Payroll Manager

Lactalis USA; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Insurance coverage

Retirement contributions

Paid Time Off from day one

Education Reimbursement

Job summary

Lactalis USA in Buffalo, NY is hiring a Payroll Manager to lead the U.S. payroll function, ensuring accurate and timely processing across all entities, strong controls, and regulatory compliance.

This leader will drive governance, system integration, and continuous improvement of time and attendance processes while partnering with Finance, HR, and Compliance. The role requires 5+ years of payroll experience, supervisory responsibility, and proficiency with Paylocity or UKG, Excel, and Word.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree or equivalent experience required; business or accounting degree preferred.
• 5+ years of payroll experience required.
• 2+ years of supervisory or management experience preferred.
• CPP or FCP certification preferred.
• Proficiency with Paylocity or UKG and strong Excel/Word skills.

Responsibilities

• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve payroll and time/attendance policies, processes, controls across all US entities for compliance and scalability.
• Oversee payroll and time/attendance vendor relationships, service performance, and system configurations.
• Monitor changes in federal, state, and local payroll regulations and lead timely compliance implementations.
• Oversee weekly and biweekly payroll processing with strong internal controls.
• Define data controls and governance standards for payroll integrations with core software.
• Lead payroll-driven initiatives with timelines, risks, and cross-functional resources.
• Ensure executive and expatriate payroll components are accurately processed.
• Oversee quarterly and annual reconciliations for tax withholdings and garnishments; coordinate audits.
• Partner with Compensation, HRIS, Benefits, Finance, and Accounting for end-to-end workflows.
• Provide ad-hoc HR and payroll analytics and budget reports as needed.

Skills

Payroll governance

Internal controls

Multi-state tax knowledge

Process improvement

Project management

Executive & global payroll knowledge

Regulatory compliance

Analytical thinking

Collaboration with cross-functional_?

Education

Associate's degree or equivalent experience

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

Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamentals of Payroll Certification (FCP) preferred

Tools

Paylocity

UKG

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Job description

Description

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose.

At Lactalis in the USA, we're committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive-whether you're just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we're proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani Italian cheeses and ricotta, President specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone's cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond cheddar, and Parmalat milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi's, Stonyfield Organic, Brown Cow, Oui, Yoplait, Go-Gurt, :ratio, Green Mountain Creamery, and Mountain High, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun, Gopi, and Arz.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values-Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone's unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don't meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

From your PASSION to ours

Lactalis USA, part of the Lactalis family of companies, is currently hiring a Payroll Manager based in Buffalo NY.

The Payroll Manager leads the U.S. payroll function, with responsibility for the planning, organization, management, and continuous improvement of payroll operations. This role owns the development and governance of payroll and time and attendance processes across all U.S. entities, ensuring consistent standards, strong controls, compliance, accuracy, and scalable best practices.

The Payroll Manager provides leadership across payroll operations and establishes clear expectations for process ownership, documentation, accountability, and continuous improvement. This role plays a key part in strengthening and evolving payroll processes to support a consistent, efficient, and well-governed payroll experience across the organization.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Process Governance & SOPs: Establish, maintain, and continuously improve payroll and T&A policies, process maps, internal controls, and standard operating procedures across all US entities to ensure compliance, accuracy, and scalability.
• Vendor & System Operations: Oversee payroll and time/attendance vendor relationships, service performance, and system/timeclock configurations to ensure rapid issue resolution and minimal operational downtime.
• Regulatory Compliance: Monitor changes in federal, state, and local payroll regulations, assess impacts on systems and workflows, and lead timely compliance implementations.
• Payroll Execution & Oversight: Oversee weekly and biweekly payroll processing to guarantee timeliness, accuracy, and strong internal controls, utilizing post-payroll audits to drive root-cause improvements.
• System Integrations: Support integrations between payroll/T&A platforms and core enterprise software by defining data controls, testing protocols, and governance standards.
• Project Management: Lead payroll-driven initiatives by establishing project timelines, mitigating risks, and directing cross-functional resources to ensure successful execution.
• Executive & Global Payroll: Ensure high-level management and accurate execution of executive and expatriate payroll components.
• Tax Compliance & Audits: Oversee quarterly and annual reconciliations for federal, state, and local tax withholdings, while assuring compliant deduction processes for garnishments, benefits, etc. Partner with Accounting and Tax for internal/external audits and bank reconciliations, tax agency registrations, and check requests.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Compensation, HRIS, Benefits, Finance, and Accounting to align upstream/downstream workflows, manage handoffs, and support annual bonus and merit cycles.
• Reporting & Analytics: Provide ad-hoc HR and payroll analytics, consolidated reporting, and budget presentations as required by leadership.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Incumbent is responsible for the direction, coordination, and evaluation of payroll team members in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

WORK CONDITIONS

• Travel may be required.
• Extended hours may be necessary depending on the departmental needs.
• To fulfill these responsibilities, tools such as a computer, phone or, and / or allowance(s) may be provided.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential duties and responsibilities.
• This position requires physical presence in the office, in accordance with the guidelines of the Hybrid Work Policy.
• Demonstrate commitment to a safe working environment that promotes the health and well-being of all employees and that will further contribute to the Company's overall performance and success.

Requirements

From your STORY to ours]

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

• Associate's degree or equivalent experience required; Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Accounting, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of equivalent experience required.
• 2+ years of supervisory or management experience highly preferred.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamentals of Payroll Certification (FCP) preferred.
• Strong expertise in payroll procedures, process governance, internal controls, and continuous improvement practices.
• Solid knowledge of multi-state tax, accounting principles, and reciprocity rules across state, federal, and local jurisdictions.
• Proficiency in Paylocity, UKG, or similar Payroll and T&A systems; advanced expertise in Microsoft Excel and Word required.
• Ability to evaluate existing processes, identify root causes and control gaps, develop practical solutions, and lead sustainable process improvements across payroll, time and attendance, and related cross-functional processes.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

At Lactalis, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options. We support insurance costs significantly, contribute generously to retirement plans, and offer Paid Time Off from day one. We are committed to your professional growth, providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement. Join us and grow your career.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affiliated Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.