Director, Payroll Operations - Global Industrial

USA GPC Genuine Parts Company; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Job summary

GPC Genuine Parts Company seeks a Payroll Director to lead multi-entity payroll operations across states and ensure accurate, compliant processing. You will drive system implementations and process improvements while guiding a high-performing payroll team.

Responsibilities include tax compliance, financial reporting, and integration efforts aligned with growth initiatives and M&A activity. The role requires SME-level payroll expertise and strong controls.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience managing multi-state payroll for large organizations.
• Strong knowledge of payroll accounting, GL processes, and reporting.
• Proven leadership in building and developing payroll teams.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end payroll operations across multiple entities and states.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll regulations and tax filings.
• Manage payroll-related GL activity and month-end close with internal controls.

Skills

Multi-state payroll

Payroll accounting

GL reconciliations

Financial reporting

Leadership

Workday

ADP SmartCompliance

Tax regulations

Data accuracy

Internal controls

Education

Bachelor’s degree

CPP Certification

Tools

Workday

ADP SmartCompliance

Job description

Position Summary The Payroll Director is responsible for leading and overseeing end-to-end payroll and related financial operations across multi-entity, multi-state organizations. This role ensures accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing while driving system implementations, process improvements, financial reporting accuracy, and payroll integration efforts related to growth and M&A activity. The Payroll Director serves as a subject matter expert (SME) on payroll best practices, tax compliance, financial controls, and payroll systems, while leading and developing high-performing teams.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Operations & Leadership

Oversee full-cycle payroll processing for multi-state organizations with weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly pay frequencies. Manage payroll operations across multiple companies, branch locations, and FEINs, supporting large employee populations (8,000+ employees). Lead, mentor, and develop payroll team members, fostering continuous improvement and professional growth. Drive accuracy and timeliness in payroll execution with a focus on achieving near 100% compliance and precision.

Compliance & Tax Management

Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations. Oversee multi-state tax compliance, including state withholding, state unemployment taxes, and tax ID registrations. Manage payroll tax reporting and filings including W-2s, 1095-Cs, and quarterly/annual returns. Conduct comprehensive payroll audits covering employee data, time and attendance, overtime calculations, misclassifications, and system discrepancies.

Finance & General Ledger Responsibilities

Ensure accurate and timely recording and recoding of payroll-related General Ledger (GL) activity. Manage payroll journal entries and validate alignment with financial reporting requirements. Perform monthly and quarterly account reconciliations for payroll, benefits, taxes, and related liabilities. Partner with Finance and Accounting teams to ensure proper cost allocation across entities, departments, and cost centers. Analyze payroll expense trends and variances, providing reporting and insights to senior leadership. Support month-end and year-end close processes, ensuring payroll data integrity and compliance with internal controls. Strengthen financial controls surrounding payroll processes to mitigate risk and ensure audit readiness.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience managing multi-state payroll operations for large, complex organizations.
• Strong knowledge of payroll accounting, GL processes, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
• Proven leadership experience managing and developing payroll teams.
• Deep knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations and compliance requirements.
• Hands-on experience implementing and optimizing payroll systems, including Workday and ADP SmartCompliance.
• Strong analytical, financial reporting, and problem-solving skills.
• High attention to detail with a commitment to accuracy, compliance, and internal controls.
• CPP Certification Bachelor’s degree

GPC conducts its business without regard to sex, race, creed, color, religion, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, military status, status as a veteran, or any other protected characteristic. GPC's policy is to recruit, hire, train, promote, assign, transfer and terminate employees based on their own ability, achievement, experience and conduct and other legitimate business reasons.

Since 1928, GPC has set the standards for performance and value for our customers and our stakeholders. Today, we’re proud to say we’re the largest global auto parts network and a leading industrial parts distributor, one that offers rewarding careers that combine small company feel with a global scale. Our strengths are in the relationships we build and the value we deliver by merging local expertise with a global force.