Payroll Program Manager

Trinity Structural Towers; Dallas, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Trinity Industries in Dallas, TX is hiring a Payroll Program Manager to lead complex payroll, timekeeping, and workforce management initiatives across U.S. and Canada. You will partner with Finance, HR, Legal, and IT to ensure accuracy, compliance, and scalable processes.

The role emphasizes program leadership, governance, and continuous improvement, including SOX controls, system releases, and vendor management to support enterprise payroll transformations.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of payroll, payroll systems, or related experience.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. payroll operations and payroll tax.
• Experience with Oracle Cloud HCM and UKG Workforce Pro.
• CPP or PMP certification preferred.
• Strong program management, analytical and communication skills.
• Ability to influence across functions and vendors.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional payroll programs from planning through implementation and stabilization.
• Develop program charters, milestones, risks, and change management plans.
• Coordinate requirements, testing, cutover, and post-implementation optimization for payroll/timekeeping.
• Lead initiatives including UKG stabilization, Oracle releases, and automation for payroll and compliance.
• Establish governance, KPIs, dashboards, and vendor governance.

Skills

Payroll systems

Cross-functional leadership

UKG Workforce Pro

Oracle Cloud HCM

Payroll tax

SOX compliance

Analytics

Vendor governance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Oracle Cloud HCM

UKG Workforce Pro

Payroll software

Job description

Delivering Goods For The Good Of All™ - TrinityRail

While _TrinityRail_ has built one of the broadest and deepest railcar platforms in the world, it’s what’s inside our cars that counts. We are proud to manufacture, maintain, and manage the railcars that deliver the indispensable goods that keep our lives, and our economy, rolling. “Delivering Goods For The Good Of All” is why we proudly come to work each day, and this is why our company exists. This is our purpose._TrinityRail_ provides- Railcar Manufacturing: https://www.trinityrail.com/products/- Railcar Leasing Solutions: https://www.trinityrail.com/leasing/- Railcar Maintenance & Parts: https://www.trinityrail.com/maintenance/- Fleet Management Services: https://www.trinityrail.com/fleet-management/For more information, visit us at trinityrail.com.Learn more about Trinsight®: https://www.trinityrail.com/trinsight/Trinsight is _TrinityRail_ 's cloud-based platform purpose-built to bring your fleet into focus, allowing you to transform and streamline your supply chain with real-time tracking, analysis and management features that modern logistics demandsVideo tranFor decades, _TrinityRail_ has been delivering the goods that keep North America moving. A humble promise to transport the everyday things that make everybody's lives better. It's our commitment to being stewards of the supply chain connecting companies with customers. People with products and Delivering Goods for the Good of All. While we've built one of the broadest and deepest railcar platforms in the world, to us it's what's on the inside that counts. And the purpose these products serve for you like grain the secret ingredient for making memories, or gravel that paves the way for a getaway, fuel to power the road trip of a lifetime, cars that transport us to exciting new places, and essential chemicals that purify our water food and promote a healthy way of life. Indispensable goods that truly move us and keep our lives, and our economy rolling. TrinityRail is proud to

Trinity Industries is seeking a Payroll Program Manager for our headquarters office in Dallas, TX.The Payroll Program Manager is a senior individual contributor responsible for leading complex payroll, time and attendance, workforce management, compliance, vendor, and transformation initiatives supporting U.S. and Canadian payroll operations. The role partners closely with the Payroll Director and cross-functional stakeholders to strengthen payroll accuracy, controls, compliance, scalability, and employee service. It serves as a subject matter expert and program leader for critical implementations, stabilization efforts, issue resolution, system releases, automation, and continuous improvement. The role is also designed to build the broad operational, technical, governance, and leadership capabilities needed to support succession readiness.

Join our team and be a part of Delivering Goods for the Good of All!

What You'll Do:

Payroll Program & Project Leadership

• Lead complex, cross-functional payroll and workforce management programs from planning through implementation, stabilization, value realization, and transition to operations.
• Develop program charters, workplans, milestones, dependencies, risk and issue logs, decision records, testing plans, communications, training, and change management strategies.
• Coordinate business requirements, solution design, user acceptance testing, cutover, hypercare, and post-implementation optimization for payroll and timekeeping initiatives.
• Provide dedicated leadership for strategic initiatives, including UKG stabilization, future UKG capabilities, Oracle releases, payroll tax optimization, vendor transitions, and M&A-related payroll projects.

Partner with Finance Transformation, HR Systems, IT, Accounting, Total Rewards, Tax, Legal, Internal Audit, and other stakeholders to deliver integrated solutions and sustainable business outcomes.

Payroll Operations, Compliance & Controls

• Apply deep payroll subject matter expertise to support accurate and timely weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, off-cycle, incentive, and equity-related payroll processing.
• Support annual W-2 processing, STI incentive payments, LTI stock vesting events, garnishment administration, payroll tax activities, and employee payroll service processes.
• Research and interpret U.S. and Canadian payroll tax, wage and hour, and regulatory changes; assess operational impact and recommend required process or system changes.
• Lead or support remediation of complex payroll, tax, control, and system issues, including root cause analysis, corrective action plans, stakeholder communications, and sustainable prevention measures.
• Design, implement, and monitor SOX, ICFR, audit-ready controls, reconciliations, validations, metrics, and escalation protocols across payroll and timekeeping processes.
• Serve as a key escalation resource for complex payroll issues and ensure risks, decisions, and recommended solutions are clearly communicated to the Payroll Director and appropriate stakeholders.
• Serve as a functional subject matter expert for UKG Workforce Pro, Oracle Cloud HCM, payroll interfaces, and related third-party payroll and compliance solutions.
• Lead detailed review, impact assessment, testing, adoption, and post-release validation for quarterly Oracle releases and other system changes.
• Identify and prioritize automation, agentic AI, and analytics opportunities that improve payroll accuracy, reduce manual effort, strengthen controls, and enhance the employee experience.
• Partner with the Payroll Director and Finance Transformation to develop and execute short- and long-term payroll technology and process roadmaps aligned with enterprise strategy.
• Develop process documentation, standard work, control narratives, training materials, and knowledge-transfer plans that improve operational resilience and reduce key-person dependency.
• Establish and track KPIs, SLAs, dashboards, and benefits-realization measures for payroll projects and ongoing process improvements.
  
• Partner with and help govern key payroll vendors and service providers, including UKG, ADP, Oracle, Alithya, Equifax, and other payroll, tax, garnishment, paycard, and compliance providers.
• Analyze third-party vendor options, support requests for information or proposals, evaluate solution capabilities and risks, and develop fact‑based recommendations.
• Support ongoing assessment and optimization of third-party services such as payroll tax, garnishment, paycard, and other payroll services, supporting any required service transitions.
• Maintain effective working relationships and formal communication channels with HR, Total Rewards, Benefits, Finance, Accounting, Tax, Internal Audit, Legal, IT, and business leaders.
• Facilitate governance forums, working sessions, status reviews and executive updates; ensure issues, decisions, ownership, and follow‑up actions are clearly documented.

Leadership Development

• Build end-to-end understanding of payroll operations, systems, compliance, controls, vendor governance, stakeholder management, and strategic planning through progressive assignments and partnership with the Payroll Director.
• Serve as a delegate or backup for designated Payroll Director responsibilities, governance forums, vendor discussions, and cross-functional initiatives, as assigned.
• Develop capabilities in strategic planning, executive communication, risk-based decision-making, resource prioritization, financial stewardship, and enterprise leadership.
• Mentor payroll team members, lead workstreams and communities of practice, and promote disciplined execution, knowledge sharing, accountability, and a customer-focused service model.
• Demonstrate readiness for broader leadership responsibilities through successful program delivery, sound judgment, operational credibility, and sustained partnership across the organization.

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Human Resources, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible payroll, payroll systems, workforce management, finance transformation, or related experience, including leadership of complex cross‑functional initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. payroll operations, payroll tax, wage and hour requirements, controls, and compliance; Canadian payroll experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with payroll and timekeeping systems, system implementations, testing, stabilization, process optimization, and change management.
• Experience with Oracle Cloud HCM and UKG Workforce Pro strongly preferred.
• Strong program management, analytical, problem-solving, risk management, communication, collaboration, and executive presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority and lead work across functions, vendors, and organizational levels.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Project Management Professional (PMP) or comparable certification preferred.

EOE

Trinity Industries, Inc., and its subsidiary or affiliated companies (hereinafter “Trinity”) are committed to equal employment opportunity. It is our policy to consider candidates for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

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Trinity participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I‑9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

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Trinity is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e‑mail to [e-mail] .This email address should only be used for accommodations and not general inquiries or resume submittals.

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