Payroll Manager

FosterThomas, Inc. is a leading Human Capital Management Firm. We are assisting our client in their search for a Payroll Manager to join their Finance team and drive payroll compliance for their 3,000+ employees across the U.S. and Canada. In this position, you’ll take on and own complex financial processes, finding ways to evolve and enhance them on your quest toward utmost efficiency and accuracy. Communication and collaboration are the keys to success in this role, as you’ll work closely with both the Finance, Equity and Tax teams. We’ll also count on you to provide critical support for our employees and handle confidential concerns in a quick, effective way. Sound like your cup of tea (or coffee, or yerba mate)? Keep reading!

What you’ll do:

● Act as the subject matter expert on payroll compliance and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local tax jurisdictions—monitoring state, provincial, and local registrations for payroll taxes, local health and state unemployment insurance, workers compensation, etc.

● Ensure proper setup of state and local payroll registrations, including withholding tax, SUI, and any applicable local taxes, and work with the People and Legal teams to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll laws and best practices

● Maintain up-to-date knowledge of employment tax and overtime rules, employee 401K, incentive/bonus programs, multi-state payroll, leave pay integration, and termination processing

● Ensure timely and accurate W-2 preparation at the end of year

● Partner closely with equity administration to ensure proper taxation of equity related earnings and support accurate and timely processing of equity awards (RSUs, ISOs, NSOs) and ESPP, including withholding, taxation, and reporting

● Maintain strong internal controls to support SOX-compliant payroll processes and lead the audits of internal controls, workers compensation, 401k, and payroll tax

● Lead cross-functional teams on payroll-related projects—continuously developing processes that are scalable, SOX compliant, and in support of the company’s growth, as well as setting up new systems and vendors

● Assist in preparing and/or reviewing multi-state U.S. and Canadian payrolls for 16 legal entities (plus more to come!)

● Manage two reports and drive the growth and development of the Payroll team

Who you are:

● A skilled problem-solver with 5+ years of payroll-related experience (plus, you’ve managed large-scale multi-state payrolls)

● You’ve earned your CPP certification

● Comfortable working independently and owning your work from start to finish

● Highly organized and detail-oriented (improving and documenting processes make your heart flutter)

● A direct, honest communicator when working with your team and other stakeholders

● Someone who makes well-informed decisions

● Driven by the highest level of ethics and respectful of confidentiality

● A dexterous multitasker who can prioritize several projects without losing focus

● Someone who takes your work seriously—but not yourself!

● Positive, kind, and excited by a challenge

Extra credit:

● ADP Lyric and/or Oracle HCM experience

● Experience processing payroll in Canada

● Familiarly with the accounting side of payroll (e.g., journal entries, reconciliations)

EEO Statement: FosterThomas is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to equal employment opportunities in recruitment, hiring, promotion, training, compensation and disciplinary action with regard to the terms and conditions of employment. FosterThomas does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, color, age, sex, disability, marital status, gender identity genetic information, sexual orientation, or sex, including pregnancy and childbirth, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic.

FosterThomas does not use third-party domains for recruiting or interviews.
Legitimate communications will always come from Fosterthomas.com email addresses.
FosterThomas does not conduct interviews solely via text-based chat on Microsoft Teams.