Manager, Payroll Operations

ICON; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ICON designs robotic systems that construct multi-story buildings and is rapidly expanding its payroll footprint across multiple states and international sites. The Manager, Payroll Operations will own end-to-end payroll for ICON: salaried, hourly, and field employees, driving standardization and building a scalable automation roadmap.

You will run payroll cycles in the near term while shaping controls, audits, and cross-functional collaboration with People Operations, Total Rewards, HRIS,

Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive payroll experience with leadership responsibility.
• Experience owning multi-state payroll processing and compliance work.
• Experience with hourly populations and time/attendance integration.
• Experience in a mature payroll environment with documented processes.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end multi-state payroll cycles for salaried, hourly and field employees.
• Administer time/attendance integration, shift differentials, overtime, and premiums.
• Design a standardized payroll calendar, processing checklist and approvals.
• Coordinate international payroll delivery through in-country providers or EOR.
• Maintain wage/hour compliance and oversee payroll tax filings and year-end processes.
• Partner with Legal and People Operations on pay practices and escalations.
• Own payroll system configuration, roadmap, and integrations with HRIS/GL.
• Deliver payroll reporting and support data requests for audits and contracts.
• Build a payroll team as headcount grows and establish cross-training.

Skills

Payroll leadership

Multi-state payroll processing

Compliance & controls

Audit readiness

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/Accounting/related field

CPP or FPC certification (preferred)

Tools

Workday Payroll

HRIS systems

Payroll tax filings

General ledger integration

Job description

ICON builds robotic systems that construct multi-story buildings. The company has raised more than $550 million in venture funding, holds more than $360 million in government contracts across the Army, Air Force, DARPA, and NASA, and brought its next-generation Titan system to commercial launch in March 2026. That growth means a payroll function that spans multiple states, a large hourly and field-based workforce, expanding international employment, and a headcount trajectory moving from roughly 500 toward 1,000 and beyond.

The Manager, Payroll Operations owns end-to-end payroll for ICON: multi-state and international processing, compliance, controls, reporting, and the vendor and system roadmap that has to hold up as headcount doubles. This is a hands‑on ownership role in the near term. You will personally run payroll cycles while you standardize the process, then build the team and automation that let you step from processing into oversight.

You will work alongside People Operations, Total Rewards, HRIS, Accounting, and Legal, and you will be accountable for on-time, accurate pay for salaried, hourly, and field employees across every jurisdiction ICON operates in. You will also build the documentation, audit trail, and internal controls that a company working under federal contracts is expected to produce on request.

Payroll Processing & Operations

• Own and execute the full multi-state payroll cycle end to end, including off-cycle runs, retroactive pay, terminations, bonuses, commissions, and equity-related events, personally processing payroll until the function is staffed and stabilized.
• Administer payroll for a significant hourly and field-based population, including time and attendance integration, shift differentials, overtime, meal and rest premiums, and prevailing wage or certified payroll requirements where applicable.
• Design and document a standardized payroll calendar, processing checklist, and approval workflow, then hold the organization to the deadlines and inputs that calendar depends on.
• Coordinate international payroll delivery through in-country providers or an employer of record, reconciling those cycles to ICON's records and resolving discrepancies with the vendor.

Compliance & Controls

• Maintain compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour, tax, and reporting requirements across all jurisdictions where ICON employs people, and manage new state registrations as the footprint expands.
• Build and operate the internal controls over payroll, including segregation of duties, change auditing, and pay data review, and serve as the primary point of contact for internal and external payroll audits.
• Own payroll tax filings, amendments, agency notices, and year-end processes including W-2 and 1099 issuance, working with the payroll provider and tax agencies to resolve issues before they become penalties.
• Partner with Legal and People Operations on wage and hour questions, pay practice changes, and employee escalations, documenting decisions and applying them consistently.

Systems, Reporting & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Own the payroll system configuration and roadmap, including earning and deduction codes, pay groups, costing, and integrations with HRIS, time tracking, benefits, and the general ledger.
• Partner with Accounting on payroll journal entries, accruals, and reconciliations, and with Finance on labor cost reporting by department, project, and contract; Accounting owns the close, and this role owns the accuracy and timeliness of the payroll inputs to it.
• Deliver recurring and ad hoc payroll reporting to People Operations, Finance, and leadership, and support data requests tied to government contracts, benefit plan audits, and workers' compensation.
• Evaluate and select payroll vendors and tools, manage those relationships and service levels, and lead system implementations or migrations driven by scale.
• Build the payroll team as volume justifies it, defining roles, hiring, onboarding, and developing payroll staff, and establishing a backup and cross-training model so no cycle depends on one person.
• Establish the procedures, documentation, and automation that let payroll absorb a doubling of headcount without a proportional increase in manual effort.
• Set and report operational metrics for payroll accuracy, on-time delivery, and issue resolution, and use them to prioritize process improvements.

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive payroll experience, including prior supervisory, lead, or people management responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience owning multi-state payroll processing and the associated tax registration, filing, and compliance work.
• Experience supporting a workforce with a significant hourly population, including time and attendance integration and overtime and wage and hour compliance.
• Experience on an established payroll team within a mature organization, with exposure to defined controls, audit requirements, and documented process.
• Willingness to personally process payroll in the near term while building toward an oversight model.
• Advanced proficiency with payroll and HRIS platforms and with spreadsheet-based reconciliation and reporting.
• Based in Austin, TX or able to relocate; this role is on-site at ICON's Austin campus.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Hands-on Workday Payroll processing and configuration experience.
• International or global payroll experience, including in-country providers or employer of record models.
• Experience scaling a payroll function through rapid headcount growth, including system implementation or migration.
• CPP or FPC certification.
• Exposure to government contracting environments, certified payroll, or prevailing wage reporting.
• Experience in manufacturing, construction, logistics, or another environment with field-based and shift-based labor.

ICON is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an innovative, inclusive, diverse and discrimination‑free work environment. Employment with ICON is based on merit, competence, and qualifications. It is our policy to administer all personnel actions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting employees, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. Consistent with the obligations of these laws, ICON will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Furthermore, as a federal government contractor, the Company maintains an affirmative action program which furthers its commitment and complies with recordkeeping and reporting requirements under certain federal civil rights laws and regulations, including Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (as amended).

As part of our compliance with these obligations, the Company invites you to voluntarily self-identify as set forth below. Provision of such information is entirely voluntary and a decision to provide or not provide such information will not have any effect on your employment or subject you to any adverse treatment. Any and all information provided will be considered confidential, will be kept separate from your application and/or personnel file, and will only be used in accordance with applicable laws, orders and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement purposes.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in ICON’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.