Director of Payroll

About the Role

This is a rare opportunity to transform a complex payroll function using AI, technology systems, and process improvement. Reporting to the CFO and leading a strong payroll team, this individual will have high-level exposure to the entire C-suite. The mandate is to take the current payroll process apart and rebuild it from first principles into a Workday-native, AI-first operation that reflects the best available technology rather than inherited habit.

Payroll sits at the seam between Finance and People & Culture, requiring a strong partnership with People & Culture to ensure trust, transparency, and collaboration on change.

Responsibilities

• Redesign the payroll process from first principles by mapping current inefficiencies (slow, manual, error-prone, or unexamined steps) and rebuilding it around best practices.
• Own the payroll function end-to-end, including compliance and controls, ensuring accurate, on-time, and compliant pay across all employee populations (including foreign nationals and multi-state tax jurisdictions).
• Lead the payroll team to maintain high standards while keeping payroll compliant with multi-state tax, wage and hour, foreign national withholding, and reporting obligations.
• Partner with ADP for W-2 preparation and state payroll tax remittance, while building controls to catch problems early and documenting processes.
• Drive payroll deeper into Workday by maximizing configuration, automation, controls, and reporting to eliminate workarounds and spreadsheets.
• Implement AI tools to reduce manual effort, catch errors before they impact paychecks, and free the team for higher-value work.
• Design payroll processes with customer service in mind, ensuring employees receive clear, fast, and accurate answers about their pay.
• Partner closely with People & Culture on payroll-related matters, including onboarding, leaves, terminations, compensation changes, timekeeping, and benefits deductions.
• Translate payroll strategy, risks, and tradeoffs into clear terms for executive leadership (President, COO, General Counsel) and provide actionable recommendations.
• Lead and develop the payroll team, setting direction for a more automated operation and communicating changes effectively.

Requirements

• Deep payroll expertise, including multi-state tax, wage and hour, garnishments, off-cycle and retro pay, year-end processes, and full payroll mechanics.
• Experience designing payroll processes, not just operating them.
• Strong command of Workday payroll, including configuration, automation, and system optimization to eliminate inefficiencies.
• Fluency in current AI tools and their practical applications in payroll, with the ability to identify where AI can reduce manual work.
• Willingness to challenge the status quo and implement change, rather than preserving inherited processes out of habit.
• Awareness of leading-edge payroll best practices, tools, and operating models, and the ability to bring an outside perspective.
• Strategic mindset, treating payroll as a system to be designed rather than a task list to complete, while ensuring operational excellence.
• Ability to navigate the seam between Finance and People & Culture, resolving cross-functional issues to ensure accurate and timely pay.
• Strong communication skills to engage both technical teams and executive leadership, tailoring messaging to the audience.
• Collaborative approach with People & Culture and other stakeholders, earning trust and bringing partners along on change.