Payroll Manager — Equity & Growth at Energy Startup

Valar Atomics; Manhattan Beach (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Free onsite meals

Career growth & advancement

Autonomy and ownership

Collaboration with operators and CFOs

Job summary

Valar Atomics, a bold energy startup in the US, seeks a Payroll Manager to oversee end-to-end payroll and employee expense management across multiple states. You will ensure accurate, on-time compensation while maintaining compliance and policy governance.

You'll partner with HR and Finance, drive process improvements, manage the T&E program, and support system implementations. This role offers ownership, growth, and the chance to shape payroll in a fast-scaling company.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 5+ years of payroll experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, including multi-state payroll.
• Solid understanding of federal and state payroll tax laws and wage and hour regulations.
• Experience administering a corporate T&E program.
• Proficiency with a major payroll system (e.g., ADP, Workday, Rippling) and Microsoft Excel.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with discretion handling confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end payroll processing for a rapidly growing employee base across multiple states, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Maintain payroll records and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour laws, tax regulations, and reporting requirements.
• Oversee payroll tax filings, reconciliations, W-2 preparation, and year-end close activities.
• Partner with HR to manage changes related to new hires, terminations, leaves of absence, compensation adjustments, and benefits deductions.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee payroll inquiries, resolving issues with professionalism and discretion.
• Continuously evaluate and improve payroll processes, systems, and controls to enhance accuracy and efficiency.
• Administer the company's T&E program, including policy governance, expense report review and approval workflows, and reimbursement processing.
• Ensure employee expense submissions comply with company policy and IRS requirements, and identify and address policy exceptions and errors.
• Manage relationships with T&E platform vendors and corporate card program administrators (e.g., Ramp and Navan).
• Produce regular T&E reporting and analytics to provide visibility into spend trends and support budget management.
• Educate employees and managers on T&E policy and best practices, and update the policy as business needs evolve.
• Support system implementations, upgrades, and integrations related to payroll and expense platforms.
• Maintain a "no job too small" mentality, contributing to special projects and cross-functional initiatives as needed within the general scope of the role.

Skills

Payroll processing

Multi-state payroll

Federal & state payroll tax laws

Excel proficiency

Discretion with confidential info

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Business Admin

CPP designation (preferred)

Tools

ADP

Workday

Rippling

Ramp

Job description

Valar Atomics, a bold energy startup in the US, seeks a Payroll Manager to oversee end-to-end payroll and employee expense management across multiple states. You will ensure accurate, on-time compensation while maintaining compliance and policy governance.

You'll partner with HR and Finance, drive process improvements, manage the T&E program, and support system implementations. This role offers ownership, growth, and the chance to shape payroll in a fast-scaling company.