Payroll Operations Director - US & Canada

Sunrise Senior Living; North Dakota; On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, and Dis

Retirement Savings Plans

Employee Assistance Program / Discount

Paid time off (PTO), sick time, and H

myFlexPay

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

Sunrise Senior Living seeks a Director of Payroll Services to lead enterprise payroll strategy and operations across the U.S. and Canada, ensuring accurate, compliant, and scalable payroll delivery while building a high-performing team.

In this role you will drive Workday Payroll and Time Tracking optimization, oversee multi-state payroll, ensure tax compliance, and partner with HR, IT, Finance and Legal on system enhancements, audits and controls.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Accounting or related field.
• Minimum 1+ year progressive payroll leadership experience.
• Minimum 5+ years people management experience.
• Workday Payroll expertise; implementation preferred.
• Strong U.S. and Canadian payroll compliance knowledge.
• Advanced Excel skills; FPC or CPP preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead payroll strategy, transformation and automation initiatives.
• Oversee multi-state/provincial payroll operations for a large workforce.
• Ensure compliance with tax laws, wage and hour regulations, SOX and internal controls.
• Serve as senior escalation point for complex payroll matters.
• Drive optimization of Workday Payroll and Time Tracking.
• Partner with HR, IT, Finance and Legal on system enhancements and integrations.
• Lead payroll-related audits and ensure documentation and control integrity.
• Establish KPIs and SLAs to elevate team member experience.
• Oversee month-end, quarter-end and year-end close activities.
• Support M&A integrations and workforce transitions.
• Implement standardized payroll policies and scalable processes.
• Mentor and develop payroll leaders and staff.
• Foster accountability, service excellence and continuous improvement.

Skills

Payroll leadership

People management

Workday Payroll

Compliance knowledge

Excel proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree (Business/Accounting or related field)

Tools

Workday

Time Tracking

Job description

Sunrise Senior Living seeks a Director of Payroll Services to lead enterprise payroll strategy and operations across the U.S. and Canada, ensuring accurate, compliant, and scalable payroll delivery while building a high-performing team.

In this role you will drive Workday Payroll and Time Tracking optimization, oversee multi-state payroll, ensure tax compliance, and partner with HR, IT, Finance and Legal on system enhancements, audits and controls.