Senior Manager, HR Operations & Payroll

Join a Challenger

Being a traditional bank just isn’t our thing, so we challenge ourselves to get creative in providing innovative banking solutions for Canadians.

How do we get there? With a talented team of inquisitive and agile challengers that break through the status quo. So, if you’re passionate about redefining the future of banking—while having fun—this could be your next big opportunity.

Our company continues to grow, and today we serve more than 670,000 people across Canada through Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™, and have been around for more than 50 years. Equitable Bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, Concentra Bank, supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than six million members. Together we have over $125 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives.

Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform () one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021.

The Senior Manager, HR Operations & Payroll provides leadership for the delivery, governance, and continuous evolution of the HR Operations and Payroll function. This role owns the end-to-end effectiveness of HR operational processes, acting as both a hands‑on operational leader and a strategic problem‑solver.

The Senior Manager is embedded in day‑to‑day operations, serving as the first point of escalation for complex HR and payroll matters, while also using operational insight to identify systemic breakdowns, policy gaps, and poor stakeholder experiences. Leveraging deep payroll and HR operations expertise, this role partners closely with HR stakeholders and HR Technology to design, implement, and govern scalable processes, controls, and policies that improve accuracy, compliance, efficiency, and employee experience.

This role is a trusted advisor within HR, providing authoritative guidance on payroll, HR operations, and service delivery, while shaping how HR services are delivered today and designed for the future.

• Provide senior leadership to the HR Operations & Payroll team, setting clear standards for service quality, accuracy, risk management, and employee and stakeholder experience.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex, sensitive, or high‑risk HR operations and payroll issues, applying sound judgment and resolving matters decisively and fairly.
• Remain actively engaged in day-to-day work, including reviewing transactions, coaching through complex cases, and troubleshooting issues alongside the team.
• Build a high-performing team culture focused on accountability, learning, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Establish clear performance expectations, monitor capacity and workload trends, and proactively adjust priorities to meet service levels and business needs.
• Coach and develop team members to strengthen technical capability, problem-solving skills, and confidence in handling complex cases independently.

• Own the end-to-end delivery and governance of HR Operations and Payroll, including onboarding, offboarding, benefits administration, payroll processing, data management, and HR reporting.
• Provide oversight of payroll operations to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant pay delivery, leveraging deep payroll expertise to manage risk and resolve issues.
• Review and approve HR and payroll transactions as required, ensuring alignment with legislation, internal controls, policies, and organizational values.
• Ensure data integrity across HR and payroll systems, partnering with stakeholders to define clear ownership, controls, and processes for employee data changes.
• Oversee compliance with employment legislation, payroll regulations, internal policies, and data privacy requirements.
• Lead regular audits and reviews of HR and payroll processes, identifying gaps, and opportunities for scalability to drive corrective action.
• Support the design, implementation, and ongoing administration of HR programs where operational rigor and payroll expertise are required.