Payroll Manager

Job Title: Manager, Payroll Operations
Job ID: 90153
Location: New York, New York 


Overview:
We are seeking an experienced Manager of Payroll Operations to lead end-to-end payroll operations for a large, complex, multi-state healthcare organization with approximately 20,000 employees. This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for an accomplished payroll professional who combines strong technical payroll expertise with proven team leadership, operational excellence, and executive-level communication skills. The successful candidate will lead a domestic and offshore payroll team while strengthening payroll controls, compliance, audit readiness, service delivery, and process effectiveness. This is not a payroll processing-focused position. We are seeking a payroll leader who has managed complex, multi-state operations, developed high-performing teams, and played a meaningful role in payroll implementations, transformations, integrations, or significant process improvements.


What you will be doing:

• Lead accurate, timely, and compliant end-to-end payroll operations for a large, multi-state workforce.

• Review and approve payroll results, audit payroll output, investigate exceptions, and ensure timely resolution.

• Oversee regular payroll, supplemental and off-cycle payments, bonuses, incentives, and special earnings programs.

• Maintain compliance with federal, state, and local payroll regulations, including wage-and-hour requirements, payroll taxation, garnishments, leave payments, and benefit deductions.

• Lead year-end payroll activities, including payroll reconciliations, governmental reporting, and W-2 processing.

• Support internal and external payroll audits, compliance reviews, and control assessments.

• Lead, coach, and develop a payroll team consisting of US-based and offshore employees.

• Establish team goals, service standards, performance metrics, and accountability expectations.

• Develop and maintain payroll policies, procedures, controls, and standard operating documentation.

• Identify and lead opportunities for payroll process improvement, standardization, automation, and modernization.

• Serve as a key payroll stakeholder for system configuration, testing, integrations, upgrades, and implementations.

• Lead payroll requirements gathering, user acceptance testing, change management, and post-implementation support.

• Ensure payroll data integrity across HR, payroll, benefits, timekeeping, and financial systems.

• Partner with HR, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, HR Technology, IT, Legal, and Operations to resolve complex payroll matters.

• Support acquisitions, integrations, divestitures, and organizational transformation initiatives.

• Communicate payroll performance, risks, issues, and improvement opportunities to executives and senior stakeholders.

What you must have:

• 7+ years of progressive payroll experience, including payroll operations, compliance, tax reporting, audits, and year-end processing.

• 5+ years of payroll leadership experience with direct responsibility for end-to-end payroll operations strongly preferred.

• Experience managing complex, multi-state and multi-site payroll operations.

• Experience supporting a large employee population, ideally 10,000 or more employees.

• Demonstrated experience leading, developing, and managing payroll professionals.

• Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations.

• Expertise in payroll controls, audits, taxation, garnishments, wage-and-hour compliance, and W-2/year-end processing.

• Experience leading or significantly supporting payroll implementations, system conversions, major upgrades, or large-scale process improvement initiatives.

• Experience partnering across HR, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, HRIS/HR Technology, IT, and Operations.

• Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work remotely during the required 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Central Time schedule.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to have:

• Healthcare industry payroll experience.

• Experience supporting large, distributed workforces in highly regulated environments.

• Experience with UKG Pro and UKG Dimensions.

• Experience with Oracle HCM or a comparable enterprise payroll/HCM platform.

• Certified Payroll Professional certification.

• Experience leading domestic and offshore or shared-services payroll teams.

• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, or organizational integrations.

• Experience developing payroll controls, SOPs, performance metrics, and audit-readiness programs.

• Demonstrated success leading payroll transformation, automation, modernization, or continuous-improvement initiatives.

Salary/Rate Range: $120,000-$135,000 base salary plus 10% target bonus


Other Information:

• Employment Type: Direct Hire

• Work Arrangement: Remote

• Required Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Central Time

Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a credible, well-spoken, and technically sound payroll leader who can immediately step into a complex environment, strengthen payroll operations and controls, develop a high-performing team, and serve as a trusted subject matter expert across the organization. This opportunity may be an excellent fit for an experienced Payroll Manager, a Payroll Operations Lead ready to advance into a true manager-level role, or a Payroll Director who is comfortable transitioning into a hands-on Payroll Manager position. Candidates whose experience is primarily payroll processing without meaningful team leadership, operational ownership, multi-state complexity, or transformation experience will not be considered.


Thank you for your interest in this opportunity. If you are selected to move forward in the process, we will contact you directly. If you do not hear from us, we encourage you to continue visiting our website for other roles that may be a good fit.


For more information about TEEMA and to consider other career opportunities, please visit our website at www.teemagroup.com