Payroll & Benefits Lead - Multi-Entity Operations

ZT Motors of Texas LP; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

ZT Motors of Texas LP is seeking a Payroll and Benefits Manager to own multi-state payroll across 18 rooftops and oversee health, welfare and retirement programs. The role is hands-on and supervisory, leading a team of payroll and benefits administrators, partnering with store Controllers and the executive team, and guiding onboarding during acquisitions.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of payroll and benefits experience, strong U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Five or more years covering BOTH payroll and benefits administration, with direct hands-on ownership of each.
• Multi-entity, multi-state payroll experience.
• Two or more years supervising payroll and/or benefits staff.
• Working knowledge of the FLSA, multi-state wage and hour law, payroll tax deposits and filings by FEIN, and year-end reporting.
• Working knowledge of ERISA, Section 125, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA and ACA reporting requirements.
• Has served as the responsible administrator through at least one complete annual open enrollment cycle.
• Experience reconciling carrier invoices and self-bill statements to payroll deductions and enrollment records.
• Hands-on configuration experience in a full-service HCM platform across both payroll and benefits modules, building and controlling the system, not data entry alone.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel, pivot tables, lookups and large-volume data reconciliation.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States and able to work on-site in Houston, Texas.

Responsibilities

• Manage the complete payroll cycle for all rooftops across semi-monthly, bi-weekly and weekly pay groups.
• Review and approve payroll registers, pre-process audits, gross-to-net variance reports and funding requests before each transmission.
• Administer the full range of dealership pay plans, flat-rate and hourly technician pay with efficiency bonuses and guarantee true-ups; service advisor and manager commissions; sales and management commissions with unit, volume and CSI bonuses; F&I commissions and chargebacks; recoverable and non-recoverable draws; manufacturer and vendor spiffs; and taxable fringe including demonstrator vehicle use.
• Serve as the control point for pay plan changes verify authorization, confirm effective dates and validate entry before the pay period closes.
• Administer off-cycle payrolls, manual checks, retroactive adjustments and terminations per each state's final-pay requirements.
• Own payroll tax compliance for each FEIN deposits, Forms 941, 940, W-2 and W-3, state withholding and unemployment filings, agency notices, and reconciliation to the general ledger.
• Administer garnishments, child support orders and tax levies.
• Administer all group health and welfare plans across every entity, medical, dental, vision, life, disability and voluntary products.
• Own eligibility and enrollment waiting periods, qualifying life events, dependent verification, waivers and terminations.
• Manage annual open enrollment end to end: system build and testing, employee communications and meetings across all markets, election capture, deduction setup and post-enrollment audit.
• Reconcile monthly carrier invoices and self-bill statements to payroll deductions and enrollment; recover overbillings and terminated-employee premiums.
• Monitor eligibility file feeds and EDI connections between the HCM platform and carriers.
• Administer the 401(k) plan deferrals, loans, per-payroll contribution and match funding, timely remittance, and reconciliation to the recordkeeper.
• Coordinate annual compliance testing, Form 5500 and the annual plan audit.
• Own ACA compliance measurement and stability period tracking, offer-of-coverage determinations, affordability testing, and Forms 1094-C and 1095-C.
• Administer COBRA, FMLA, military, personal and applicable state leave programs, including pay treatment and benefit continuation during leave.
• Manage PTO accrual configuration, carryover and payout at termination per each state's requirements.
• Support workers' compensation administration and annual premium audits.
• Serve as primary contact for the benefits broker and carriers, and support the CFO at annual renewal with census data, cost analysis and plan design modeling.

Skills

Attention to detail

Ownership

Confidentiality

Communication

Process discipline

Composure

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Business Administration, HR or related field

Tools

HCM platform

Excel

Paylocity

CDK Global

Job description

ZT Motors of Texas LP is seeking a Payroll and Benefits Manager to own multi-state payroll across 18 rooftops and oversee health, welfare and retirement programs. The role is hands-on and supervisory, leading a team of payroll and benefits administrators, partnering with store Controllers and the executive team, and guiding onboarding during acquisitions.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of payroll and benefits experience, strong U.S.