Sr. Payroll Manager

About the role

Founded on family values, partnership, and a true commitment to patients, Shields Health is a leader in advanced MRI, PET/CT, and surgical services. Our approach is simple but meaningful: we treat every patient the way we would want our own family to be treated. That same commitment extends to our employees. We believe great healthcare starts with great people — and with the systems, processes, and teams that support them.

As Senior Payroll Manager, you’ll play a key leadership role in ensuring hundreds of employees across our organization are paid accurately, on time, and in compliance with complex federal, state, and local requirements. Supporting 26+ legal entities across multiple states, you’ll oversee payroll operations while serving as a trusted partner to HR, Accounting, Finance, Legal, and Operations. You’ll also be a key Workday Payroll subject-matter expert, helping us strengthen processes, improve controls, and identify opportunities for automation and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processing across 26+ legal entities and multiple states.
• Ensure accurate and timely processing of hourly, salaried, and off-cycle payrolls.
• Maintain compliance with federal, state, and local wage, tax, reporting, and payroll requirements.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex payroll questions, issues, and corrections.
• Monitor changing payroll regulations and help translate requirements into effective processes and controls.
• Serve as a key subject-matter expert for Workday Payroll, including payroll configuration, audits, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Partner closely with HR to maintain data integrity across Workday Payroll, Time & Attendance, and employee records.
• Lead payroll-related system enhancements, upgrades, testing, and automation initiatives.
• Conduct regular payroll audits to identify discrepancies, strengthen controls, and improve accuracy.
• Identify opportunities to simplify processes and enhance the employee and manager payroll experience.
• Record payroll activity in the general ledger and reconcile payroll-related accounts.
• Manage labor cost allocations and support month-end close activities.
• Partner with Accounting and Finance on accruals, reconciliations, and wage and salary variance analysis.
• Provide payroll reporting and insights that support financial decision-making.
• Support internal and external audits, including payroll and 401(k) audits.
• Oversee payroll-related benefits deductions and processing.
• Partner with HR and Benefits to resolve deduction discrepancies and ensure accurate employee elections.
• Support annual compliance testing and required retirement plan reporting.
• Lead, mentor, and develop payroll team members, as applicable.
• Deliver responsive, high-quality support to employees and leaders on payroll-related matters.
• Build strong working relationships across HR, Finance, Accounting, Legal, and Operations.
• Partner with stakeholders on policy, regulatory, and organizational changes that impact payroll.
• Evaluate payroll processes and internal controls to improve accuracy, efficiency, and scalability.
• Develop, document, and maintain payroll procedures, controls, and best practices.
• Champion continuous improvement and identify opportunities to reduce manual work through automation and better use of technology.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive payroll experience, including multi-state and multi-entity payroll environments.
• Strong, hands-on experience with Workday Payroll required.
• Advanced knowledge of payroll taxes, wage and hour laws, payroll compliance, and related regulations.
• Experience working with general ledger systems and payroll accounting processes.
• Advanced Excel skills and the ability to analyze and interpret complex payroll data.
• Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to partner effectively across functions and levels.
• Sound judgment and the ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information.
• Health