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 compliance 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 obligations. The position also involves designing scalable and auditable compliance systems and standards.

Responsibilities

• Design and build systems for intake, tracking, and routing of 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 and direct contacts.
• 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.
• Maintain the master database of all supported tax jurisdictions, ensuring accuracy through regular reviews.
• Define and maintain rules and file formats governing agency data exchange; evaluate and implement updates as needed.
• Maintain relationships with key tax agency contacts and serve as the escalation point for agency-level compliance notifications.
• Develop and maintain compliance documentation 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 and provide feedback to improve automated monitoring.
• Use AI tools to accelerate analysis, summarize agency guidance, and draft compliance documentation.
• Identify manual tasks suitable for automation and collaborate with engineering to implement solutions.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of experience in payroll tax compliance, tax operations, or a related field, preferably at a payroll service provider or financial technology company.
• Working knowledge of payroll tax filing requirements, including deposit frequencies, reconciliation, and year-end filings.
• Ability to interpret tax agency specifications (e.g., NACHA format, EFW2, agency-specific layouts) and translate them into 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 for research or workflow automation is advantageous.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating regulatory requirements for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks across jurisdictions.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with diverse tax jurisdictions and their filing methods and requirements.
• Experience designing or improving compliance workflows and operational documentation.
• Familiarity with structured agency data exchange formats such as EFW2 and NACHA.
• Experience preparing compliance documentation for audits and regulatory traceability.
• Exposure to automation tools and scripting with an interest in reducing manual work.
• Experience collaborating with engineering or product teams to implement compliance requirements.
• 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 by Location:

• 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 opportunities available across various U.S. states including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, DC. Also includes an on-site option in Sacramento, California.