About the position

The Senior Principal Team Leader, Domestic Payroll serves as the strategic and operational leader for both domestic payroll processing and payroll compliance. This role oversees a cross-functional team, including the Principal Team Leader of Payroll Processing, as well as dedicated professionals managing Wage & Hour and Payroll Tax Compliance. By bridging day-to-day payroll execution with regulatory oversight, this position ensures accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across all business entities. Additionally, this leader acts as a strategic partner to the broader business, guiding continuous process improvement, mitigating operational risk, and advising on the payroll and tax implications of enterprise-wide initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Inspire and Engage the Team: Lead, develop, and engage the team to bring our Corporate Purpose and Core Values to life, fostering a culture of growth and contribution.
• Set Goals and Drive Performance: Set performance goals that grow Staff contribution while also holding the team accountable for achieving individual and team objectives.
• Coach and Develop Staff: Empower and develop Staff by delegating work that helps them grow, facilitating effective performance conversations, and assisting Staff in identifying actions that will help them achieve their performance and career goals.
• Prioritize Work and Remove Obstacles: Partner with the team and individuals to prioritize work and allocate resources, helping remove obstacles and solve problems.
• Provide Feedback and Recognition, and Develop Self: Provide regular encouragement and recognition, as well as constructive feedback, to help foster Staff member engagement.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a specialized team—including a Principal Team Leader and dedicated compliance professionals—fostering a high-performance, growth-oriented culture that aligns with overall business objectives
• Domestic Payroll Strategy & Governance: Lead domestic payroll operations to ensure compliant, accurate, and timely payroll delivery. Oversee payroll governance, risk management, vendor relationships, and operational performance while driving continuous improvement and team effectiveness.
• Payroll Tax Compliance: Provide oversight of enterprise domestic payroll tax, ensuring accurate calculation and withholding of all federal, state, and local payroll taxes, as well as partner with Corporate Payroll Tax Team to support quarterly and year-end reporting (including W-2 production)
• Wage & Hour Compliance: Oversee organizational adherence to wage and hour laws (such as FLSA), ensuring accurate overtime calculations, regular rate of pay compliance, and strict alignment with evolving state and local labor regulations
• Strategic Partnership: Serve as a strategic advisor to HR, Legal, Financial Services, Total Rewards, and entity Leadership, providing advanced payroll and compliance expertise to influence and enable new entity development, compensation strategies, and policy design
• Risk Management & Audit: Establish and maintain internal payroll controls and act as the primary leadership liaison for internal and external domestic payroll audits to mitigate organizational risk
• System & Process Transformation: Champion continuous improvement initiatives across both processing and compliance functions, identifying opportunities to leverage technology and updated methodologies to optimize workflows and elevate service delivery
• Executive Escalation & Resolution: Act as the ultimate point of escalation for highly sensitive, complex, or high-risk payroll and compliance inquiries, partnering with senior leadership and legal counsel to resolve critical issues effectively.

Requirements

• Demonstrated track record of leading cross functional payroll and/or regulatory compliance teams
• Experience overseeing third party managed service providers
• Advanced knowledge of and practical experience managing federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations
• Strong understanding of HRIS/Payroll system configurations
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex payroll issues, and resolve sensitive matters with discretion and accuracy
• Strong communication skills, comfortable working with leadership to devise and recommend solutions

Nice-to-haves

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)
• Certified Professional Accountant (CPA)
• Workday Payroll Experience