Manager, Payroll N.A.

Manager, North America Payroll

THE·TEAM operates at the epicenter of sports, music and entertainment, serving talent, brands and properties on a global scale. Headquartered in Los Angeles, THE·TEAM's presence spans 28 countries and more than 70 cities.

The Manager, North America Payroll is responsible for leading day-to-day payroll operations and ensuring the accurate, timely, and compliant delivery of payroll for U.S. and Canada employee populations. This role manages direct reports within the payroll team and oversees payroll execution in a high-volume, multi-state, multi-entity environment covering both exempt and non-exempt employees.

The Payroll Manager serves as the primary operational leader for payroll cycle management, payroll calendars, cycle readiness, team workflow, approvals, final payroll delivery, payroll controls, issue escalation, audit readiness, and cross-functional partnerships. This position works closely with HR, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, HRIS, IT, Legal/Compliance, external vendors, and the Workday Analyst – Payroll to resolve issues, improve processes, and strengthen payroll accuracy.

This role manages payroll team members and partners closely with the Workday Analyst – Payroll, HRIS, and technical teams on payroll-impacting system issues. The ideal candidate is a hands-on payroll leader who can manage daily payroll operations, support and develop a team, diagnose payroll-impacting issues in real time, and maintain strong controls in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

Payroll Operations & Team Leadership

• Own day-to-day payroll operations for North America payroll, including payroll calendars, work allocation, cycle readiness, approvals, issue tracking, and final payroll delivery.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of payroll professionals, including payroll specialists and/or payroll analysts.
• Oversee regular payroll cycles and related operational activities to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing.
• Manage team priorities, workload distribution, performance expectations, cross-training, backup coverage, and escalation paths.
• Conduct performance reviews and provide coaching, feedback, and development opportunities for direct reports.
• Maintain payroll standard operating procedures, department documentation, checklists, and processing controls.

Payroll Processing, Compliance & Issue Resolution

• Manage payroll operations for U.S. and Canada payroll populations, including exempt and non-exempt employees.
• Oversee high-volume payroll processing across multiple states, entities, pay groups, and jurisdictions.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, provincial, local, and country-specific payroll, wage payment, tax withholding, wage and hour, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements.
• Oversee regular, off-cycle, bonus, commission, adjustment, correction, and termination payroll activities.
• Diagnose payroll-impacting issues in real time during active payroll cycles and coordinate timely corrections with Payroll, HR, HRIS, Benefits, Finance, Accounting, IT, and vendors.
• Manage escalated payroll inquiries and ensure timely resolution of employee pay issues, deduction issues, tax issues, time/absence issues, and payroll discrepancies.

Controls, Audits, Reconciliations & Reporting

• Establish, monitor, and report on payroll department controls, processing metrics, recurring issues, audit findings, service levels, and payroll trends.
• Oversee pre-payroll and post-payroll audits, gross-to-net validations, exception reporting, variance analysis, and payroll balancing activities.
• Support payroll reconciliations, payroll funding reviews, payroll accounting requests, GL-related reporting, benefit deduction audits, garnishment audits, and tax-related reviews.
• Prepare and present payroll reports and analyses to leadership, including payroll costs, processing trends, risk areas, and recommended improvements.
• Support internal and external audits, regulatory requests, payroll tax reviews, and company compliance reviews.
• Support quarter-end and year-end payroll activities, including W-2, W-2C, T4, tax balance validation, employee data audits, and year-end reporting support.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Process Improvement

• Serve as the primary payroll operations relationship owner for HR, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, HRIS, IT, Legal/Compliance, business leaders, and external payroll vendors.
• Partner with HR and Benefits to ensure employee data, compensation changes, benefit deductions, leaves, terminations, and policy updates are accurately reflected in payroll.
• Partner with Finance and Accounting on payroll funding, payroll accounting, reconciliations, GL reporting, labor cost reporting, and audit support.
• Partner with HRIS and the Workday Analyst – Payroll to validate system fixes, test payroll-impacting changes, improve reporting, and strengthen payroll controls.
• Identify and implement process improvements that reduce manual work, improve accuracy, strengthen controls, and increase payroll efficiency.
• Lead payroll operations projects, including policy changes, process standardization, payroll calendar improvements, control enhancements, new entity setup, acquisition integration, and operational readiness activities.
• Support integration and optimization of payroll systems, vendor platforms, reporting tools, and related workflows.

What We're Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of payroll experience, including at least 2 years in a payroll leadership, supervisory, or team lead role.
• Experience managing payroll operations in a high-volume environment.
• U.S. multi-state payroll experience required.
• Experience with U.S. and Canada payroll strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting exempt and non-exempt payroll populations.
• Experience with multi-state, multi-entity, and multi-jurisdiction payroll environments.
• Strong knowledge of payroll laws, regulations, controls, audits, wage payment requirements, tax withholding, deductions, garnishments, and year-end payroll activities.
• Experience using enterprise payroll systems such as Workday, ADP, or similar platforms.
• Ability to diagnose, prioritize, escalate, and help correct payroll-impacting issues in real time during active payroll cycles.
• Strong analytical skills with experience reviewing payroll results, reconciliations, exception reports, variance analysis, and payroll data trends.
• Strong leadership, communication, relationship management, documentation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to handle confidential payroll and employee information with discretion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Workday Payroll experience.
• Canada payroll experience, including provincial payroll considerations.

Base salary range: $110-125K, plus bonus potential if applicable for role. Actual base salary is dependent on several factors including but not limited to; market dynamics, location and region, experience, specialized skills/training (education), level of responsibility, budgetary considerations, tenure at the company (for current employees), etc. The salary range listed is just one component of the total compensation package for employees. Compensation decisions are dependent on circumstances of each role.

What We Offer:

• Professional Development: Take advantage of our learning and development programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement support.
• Generous Time Off: Enjoy generous paid time off and holiday allowances to recharge and spend time with loved ones.
• Parental Leave: We provide paid parental leave to support your family during important life events.
• Retirement Plan: 401k plan including contribution matching.
• Healthcare: Medical, dental, vision, FSA/HSA, life and disability coverage options.
• Ancillary: Critical illness, identity protection, pet insurance, 529 plans and more
• Commuter Benefits: Access support for travel and commuting needs, where available

THE·TEAM does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.