Lead, Payroll Tax

FINRA; Rockville (MD); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

FINRA is seeking a Payroll Tax Lead to independently oversee payroll tax compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions in a multi-state hybrid environment. You will serve as the Payroll team’s primary resource for moderately complex tax matters and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to resolve issues.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance with at least six years of payroll tax experience, strong Workday and ADP knowledge, and excellent

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field and six (6) years of directly applicable payroll tax experience.
• Advanced knowledge of federal, state, and local employment tax requirements and multi-jurisdictional withholding.
• Workday Payroll processing experience required; ADP/Smart Compliance experience strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical, research, and problem-solving skills; capable of tax research and clear communication of findings.

Responsibilities

• Independently manage federal, state, and local payroll tax compliance across jurisdictions.
• Own validation of payroll tax files and resolution of exceptions; coordinate funding with Cash team.
• Analyze and resolve moderately complex payroll tax issues and escalate high-risk matters as needed.
• Monitor tax law changes and implement approved configuration updates with stakeholders.
• Lead quarter-end and year-end payroll tax activities, including W-2 processing and corrections.
• Coordinate annual payroll tax filing activities and respond to audit requests.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field

6 years payroll tax compliance experience

Analytical skills

Research skills

Problem solving

Tools

Workday

ADP/Smart Compliance

Job description

The Payroll Tax Lead independently manages payroll tax compliance and related deliverables across federal, state, and local jurisdictions in a multi-state hybrid work environment. The role serves as the Payroll team’s primary resource and first escalation point for moderately complex employment tax matters, applying strong knowledge and judgment to resolve issues, identify compliance risks, recommend improvements, and coordinate solutions with internal stakeholders, third-party providers, and taxing authorities. The position escalates novel, high-risk, or policy-setting matters to Payroll management.

Essential Job Functions

Payroll Tax Compliance

• Independently manage federal, state, and local payroll tax compliance, including withholding, unemployment, tax accounts, employee tax treatment, and multi-state and local tax setups.
• Own validation of payroll tax files and resolution of exceptions to ensure accurate and timely remittance and filing; coordinate required funding with the Cash team.”
• Manage payroll tax correspondence, registrations, agency notices, compliance follow-up, and complex employee tax inquiries through resolution.
• Independently analyze and resolve moderately complex payroll tax issues, including multi-jurisdictional withholding, employee work-location changes, tax exceptions, agency discrepancies, and system configuration concerns; perform variance analysis, compliance reviews, Workday tax adjustments, root-cause research, and elevate novel, high-risk, or precedent-setting matters to Payroll leadership.
• Monitor payroll tax law changes, assess impacts to FINRA employees and operations, recommend required configuration or process updates, and coordinate implementation of approved changes with the Payroll management and appropriate stakeholders.
• Own quarter-end and year-end payroll tax activities, including reconciliations, ADP/Smart Compliance coordination, reciprocity review, fringe benefit analysis, W-2 processing, and W-2-C corrections.
• Coordinate annual payroll tax filing activities and serve as the primary Payroll resource for tax-related audit requests, resolving routine matters and escalating material issues to Payroll management.

Corporate Tax Cross-Functional Responsibilities

• Manage compensation-related analysis and reporting, including Form 990, Form 4720, taxable fringe benefit analysis, and related imputation adjustments.
• Analyze employee data and perform state and local regulatory reporting and filings, including programs such as environmental impact and parking cash-out requirements.

General Payroll

• Analyze biweekly multi-state payroll results and support processing activities with tax impacts, including retroactive transactions, employee changes, and exception review.
• Lead defined payroll-tax projects and the payroll-tax workstream for system upgrades, enhancements, and user acceptance testing, including evaluation of tax configuration, reporting, controls, and compliance impacts.
• Manage payroll-tax SOPs and identify, recommend, and implement approved improvements to payroll-tax processes, controls, reporting, and system configurations.
• Provide backup payroll support as needed.
• Provide technical guidance, training, and work support to payroll team members on payroll tax procedures, compliance requirements, and issue resolution, without formal people-management responsibility.

Financial Reporting and External Department Support

• Prepare payroll GL reconciliations and journal entries, respond to ad hoc payroll tax data requests, and support ICM control testing.
• Coordinate payroll-tax audit requests, validate supporting documentation, resolve routine inquiries, track responses through completion, and elevate material findings to Payroll management.
• Demonstration of FINRA’s values.
• Collaboration, both in-person and virtually, in furtherance of FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.

Education / Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, and six (6) years of directly applicable multi-jurisdictional payroll and payroll tax compliance experience
• Advanced knowledge of federal, state, and local employment tax requirements, multi-jurisdictional withholding, payroll tax compliance, and related operational practices
• Workday Payroll processing experience required; ADP/Smart Compliance experience strongly preferred
• Strong analytical, research, and problem-solving skills; capable of conducting thorough tax research and communicating findings and