DIRECTOR, PAYROLL, BENEFITS & HRIS

Cincinnati Museum Center & National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Cincinnati (OH); On-site; USD 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

Cincinnati Museum Center seeks a Director, Payroll, Benefits & HRIS, to serve as the subject-matter expert for payroll, benefits, retirement plan administration, and the HRIS. This role reports to the AVP, HR Strategy & Operations and leads standards, controls, and data-driven decision making across these functions.

You will partner with Finance, IT, brokers, and vendors to drive improvements, ensure compliance, and deliver scalable processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Advanced degree and relevant professional certification preferred (SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPP, CEBS).
• 5–8 years of progressively responsible experience across payroll, benefits, and HRIS; retirement plan administration experience preferred.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including reconciliations, audits, and reporting to leadership.
• Experience with payroll taxes, ACA, COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA and related compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processing for diverse workforce (full-time, part-time, seasonal).
• Administer health and welfare benefit programs, open enrollment, and life events.
• Administer retirement plan eligibility, enrollment, and contributions.
• Own HRIS roadmap, governance, security, and data quality standards.
• Lead system implementations, upgrades, integrations, and reporting.
• Provide workforce analytics for HR, Finance, and leadership; support regulatory reporting.

Skills

Payroll administration

Benefits administration

HRIS governance

Regulatory compliance

Analytical skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/Business/Finance/Accounting

Advanced degree or professional certification (SPHR/SHRM-SCP/CPP/CEBS) preferred

Tools

Paycor

Job description

Thank you for your interest in working for Cincinnati Museum Center and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center!

Cincinnati Museum Center and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center are Equal Opportunity Employers.

Position: DIRECTOR, PAYROLL, BENEFITS & HRIS Location: Cincinnati, OH

Job Id: 1021 # of Openings: 1 CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER DIRECTOR, PAYROLL, BENEFITS & HRIS

Reports to: AVP, HR Strategy & Operations Status: Full-time, Exempt Location: On-site, Cincinnati, OH Direct Reports: None Salary: $75,000 annually

The Director, Payroll, Benefits & HRIS is Cincinnati Museum Center's subject-matter expert and process owner for payroll, benefits administration, retirement plan administration, and the HRIS. Reporting to the AVP, HR Strategy & Operations, this individual-contributor role establishes the controls, service standards, and processes that keep these functions accurate, compliant, and efficient; implements and administers benefits and retirement decisions made by leadership; and advises leadership on risk, compliance, and workforce data. The Director partners with Finance, IT, brokers, and vendors, and drives continuous improvement through technology, analytics, and scalable processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll Administration:
  • Own end-to-end bi-weekly payroll and time-keeping processing for a workforce that includes full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant pay.
  • Establish and maintain payroll controls, audits, reconciliations, and corrective actions; resolve escalated payroll issues.
  • Manage payroll tax compliance, including federal, state (including multistate), and local withholding and filings; garnishments and wage orders; and year-end processing, including W-2s and reconciliations.
  • Develop payroll metrics and reporting that give leadership visibility into accuracy, service levels, risk, and cost.
  • Monitor legislative and regulatory developments (including FLSA, wage and hour, and tax changes), assess organizational impact, and implement required changes.
  • Partner with Finance on payroll funding, general ledger reconciliation, accruals, budgeting, forecasting, and audit support.
• Benefits Administration:
  • Own the administration of health and welfare benefit programs once plan decisions are made, including open enrollment, new-hire and life-event enrollments, eligibility, carrier and vendor file feeds, and invoice reconciliation.
  • Support the AVP, HR Strategy & Operations and leadership with annual renewals by preparing utilization, cost, benchmarking, and employee feedback data and analysis to inform plan decisions.
  • Coordinate with the benefits broker and vendors on implementation, issue resolution, service performance, and day-to-day administration.
  • Develop and deliver clear benefits communications, education, and enrollment support for employees.
  • Ensure benefits compliance, including ACA eligibility tracking and Forms 1094-C/1095-C, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA (SPDs, SBCs, and required notices), Section 125, and coordination of FMLA and leaves with payroll.
• Retirement Administration:
  • Administer the organization's retirement plan, including eligibility, enrollment, deferral and contribution accuracy, employer contributions, and timely remittance of contributions.
  • Support plan governance by preparing data and documentation for leadership and plan fiduciaries; coordinate the annual plan audit, Form 5500 filing, and nondiscrimination testing with the recordkeeper and auditors.
  • Ensure employees receive clear, accurate, and timely retirement education and support.
• HRIS, Analytics & Partnership:
  • Own the HRIS roadmap and administration, ensuring the system is secure, reliable, well-integrated, and meets defined service standards.
  • Establish data governance, privacy, security, access, documentation, and quality standards for workforce information.
  • Lead system implementations, upgrades, integrations, configuration, testing, and process redesign in partnership with HR, Finance, IT, and external providers.
  • Produce workforce reporting and analytics for HR, Finance, and leadership, and support regulatory and audit reporting (e.g., EEO-1).
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to the AVP, HR Strategy & Operations, the CFO, and HR colleagues on payroll, benefits administration, HR technology, compliance, and workforce risk.
  • Perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and progressively responsible experience may be considered.
• Advanced degree and relevant professional certification, such as SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPP, or CEBS, preferred.
• 5-8 years of progressively responsible experience across payroll, benefits administration, and HRIS; retirement plan administration experience preferred. Supervisory experience is not required.
• Demonstrated success strengthening controls, improving processes, managing risk, and leading complex cross-functional projects and system implementations.
• Working knowledge of payroll, benefits, retirement, tax, data privacy, and employment compliance requirements, including FLSA, ACA, COBRA, ERISA, and HIPAA.
• Experience administering HRIS and payroll platforms, preferably Paycor, including integrations, data governance, reporting, and system optimization.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including reconciliations, audits, budget support, vendor management, and reporting to leadership.
• Excellent judgment, communication, and influence skills, with the ability to advise leaders and translate complex issues into clear recommendations.
• Proven ability to manage change, competing priorities, and firm deadlines in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
• This is a full-time, on-site position. Must be available during regular business hours, with flexibility around payroll, open enrollment, and year-end deadlines.