Director of Payroll

Department: Human Resources

Reports to: SVP of People and Culture

Location: Financial District – NYC

Employment Type: Full-Time

Salary Range: $130-$145K per year

This is an in-office position 5 days a week – After 90 days of employment, the candidate will be eligible to work from home two days per month

Position Overview

We are seeking a hands-on Director of Payroll & Payroll Transformation to lead payroll operations and the payroll-side implementation of ADP. The ideal candidate will have proven experience leading successful payroll system implementations, managing union and nonunion populations, and overseeing complex, multi-entity, multi-state payroll.

This individual will oversee the accuracy and compliance of biweekly payroll processing, ensure operational continuity, and collaborate with Finance, HR, IT, and ADP to mitigate implementation risks and identify opportunities for process improvement.

Key Responsibilities

1. ADP Implementation & Transformation

• Partner with HR on the end-to-end ADP implementation, from project planning and requirements gathering through configuration, testing, go-live, and post-implementation stabilization.
• Partner with HR and internal stakeholders to define system requirements, payroll workflows, business rules, and reporting needs.
• Oversee payroll data cleansing, validation, migration, and reconciliation to ensure data integrity.
• Develop and manage milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and risk mitigation plans.
• Work with HR to coordinate system integrations with HR, Finance, timekeeping, benefits, and other relevant platforms.
• Work with HR and ADP on user acceptance testing, parallel payroll runs, issue resolution, and sign-off processes.
• Establish contingency plans and controls to minimize disruption and ensure employees are paid accurately and on time.
• Provide regular implementation updates to executive leadership, including progress, risks, outstanding decisions, and required resources.
• Lead post-go-live support, issue resolution, process refinement, and transition to steady-state operations.

2. Payroll Operations & Compliance

• Oversee end-to-end payroll processing, ensuring timely, accurate, and consistent payroll delivery.
• Maintain appropriate payroll controls, approval workflows, reconciliations, and audit documentation.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements and employment regulations.
• Oversee payroll tax filings, wage reporting, deductions, garnishments, year-end processes, and related reconciliations, as applicable.
• Support monthly, quarterly, and year-end tasks. Includes preparing and reconciliation of W-2s, 941s and 1042-S forms, reviewing wage and tax reports, investigating variances and taking corrective action as needed.
• Review tax fallouts to determine appropriate action to take. Coordinate with management as needed for completion of new state and unemployment registrations.
• Compliance with all matters such as multi-state withholdings, 401k audits, and Workers' Compensation audits.
• Partner with Finance on payroll accounting, general ledger reconciliations, accruals, and reporting.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies, escalated employee issues, and complex payroll matters.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and security of employee compensation and payroll data.

3. Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Establish clear responsibilities, performance expectations, service standards, and escalation procedures.
• Partner with HR, Finance, IT, Benefits, and business leadership to align payroll processes and system requirements.
• Manage relationships with ADP, implementation consultants, and other third-party providers.
• Communicate changes to stakeholders and support employee and manager adoption of new payroll processes.
• Develop documentation, standard operating procedures, and training materials to support the new system.

4. Process Improvement & Internal Controls

• Evaluate existing payroll processes and identify opportunities for automation, standardization, and efficiency.
• Strengthen payroll governance, segregation of duties, access controls, and audit readiness.
• Develop management reporting and key performance indicators to monitor payroll accuracy, timeliness, exceptions, and service levels.
• Identify root causes of recurring payroll issues and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Establish a framework for ongoing system maintenance, enhancements, and continuous improvement after implementation.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelors degree in accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related discipline preferred.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) strongly preferred
• Significant progressive payroll experience, generally 7–10+ years, with leadership experience commensurate with the complexity of the organization.
• Demonstrated experience leading at least one full-cycle ADP payroll implementation, preferably from planning through post-go-live stabilization.
• Strong working knowledge of the ADP Lyriq platform selected by the organization.
• Strong experience with Dayforce is a plus as that is the current HR and Payroll system.
• Experience with payroll data migration, system configuration, integrations, parallel testing, reconciliation, and user acceptance testing.
• Strong understanding of payroll compliance, tax requirements, controls, audits, and financial reconciliations.
• Experience managing processes and collaborating across Finance, HR, and IT.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, implementation deadlines, and competing stakeholder requirements.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience implementing ADP Workforce Now, ADP Vantage HCM, or ADP Lyriq which is the solution selected by the organization.
• Experience in a multi-state, multi-entity, or otherwise complex payroll environment, where applicable.
• Experience with union and nonunion employees is critical.
• Experience managing payroll integrations with HRIS, time and attendance, benefits, and general ledger systems.
• Experience working with external implementation consultants and executive steering committees.

Key Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Delivery of the ADP implementation against approved milestones, budget, and scope.
• Successful completion of data validation, testing, parallel payroll, and implementation sign-offs.
• Accurate and timely payroll processing throughout the transition.
• Effective management of implementation risks, issues, and stakeholder communications.
• Stronger payroll controls, documentation, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Improved payroll processes, reporting, and operational efficiency.