Payroll Manager (Richmond)

Position Summary

The Payroll Manager owns end-to-end payroll operations for JF Fitness's corporate and club-level team members, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant pay across a growing multi-state network of clubs. This is a hands-on role: the Payroll Manager personally processes corporate payroll and select club-level payrolls each cycle, in addition to leading and overseeing the broader payroll team.

This role requires payroll expertise, not payroll processing. The right candidate understands the regulatory and tax logic behind every calculation, brings direct, firsthand multi-state payroll experience, and can identify and remediate existing compliance gaps rather than simply maintain a clean process. The Payroll Manager is also responsible for building the systems, controls, and standard operating procedures the company needs as it scales, replacing manual and ad hoc processes with a repeatable, auditable payroll function.

The role carries a people-leadership mandate as well: the Payroll Manager sets clear standards for the payroll team, holds team members accountable to those standards, and personally owns the accuracy and compliance of the function. Equally, the Payroll Manager partners closely with HR, Finance, Operations, and IT, and is expected to build genuine working relationships across the business rather than operate in isolation.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Processing & Operations

• Personally process corporate payroll and select club-level payrolls each cycle, in addition to overseeing the broader team's output.
• Oversee accurate and timely semi-monthly payroll for exempt and non-exempt corporate and club-level team members across multiple states and locations.
• Review payroll inputs, calculations, previews, approvals, funding, and final outputs before each payroll is completed.
• Ensure correct treatment of regular and overtime hours, including blended and weighted overtime rate calculations for team members working multiple positions, pay rates, or locations within the same workweek, along with bonuses, commissions, incentives, tips, paid time off, deductions, and other earnings.
• Maintain and audit direct deposit records and HRIS/payroll data for accuracy.
• Administer and reconcile deductions, including benefits premiums, garnishments, 401(k)/retirement contributions, and tax withholdings.
• Coordinate payroll treatment of FMLA, personal leave, military leave, bereavement, jury duty, and other leaves of absence per Company policy.
• Resolve payroll discrepancies, team member questions, returned deposits, overpayments, and corrections with urgency, accuracy, and clear communication.

Multi-State Tax & Compliance

• Lead multi-state payroll tax administration, including work and residence taxation, state and local withholding, unemployment taxation, reciprocity, new jurisdiction setup, tax notices, and year-end reporting.
• Identify and remediate existing multi-state compliance gaps, including retroactive filings and notice resolution.
• Ensure compliance with the Safe Harbor Policy for exempt employees, including review of permissible and impermissible salary deductions.
• Stay current on federal, state, and local wage and hour law changes across all states of operation, and apply sound judgment to distinguish genuine compliance risk from minor processing error.

Systems, Controls & Process Improvement

• Build and maintain payroll controls, reconciliations, approval workflows, checklists, audits, and standard operating procedures.
• Design scalable payroll infrastructure to support continued club growth, rather than operating within manual or ad hoc processes.
• Serve as the functional owner for payroll and timekeeping in Paycom, including configuration, workflows, issue resolution, testing, and process improvements.
• Support timekeeping oversight, including monitoring for unauthorized overtime and time record accuracy, and work with Operations and HR to address missed punches and recurring process issues.
• Prepare payroll reporting and support internal and external audits.

Team Leadership & Accountability

• Lead, coach, develop, and hold accountable the payroll team while establishing clear priorities, service standards, and backup coverage.
• Personally own the accuracy and compliance of the payroll function, not solely the performance of the team.
• Take ownership of payroll issues end to end, including issues that originate outside payroll, rather than redirecting responsibility to other departments.
• Maintain clear, professional communication in all written and verbal interactions. Frustration or disagreement is raised directly with a manager or team member, never conveyed through tone in email or team communication.
• Engage respectfully with leadership, escalate concerns through appropriate channels, and support decisions once made, even when they involve disagreement.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with HR to ensure new hires, terminations, and status/classification changes are reflected accurately and timely in payroll.
• Partner with Finance on payroll accruals, journal entries, funding, reconciliations, general ledger activity, and month-end/year-end close.
• Build strong working relationships across HR, Finance, Operations, and field leadership, operating as a partner to the business rather than in isolation.
• Develop a working understanding of club-level operations and how field roles function, so payroll processes and decisions reflect operational reality rather than being applied without context.
• Maintain confidentiality of sensitive payroll and employee data in accordance with Company policy.

Qualifications

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred.

Experience

• Seven or more years of progressive, hands-on payroll experience, including direct, firsthand experience processing payroll across multiple states, not solely managing or reviewing it.
• At least three years of direct people-management experience and a demonstrated track record of developing and holding teams accountable.
• Experience identifying and correcting multi-state tax compliance gaps, including retroactive filings, notice resolution, and jurisdiction setup.
• Experience designing or rebuilding payroll processes and controls in a growing or previously under-resourced organization.
• Experience in fitness, hospitality, retail, or multi-site consumer services environments a plus.

Knowledge & Technical Skills

• Deep working knowledge of payroll tax law, wage and hour regulation (including FLSA), and multi-state compliance requirements.
• Ability to calculate blended and weighted overtime rates for team members working multiple positions or locations within the same workweek.
• Experience with an integrated payroll and human capital management system; Paycom experience strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience working with payroll registers, system reports, audits, and reconciliations.
• Strong reconciliation, problem-solving, organizational, and root-cause analysis skills.

Behavioral Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to assess what the business actually needs operationally and strategically, rather than solely executing existing procedures or relying on training to define the role.
• Builds strong working relationships and collaborates naturally across departments.
• High level of accuracy, discretion, and attention to detail.
• Sound judgment, clear communication, and dependable follow-through, even under pressure.