Global Payroll & Tax Transformation Director

Rocket Lab; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)

Medical plans (HMO/PPO)

401(k) retirement plan with company  &

Paid vacation and holidays

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks aDirector of Global Payroll and Employment Tax to own payroll and employment-tax compliance across the global workforce. This onsite role partners with HR, Finance, Accounting, and IT to drive accuracy, efficiency, and scalable processes.

The role leads payroll teams, implements improvements, and ensures regulatory adherence while supporting mergers, acquisitions, and cross-border operations. Competitive stock-inclusion enhances total compensation.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of multi-country payroll experience, including APAC and EMEA compliance, co-sourced payroll operations, and ADP vendor management across the U.S. and international regions.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience (HS diploma & 16+ years of work experience).
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing payroll teams.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. and international payroll compliance, tax regulations, and reporting requirements.

Responsibilities

• Oversee bi-weekly and semi-monthly payroll processing for salaried and hourly employees across multiple domestic and international locations.
• Ensure full compliance with federal, state, and international payroll regulations, tax laws, and reporting requirements.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the payroll accounting team, including training, coaching, and performance management.
• Validate, reconcile, and audit payroll data to ensure accuracy in payments, deductions, reporting, and historical records.
• Manage payroll operations related to new hires, terminations, pay changes, and employee benefit and compensation programs (401(k), HSA, ESPP, stock-based compensation).
• Deploy ADP NZ, ensuring compliance with the Holidays Act 2003, KiwiSaver/ESCT, and IRD payday filing requirements.
• Manage shadow payroll, day-count tracking, and assignment documentation for staff working across multiple jurisdictions.
• Oversee the consolidation and integration activities for mergers and acquisitions.
• Own all payroll-cycle corporate and finance controls.
• Oversee manual and off-cycle check processing as needed.
• Investigate, reconcile, and resolve payroll, benefit, and tax discrepancies.
• Partner with People & Culture, IT, Finance, and Accounting to ensure seamless integrations, data integrity, and efficient workflows.
• Drive process improvements and evaluate best practices to enhance payroll systems, reporting, automation, and scalability.
• Support month-end close through journal entries, reconciliations, and required reporting.
• Stay current on global payroll regulations, trends, and compliance requirements.

Skills

Global payroll

Payroll compliance

Leadership

ADP

Workday

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

ADP

Workday

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks aDirector of Global Payroll and Employment Tax to own payroll and employment-tax compliance across the global workforce. This onsite role partners with HR, Finance, Accounting, and IT to drive accuracy, efficiency, and scalable processes.

The role leads payroll teams, implements improvements, and ensures regulatory adherence while supporting mergers, acquisitions, and cross-border operations. Competitive stock-inclusion enhances total compensation.