Director of Payroll Services

About the Institution

The New School redefines the boundaries of education, creativity, and innovation. Founded in 1919 and located in the heart of New York City, we are home to approximately 9,000 students from over 100 countries, offering more than 135 degree and diploma programs across our renowned colleges, including Parsons School of Design, The New School for Social Research, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, Parsons Paris, and the College of Performing Arts. Our progressive, interdisciplinary approach has earned us recognition as one of the most forward-thinking institutions in the world.

The Human Resources office promotes activities that enhance the quality of work life and heighten the sense of community. We provide guidance, administer services to employees with efficiency, and handle employee matters with care, professionalism, and confidentiality. Our open-door policy encourages all employees to fully utilize the office’s services.

About the Role

Reporting to the Assistant Vice President for HR Operations, the Director of Payroll Services leads a team of experienced payroll professionals and directs the payroll function for faculty, administrative staff, and student workers. This position ensures the university meets its financial commitment to employees by providing accurate and timely salary and wage payments. The role collaborates with Information Technology/Workday Solutions Group and other Human Resources functional areas to implement strategic projects aimed at enhancing the employee experience.

The successful candidate will be dedicated to providing accessible and transparent payroll processes, supporting a culture of care, and fostering an equitable and inclusive workplace. The Director of Payroll Services must be a collaborative partner demonstrating both personal and professional integrity, with a track record of designing and delivering customer-focused services modeled on best practices.

Responsibilities

• Payroll Operations & Systems Strategy
  • Direct end-to-end weekly and biweekly payroll processing across faculty, staff, and student workers, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance within the Workday Payroll ecosystem.
  • Serve as the primary technical and functional Workday Payroll subject matter expert (SME), managing backend configurations.
  • Plan and manage the implementation of Workday system changes and updates.
  • Oversee strategic vendor relationships with ADP for tax filing, wage garnishments, and regulatory processing, ensuring seamless integration between Workday and ADP systems.
  • Update earning and deduction codes as needed, and coordinate with the university’s Finance office to update GL posting rules.
  • Architect and maintain inbound/outbound integration files between Workday Payroll, benefit providers, financial platforms, and third-party vendors to safeguard end-to-end data integrity.
  • Manage payment requests for garnishments.
  • Lead end-to-end Payroll testing strategies, including tenant updates, regression testing, semi-annual Workday feature releases, and custom integration validation.
  • Initiate and control W-2 processing and reconciling.
• Compliance and Regulatory Oversight
  • Develop and maintain processes to ensure best practices, internal controls, and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and the University’s policies and procedures.
  • Oversee Non-Resident Alien processing for faculty, staff, and student workers to ensure appropriate W-2/1042-S reporting and tax withholding.
  • Remain current with United States and New York City and State payroll-related regulations and tax laws.
• Issue Resolution and Data Integrity
  • Proactively identify, research, analyze, and resolve payroll-related issues and discrepancies.
  • Collaborate with University departments to ensure system and data integrity in the university’s Workday system and all related systems.
• Leadership and Staff Development
  • Lead, mentor, and empower the payroll team, cultivating a collaborative, continuous-learning environment that promotes professional growth, high performance, and operational excellence.
  • Drive large-scale strategic payroll projects, managing cross-functional initiatives from initial scoping and business process re-engineering through implementation and post-go-live optimization.
  • Streamline end-to-end year-end processing, directing W-2, 1042-S, and multi-state/local tax reconciliation processes with high precision and error-free execution.
• Audit and Financial Collaboration
  • Work collaboratively with the university’s Finance office in leading preparation of payroll information for the university’s annual audit and other audits as needed.
• Time and Attendance Management
  • Maintain non-union and union time off and time tracking processes, including system process improvements.

Requirements

• Minimum Qualifications
  • Seven years of payroll management experience in a mid-sized or large organization.
  • Strong Excel and other Microsoft Office application skills.
  • Workday Payroll experience.
  • Demonstrated effective communication and reporting skills.
  • Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Familiarity with Sprintax Calculus software.
  • Five or more years of experience with Workday payroll processing.
  • Experience managing Payroll in a university environment.
  • Experience working with ADP for payroll and tax processing.
  • Certified Payroll Professional certification.

Work Mode

This position is primarily in-person and based on campus to support effective in-person collaboration and engagement. Hybrid work arrangements may be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of the role and operational needs.

Pay

$120,000 - $130,000 per annum.

Benefits

• Health & Wellness
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Financial Wellness
  • Retirement plan administered by TIAA.
  • Qualified Transportation Expense Plan.
• Work-Life Balance
  • Paid vacation and sick leave, with accruals starting on your first day.
  • Paid holidays and floating holidays.
  • Workmode & Telework Policy (if applicable).
• Professional Growth
  • Career advancement and professional development opportunities.
  • Access to university programs, lectures, and events featuring world-renowned speakers and organizations.
  • Tuition waiver benefit for eligible employees and dependents.
• Additional Perks
  • Employee discounts with local vendors and service providers.