Head of Payroll, North America

Location: This position can be located in the White Plains, NY or Maple Grove, MN area with Hybrid work, 3 days in office and 2 days remote.

About ZEISS This description outlines the role and responsibilities for the Head of Payroll SS is a global company with diverse portfolios across Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, with over 46,000 employees worldwide.

What’s the role? The Head of Payroll is a strategic and passionate leader responsible for driving and elevating payroll operations to service over 3,500 colleagues across North America. This role will develop and lead a high-performing team focused on delivering accurate, compliant, and timely payroll and related topics across the US and Canada. The ideal candidate brings deep payroll expertise, strong regulatory and financial acumen, project management capabilities and a commitment to service, excellence, and resilience.

Here’s What You’ll Do

• Develop and execute a long-term payroll strategy for North America, ensuring scalability, efficiency, and alignment with organizational objectives.
• Drive transformation initiatives to streamline processes, improve internal controls, and ensure best-in-class service delivery.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on payroll-related risks, performance, and compliance posture.
• Drive harmonization and automation of payroll processes across key areas, including 401(k) reconciliation, Workday earning code definition including mapping to GL, and other critical workflows.
• Lead and manage payroll-related projects, including system upgrades, integrations/migrations, vendor transitions, and process improvement initiatives.
• Partner with HR, Finance and HR Digital Solutions teams to align payroll operations with broader organizational strategies and to optimize end-to-end processes.

• Oversee the accurate processing of multi-state U.S. and Canadian payroll, special payments, garnishments, tax with holdings, and benefit deductions.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, provincial, and local payroll tax laws and regulations, including multi-state payroll tax registrations and updates.
• Ensure absolute accuracy, timeliness, and compliance in payroll operations.
• Maintain a hands-on approach and operational depth to ensure continuity and quality across all touchpoints.
• Oversee payroll-related implications for expats and mobile employees.
• Monitor regulatory changes and ensure proactive compliance.
• Manage relationships with external payroll vendors, ensuring performance against SLAs, cost efficiency, and compliance standards.
• Establish and monitor payroll KPIs, providing regular reporting and insight to Finance and HR leadership.
• Ensure payroll processes follow robust internal controls and support all internal and external audits, including payroll reconciliations, workers compensation and documentation of key procedures.
• Understand complex and integrated system/technology landscape (e.g., Workday) downstream systems, integrations and reporting.
• Manage year-end payroll activities, including tax reporting (e.g., W-2, T4) and reconciliation processes.

• Develop, coach, and inspire a team of payroll professionals to deliver with excellence, integrity, and purpose.
• Cultivate a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Identify and build future leadership within the team; foster cross-functional learning and upskilling.
• Establish clear performance metrics, SLAs, and KPIs for the payroll team to ensure high-quality service delivery.

• Build strong, trusting relationships with Finance, HR (including HR Digital Solutions), Legal and onsite leadership.
• Represent payroll in M&A due diligence, onboarding, and integration efforts.
• Collaborate with HR Digital Solutions teams to maintain and optimize Workday Time & Payroll systems.
• Act as the internal and external face of payroll, ensuring transparency and proactive communication.

• Implement and maintain robust governance framework and controls to ensure compliance with organizational policies, payroll tax laws, and regulatory requirements.
• Develop and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work instructions for payroll processes.
• Conduct regular internal audits of payroll transactions, garnishments, tax with holdings, and absence processing to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Collaborate with external vendors (e.g., ADP, OSV) and state agencies to resolve tax-related issues and maintain employer compliance.

• Act as the Functional Lead in Workday Payroll improvement projects, ensuring optimal utilization of the platform and integration with other HRIS systems.
• Evaluate and recommend third-party vendors to support payroll operations, year-end readiness, and special projects.
• Identify opportunities for process automation and…