Payroll Director — Multistate Ops, Hybrid NYC

Vaco; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring seeks an experienced Director of Payroll to lead end-to-end payroll for a large healthcare employer in New York. You will drive accuracy, compliance, and efficiency across multi-state payroll operations and partner with HR and IT to optimize systems.

The role requires deep NYS and federal tax knowledge, hands-on tax filings, and a track record of building strong controls, mentoring a payroll team, and delivering audit-ready processes in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive, full-cycle payroll experience with leadership responsibilities.
• Deep technical expertise in federal, New York State, and local payroll regulations.
• Hands-on experience preparing and reviewing payroll tax filings (Form 941s, W-2s, state/local returns).

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end multi-state payroll processing for a large, complex workforce.
• Partner with HR and IT to optimize payroll and HRIS systems (Paylocity, Workday, ADP, Paycom).
• Direct federal, NYS, and local payroll tax filings, reconciliations, and year-end reporting.
• Establish robust internal controls over payroll processing and audit readiness.
• Lead, mentor, and build a high-performing payroll team with SOPs.

Skills

Senior payroll leadership

Multi-state payroll

NY/NYS payroll regulations

Microsoft Excel

Education

CPP or CPA designation

Tools

Paylocity

Workday

ADP

Paycom

Job description

Vaco by Highspring seeks an experienced Director of Payroll to lead end-to-end payroll for a large healthcare employer in New York. You will drive accuracy, compliance, and efficiency across multi-state payroll operations and partner with HR and IT to optimize systems.

The role requires deep NYS and federal tax knowledge, hands-on tax filings, and a track record of building strong controls, mentoring a payroll team, and delivering audit-ready processes in a fast-paced environment.