Job Description

The Payroll / Benefits Vice President is responsible for leading the strategy, governance, compliance, and delivery of payroll and employee benefits programs for a diverse workforce of approximately 13,500 employees across multiple legal entities across the United States. This role ensures employees are paid accurately and on time, benefit programs are administered effectively, and all payroll, tax, wage and hour, retirement, health and welfare, and related compliance obligations are met. The Director serves as a senior leader and trusted partner to Human Resources, Finance, Legal, Operations, and executive leadership, with accountability for operational excellence, employee experience, vendor performance, system optimization, and continuous improvement. The position will include direct reports from HRIS IT, Payroll, Benefits, and Executive Compensation departments and be instrumental in Company’s mergers and acquisitions projects.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead all U.S. payroll operations for a large, multi-state employee population, ensuring accurate, timely, compliant payroll processing across multiple pay frequencies, employee types, locations, and business units.
• Oversee the administration, governance, and employee experience of health and welfare, retirement, leave, wellness, voluntary, and other benefit programs, including the administration of self-insured medical and dental plans.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll, tax, wage and hour, benefits, ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, and other applicable employment-related regulations.
• Collaborate with Human Resources, Legal, HRIS, and external advisors to resolve complex employee pay, time, tax, leave, and benefits matters.
• Manage the executive compensation program, including annual incentive, long-term incentive, deferred compensation, and executive benefit arrangements, ensuring accurate administration, documentation, approvals, payroll coordination, and alignment with plan terms and Group systems.
• Maintain strong controls over executive compensation data, calculations, eligibility, award agreements, deferral elections, vesting schedules, payout calculations, tax withholding, and payroll reporting.
• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve payroll and benefits policies, procedures, internal controls, audit practices, and documentation.
• Partner with Finance and Accounting on payroll funding, reconciliations, accruals, general ledger integrations, audits, reporting, and financial controls.
• Lead, develop, and coach payroll and benefits teams, building capability, accountability, customer service orientation, and career development across the function.
• Manage vendor and broker relationships, including payroll providers, benefits administrators, brokers, auditors, and technology partners.
• Drive annual benefits planning, open enrollment, renewal analysis, plan design recommendations, rate setting, employee communications, and implementation activities.
• Own payroll and benefits system performance, data integrity, integrations, reporting, access controls, testing, upgrades, and process automation in partnership with HRIS and IT.
• Monitor service levels, issue resolution, compliance trends, root causes, employee inquiries, and key performance indicators to improve accuracy, timeliness, efficiency, and employee satisfaction.
• Lead merger, acquisition, restructuring, new entity, and workforce expansion activities related to payroll setup, tax registrations, benefits eligibility, plan transitions, and employee communications.
• Prepare executive-level reporting and recommendations related to payroll operations, benefit costs, compliance risk, process improvement, workforce trends, and employee program effectiveness.
• Foster equitable, inclusive, and accessible payroll and benefits practices that support a geographically dispersed and diverse employee population.

Qualifications

Basic Minimum Qualifications (BMQ):

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive payroll, benefits, HR operations, finance operations, or total rewards experience, including leadership of teams and enterprise-scale programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading payroll and benefits for a complex, multi-state U.S. workforce, preferably in an organization with several thousand employees.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. payroll tax, wage and hour requirements, garnishments, year-end processing, W-2 reporting, ACA reporting, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, and related compliance obligations.
• Experience managing payroll and benefits vendors, brokers, carriers, third-party administrators, auditors, and outside counsel or consultants.
• Experience leading and managing a self-insurance medical and dental plan, including rate setting, IBNR analysis, broker interaction, and recommendations to senior executives.
• Experience administering or overseeing executive compensation programs, including annual bonus plans, long-term incentive plans, equity or phantom equity awards, deferred compensation, executive severance, change-in-control arrangements, and executive benefit programs.
• Working knowledge of executive compensation governance, regulatory, tax, accounting, and disclosure considerations, including Section 409A, Section 162(m), SEC proxy disclosure concepts, pay-versus-performance reporting, clawback requirements, and equity compensation accounting considerations, as applicable.
• Strong understanding of Oracle HCM, payroll, timekeeping, benefits administration, finance, and reporting systems, including integrations and data controls.
• Ability to work with highly confidential executive compensation information and exercise sound judgment, discretion, accuracy, and professionalism when supporting senior executives and governance stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead process improvement, system optimization, compliance remediation, audits, and cross-functional projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, problem-solving, change management, and executive presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPA, or similar professional certification.
• Experience with large-scale HCM, payroll, timekeeping, and benefits platforms such as Workday, UKG, ADP, Dayforce, Oracle, SAP SuccessFactors, or similar systems.
• Experience supporting decentralized operations, field-based workforces, shared services, multiple legal entities, or organizations with significant acquisition activity.
• Background in evaluating benefits strategy, plan competitiveness, cost containment, employee communications, and compliance risk.

Leadership Competencies:

• Operational Excellence: Builds scalable, controlled, and reliable payroll and benefits processes that support a large and complex workforce.
• Compliance Mindset: Anticipates regulatory risk, strengthens controls, and ensures accurate documentation, reporting, and audit readiness.
• Employee-Centered Service: Balances technical accuracy with responsive, clear, and respectful support for employees and leaders.
• Strategic Partnership: Connects payroll and benefits decisions to business priorities, workforce needs, financial impacts, and long-term talent strategy.
• Inclusive Leadership: Leads diverse teams with transparency, accountability, empathy, and commitment to continuous development.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Uses metrics, trends, benchmarking, and root-cause analysis to improve outcomes and guide recommendations.

Key Working Relationships:

This role works closely with Human Resources, Finance, Accounting, Legal, HRIS, IT, Operations, external auditors, benefits brokers, payroll vendors, tax providers, and third-party administrators. The Director will be expected to influence across functions, lead through complexity, and ensure payroll and benefits programs scale effectively with organizational growth and change.

Success Measures:

• Payroll is processed accurately, timely, securely, and in compliance with applicable laws and internal controls.
• Benefits programs are administered effectively, communicated clearly, and aligned with employee needs and business objectives.
• Compliance obligations, audits, reconciliations, filings, and reporting deadlines are met consistently.
• Employee and manager inquiries are resolved with accuracy, professionalism, and appropriate service levels.
• Systems, processes, vendors, and team capabilities continue to improve as the organization grows and changes.
• Leadership receives accurate, actionable insights regarding payroll, benefits, cost, compliance, and workforce trends.

Additional Information

In a fast growing group, successful leaders are frequently being offered increased areas of responsibility (subject to geographic mobility).

Eurofins offers international opportunities to strong performers.