Associate Director of Payroll Operations and Shared Services

About the role

The Associate Director, Payroll Operations and Shared Services reports to the Director of Tax, Payroll, and Policy and leads central payroll processing, payroll operations compliance, and consistent payroll service delivery across central and shared services environments. The role serves as the University's senior payroll operations and compliance subject matter expert, supporting accurate, timely, controlled, and policy-compliant payroll across schools and units.

This position manages the central payroll processing and customer service teams and establishes the standards, controls, escalation paths, training, and performance measures needed to support consistent payroll service delivery across central and emerging shared services environments. As the shared services model evolves, the role is expected to assume expanded direct management and/or functional oversight responsibilities for payroll shared services.

The role partners with Human Resources, school and unit finance leadership, HUIT, Labor Relations, the Office of the General Counsel, Tax Compliance, Internal Audit, and other central finance functions to resolve complex payroll matters, strengthen controls, support compliance, and improve the payroll service experience.

Responsibilities

• Provides leadership, coaching, and payroll subject matter expertise to payroll and shared services stakeholders.
• Establishes payroll procedures, controls, documentation standards, and compliance monitoring practices.
• Pairs with HR, HUIT, Labor Relations, school and unit finance teams, Tax Compliance, Financial Policy, OGC, Risk Management, and Internal Audit to resolve payroll issues and implement changes.
• Improves payroll service delivery through workflow design, service metrics, root-cause analysis, automation, workload balancing, and standardization.
• Supports shared services design, implementation, change management, stakeholder communication, training, transition planning, and stabilization.
• Manages payroll-related risk by identifying control gaps, monitoring recurring issues, coordinating remediation, and supporting escalation protocols.
• Pairs with HUIT and functional stakeholders on payroll systems, reporting, data integrity, access controls, integrations, and testing.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible payroll operations, payroll compliance, finance operations, or shared services experience, including at least five years managing payroll, finance, HR operations, or shared services teams in a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience leading payroll operations or payroll-adjacent operational compliance in a multi-unit, multi-stakeholder, or highly decentralized environment.
• Supervisory experience including managing teams, service delivery expectations, operational controls, escalations, process improvement, and compliance-sensitive workflows.

Skills

• Deep knowledge of payroll operations, payroll tax concepts, wage and hour requirements, controls, reconciliations, year-end processes, and operational compliance.
• Strong judgment in balancing compliance, customer service, operational practicality, and institutional risk.
• Ability to design procedures, service standards, metrics, escalation models, quality assurance processes, and internal controls.
• Experience with PeopleSoft, Oracle, Workday, SAP, or similar payroll, HR, finance, or ERP systems.
• Experience leading shared services, regional service teams, service desk operations, or distributed operational teams.
• Experience leading change management, stakeholder engagement, training, and adoption across decentralized units.
• Experience in higher education, research, healthcare, nonprofit, public sector, or another complex multi-entity environment.
• Experience supporting payroll operations in unionized or collectively bargained environments.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain complex payroll and compliance matters to senior leaders and non-specialist audiences.

Benefits

Harvard offers a comprehensive benefits package that is designed to support a healthy work-life balance and your physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Because here, you are what matters. Our benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Generous paid time off including parental leave
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one
• Retail plans with university contributions
• Wellbeing and mental health resources
• Support for families and caregivers
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks

Pay

Salary Grade and Ranges: This position is salary grade level 060. Please visit Harvard's Salary Ranges to view the corresponding salary range and related information.

Schedule

Standard Hours/Schedule: 35 hours per week

This is a hybrid role requiring regular on-campus presence, expected to average approximately two days per week during the initial team-building period, with reassessment after 6 to 12 months. Required time on campus may increase as business needs evolve.