Senior Director of Payroll

Vaco has partnered with a company looking for a Senior Director of Payroll to join their team!

Job Summary
The Senior Director of Payroll provides strategic and operational leadership over enterprise-wide payroll functions for a large, complex organization. This role ensures accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across multiple entities and jurisdictions, while driving governance, scalability, and continuous improvement. The Senior Director partners with executive leadership across HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and IT to support business growth and transformation.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight of end-to-end payroll operations for a large, multi-state and/or global workforce
• Establish and maintain a strong governance framework, internal controls, and SOX-compliant processes
• Lead payroll strategy, including system modernization, automation, and vendor optimization
• Oversee payroll tax compliance, audits, garnishments, W-2s, and year-end activities
• Serve as executive escalation point for complex payroll issues and risk management
• Partner with HR, Total Rewards, Finance, Tax, and Legal on compensation programs, bonuses, equity, and benefits
• Lead and develop payroll leadership and management teams; build scalable shared services models
• Manage payroll budgets, vendor contracts, and performance metrics (SLAs, KPIs)
• Drive enterprise process improvements, M&A payroll integrations, and change management initiatives
• Provide executive-level reporting, analytics, and insights related to payroll operations

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or related field;
  Master’s preferred
• 12–15+ years of progressive payroll leadership experience in large or public companies
• Demonstrated experience leading high-volume, multi-entity, multi-state (and/or global) payroll operations
• Deep knowledge of payroll tax regulations, wage & hour laws, and SOX controls
• Experience with enterprise payroll platforms (Workday, ADP Global View, SAP, Oracle, UKG, etc.)
• Proven success leading large teams, vendors, and complex transformations

Skills & Competencies

• Executive-level leadership and strategic thinking
• Strong risk management, compliance, and audit expertise
• Ability to influence senior leaders and C-suite stakeholders
• Excellent communication, presentation, and decision-making skills
• High level of discretion with sensitive and confidential data

Preferred Certifications

• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional)