Assistant Manager – US Payroll Taxation

CogNet HRO; Zone 7 Ambattur; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognet HRO in India seeks an experienced Assistant Manager - US Payroll Taxation to oversee end-to-end payroll tax operations across multiple client portfolios. The role requires strong hands-on expertise in federal, state, and local payroll taxation, tax deposits, quarterly and annual filings, reconciliations, and issue resolution.

The role also involves leading payroll tax operations, maintaining regulatory compliance, managing client relationships, and driving automation, process

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of US payroll taxation, including federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA, and state/local taxes.
• Hands-on experience with payroll tax deposits, quarterly and annual filings, tax reconciliations, notices, amendments.
• Strong understanding of federal/state filing requirements, deadlines, and compliance obligations.
• Experience managing tax registrations, agency correspondence, and payment discrepancies.
• Experience leading teams across multiple clients and driving process improvements.
• Proficiency in operational reporting, KPI/SLA monitoring, and automation.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end US payroll tax operations across multiple clients, teams and processes.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state and local payroll tax regulations.
• Manage tax deposits, electronic payments, and reconciliations with payroll records.
• Handle quarterly and annual filings (Forms 941, 940, W-2, W-3) and related state/local filings.
• Lead audits, notices, and escalation management to resolve issues promptly.
• Drive automation, standardization, and workflow improvements for accuracy and efficiency.

Skills

US payroll taxation

Payroll compliance

Leadership

Client management

Process transformation

KPI / SLA monitoring

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Commerce

CPA / EA / CMA (advantage)

Tools

PRO

Worklio

Prism

isolved

MasterTax

MS Excel

Job description

Cognet HRO is a leading Business Process Outsourcing Services Company providing full range of HR and F&A services to US based clients , With over 17 years of rich experience in Payroll Tax, Benefits S & HR Administration, Finance & Accounting , Sales Support . CogNet has been serving the PEO, ASO, HRO and HR Technology spaces since our inception. We help organizations extend their capabilities through simplified implementation, productivity performance measured to the minute, easy collaboration, and transparent pricing built around real time utilization.Our extensive expertise, data library, and workflow development tools accelerates the client implementation process.We have developed a deep expertise of process and technology in our Services , which allows us to rapidly deliver value to our clients. Cognet has been delivering outsourced solutions to the clients around the Globe.

Job Description

Job Description: Assistant Manager - US Payroll Taxation

Experience: 8+ Years

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced and results-driven Assistant Manager - US Payroll Taxation to oversee end-to-end US payroll taxoperations across multiple teams and client portfolios. The ideal candidateshould possess strong hands-on expertise in federal, state, and local payrolltaxation, tax deposits, quarterly and annual filings, tax reconciliations,compliance management, and resolution of complex tax issues.

The role involves leading payroll tax operations, ensuringregulatory compliance, managing client relationships and escalations,strengthening operational controls, and driving automation, processtransformation, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• PayrollTax Operations Management: Oversee end-to-end US payroll taxoperations across multiple clients, teams, and processes, ensuringaccurate, timely, and compliant service delivery.
  
• USPayroll Tax Compliance: Ensure compliance with federal, state, andlocal payroll tax regulations, including federal withholding, SocialSecurity, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA, and applicable state and local taxes.
  
• TaxDeposits and Payments: Oversee payroll tax liability validation,deposit schedules, electronic tax payments, payment confirmations, andreconciliation of tax liabilities against payroll records and tax agencyaccounts.
  
• Quarterlyand Annual Tax Filings: Manage and review quarterly and annual payrolltax returns, including Forms 941, 940, W-2, W-3, and applicable state andlocal filings, ensuring accuracy and timely submission.
  
• TaxReconciliation and Reporting: Oversee payroll-to-tax liabilityreconciliations, tax return-to-ledger reconciliations, depositverification, and resolution of filing and payment discrepancies.
  
• TaxNotices and Escalation Management: Manage complex tax notices, agencyinquiries, missed or incorrect deposits, filing discrepancies, penalties,interest, amendments, and other compliance issues through timelyinvestigation and resolution.
  
• TaxAccount and Registration Management: Oversee employer taxregistrations, account maintenance, tax agency correspondence, accountaccess, and jurisdictional setup to support accurate payroll taxprocessing and compliance.
  
• Auditand Compliance Management: Coordinate internal and external audits,tax agency inquiries, compliance reviews, audit documentation, internalcontrols, and remediation of identified issues.
  
• OperationalExcellence and Process Transformation: Drive automation,standardization, process improvements, and transformation initiatives toenhance filing accuracy, payment controls, productivity, and operationalefficiency.
  
• ClientRelationship Management: Manage client relationships, businessreviews, escalations, service delivery expectations, and stakeholdercommunication to maintain high client satisfaction.
  
• Workforceand Capacity Planning: Optimize resource allocation, workforcecapacity, team utilization, productivity, and cross-training to meetclient requirements and statutory deadlines.
  
• PerformanceMonitoring and Reporting: Monitor KPIs, SLAs, filing and paymentaccuracy, compliance risks, outstanding notices, productivity, and qualitymetrics; provide regular management updates and dashboards.
  
• ComplianceGovernance and Risk Management: Establish and maintain tax calendars,operational controls, SOPs, documentation standards, quality checks, andrisk mitigation procedures.
  
• TeamLeadership and Development: Lead, mentor, and develop Team Leads,SMEs, and payroll tax professionals, strengthen technical expertise, andsupport employee development and succession planning.
  
• ClientTransitions and System Enhancements: Collaborate with clients, payrolloperations, finance teams, and technology stakeholders on processtransitions, system implementations, UAT, and operational changes.
  
• ContinuousImprovement: Identify opportunities to reduce filing errors,penalties, manual effort, and processing delays while improving resourceutilization, scalability, and client satisfaction.
  

Requirements

Required Skills and Competencies

• Advancedknowledge of US payroll taxation, including federal withholding, SocialSecurity, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA, and state and local payroll taxrequirements.
  
• Hands-onexperience in payroll tax deposits, quarterly and annual filings, taxreconciliations, tax notices, amendments, and agency account resolution.
  
• Strongunderstanding of federal and state filing requirements, tax depositfrequencies, filing deadlines, and employer tax compliance obligations.
  
• Experiencemanaging tax registrations, agency correspondence, payment discrepancies,penalties, interest, and complex compliance escalations.
  
• Strongleadership and team management experience across multiple clients,processes, and operational teams.
  
• Expertisein tax compliance governance, internal controls, audit readiness, qualityassurance, and risk mitigation.
  
• Stronganalytical, problem-solving, root-cause analysis, and decision-makingcapabilities.
  
• Experiencein client relationship management, stakeholder engagement, escalationmanagement, and business reviews.
  
• Proficiencyin operational reporting, KPI/SLA monitoring, process automation,workforce planning, and productivity management.
  
• Strongcommunication, presentation, documentation, and change management skills.
  
• Abilityto manage critical tax deadlines, drive operational scalability, anddeliver continuous process improvements.
  

Preferred Software and Tools

• PayrollPlatforms: PRO, Worklio, Prism, and isolved.
  
• PayrollTax Software: MasterTax.
  
• TaxAgency Portals: Experience with federal and state tax agency websitesfor deposits, filings, account maintenance, and notice resolution.
  
• Reportingand Automation: MS Excel, payroll tax reconciliation tools, automatedfiling solutions, reporting dashboards, and workflow automation platforms.
  

Educational Qualification

• Bachelor'sdegree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce, or a related discipline.
  
• Professionalqualifications such as CPA, EA, CMA, or equivalent are an added advantage.
  

Experience Requirements

• Minimum8 years of experience in US payroll taxation, payroll tax compliance, orrelated payroll tax operations.
  
• Hands-onexperience managing federal, state, and local payroll tax deposits,quarterly and annual filings, reconciliations, and tax notices.
  
• Priorexperience managing multiple client portfolios, leading teams, andoverseeing end-to-end payroll tax service delivery.
  
• Experiencein a BPM, BPO, shared services, or payroll outsourcing environment ispreferred.
  
• Demonstratedexperience in client management, compliance governance, audit support,process transformation, and operational improvement.