictions, including filing methods, forms, amendment instructions, account ID requirements, agency contacts, and update history.
• Define and maintain rules, file formats, and requirements for agency data exchange; evaluate and implement updates as needed.
• Maintain working relationships with key tax agency contacts, especially for complex or frequently changing requirements.
• Act as the compliance escalation point for agency-level notifications requiring direct engagement.
• Develop and maintain compliance documentation and artifacts to support audit readiness and regulatory traceability.

Working with AI

• Explore and adopt AI-powered tools to enhance compliance monitoring, research, and documentation.
• Evaluate AI-generated compliance detections, validate findings, and provide feedback to improve automated monitoring.
• Use AI tools to accelerate analysis, summarize agency guidance, and generate draft compliance documentation.
• Identify manual tasks suitable for automation and collaborate with engineering to develop durable solutions.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of experience in payroll tax compliance, tax operations, or a closely related field, preferably at a payroll service provider or financial technology company.
• Working knowledge of payroll tax filing requirements, including multiple deposit frequencies, reconciliation processes, and year-end filings.
• Ability to read and interpret tax agency specifications (e.g., NACHA format, EFW2, agency-specific file layouts) and translate them into clear engineering requirements.
• Familiarity with payroll tax processing systems and compliance platforms is a plus.
• Data-driven mindset with familiarity in AI/ML concepts and experience using generative AI tools (such as Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) for research, writing, or workflow automation is advantageous.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating regulatory requirements for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, able to manage multiple concurrent tasks across many jurisdictions.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally with engineering, product, and operations teams without direct authority.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with diverse tax jurisdictions, filing methods, form structures, and agency-specific requirements.
• Experience designing or improving compliance workflows, intake processes, or operational documentation standards.
• Familiarity with structured agency data exchange formats such as EFW2, NACHA, or agency-specific file specifications.
• Experience preparing compliance documentation for audits, including regulatory traceability.
• Exposure to automation tools and scripting with an interest in reducing manual work.
• Experience collaborating with engineering or product teams to translate compliance requirements into system implementations.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

The position offers a competitive compensation package including base salary, cash bonus, equity rewards, and benefits. Pay is based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location. Regular pay equity reviews are conducted.

Expected Base Pay Range:

• Sacramento: $126,000 - $170,500
• California Remote (Bay Area): $137,000 - $185,500
• Colorado Remote: $119,000 - $161,000
• Hawaii Remote: $125,000 - $169,000
• Illinois Remote: $119,000 - $161,000
• Maryland Remote: $119,000 - $161,000
• Massachusetts Remote: $125,000 - $169,000
• Minnesota Remote: $107,000 - $145,000
• New Jersey Remote: $125,000 - $169,000
• Ohio Remote: $107,000 - $145,000
• Vermont Remote: $119,000 - $161,000
• Washington Remote: $125,000 - $169,000
• Washington, DC Remote: $119,000 - $161,000

Location

Multiple remote options available across various states including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, DC. Also available in Sacramento, CA.