Senior Payroll & Compliance Leader, US – Automation-Driven

Speedrun Talent Network; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 182,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare options

401(k) with company match

Parental leave

Wellness stipends

Professional development

Catered lunches

Job summary

OpenGov powers more effective and accountable government, and our Accounting team builds the operations that let us grow with that mission. The Senior Manager, Payroll owns US payroll end-to-end and is accountable for its accuracy, completeness, and compliance across every jurisdiction where we employ people.

This leader sets the long-term direction for payroll operations: documenting processes, strengthening controls, and improving systems and automation so payroll scales with the business

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 8+ years of US payroll experience, including 3+ years managing payroll staff, with in-depth knowledge of federal, state, and local employment requirements and multi-state payroll tax.
• Hands-on experience with Workday Payroll and ADP SmartCompliance.
• Exceptional attention to detail and a record of delivering accurate, complete payroll on tight deadlines, with proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets, including complex formulas and analysis of large datasets.
• Sound judgment and a bias for action: spots issues early, escalates them promptly with a proposed resolution, and drives them to closure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, a record of working cross-functionally, and discretion with confidential employee information.
• Comfortable using AI-native tools to accelerate workflows and improve efficiency.
• Ability to work in office in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, or Boston.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processing for the United States, ensuring every payroll is accurate, complete, timely, and compliant with federal, state, and local requirements.
• Manage payroll tax compliance across all jurisdictions, including resolving compliance issues, processing adjustments and driving audits to completion in a timely manner with federal, state, and local authorities.
• Partner with HR on 401(k), HSA, and FSA administration by ensuring employee and employer contributions are calculated correctly and remitted on time, and process all deductions accurately and in compliance with legal requirements.
• Provide tax information and withholding calculations for RSU settlements, and over time take on administration of RSU settlement process in partnership with Accounting and Legal.
• Manage quarterly and year-end employment tax reporting, including W-2, 1099, Form 940/941 filings, state and local returns.
• Own payroll general ledger reconciliations and support month-end close in partnership with Accounting, and oversee payroll-related audits such as 401(k) and workers' compensation.
• Design, document, and maintain payroll controls, including review and approval steps, reconciliations, checks for completeness and accuracy across spreadsheets and systems and keep the function ready for internal and external audits.
• Improve processes and systems, using automation where it strengthens accuracy and efficiency, so the function scales before headcount is added.
• Supervise and develop the lead payroll specialist

Skills

Payroll expertise

US payroll

Excel/Google Sheets

Communication

Attention to detail

Cross-functional collaboration

AI tooling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting/finance

Tools

Workday Payroll

ADP SmartCompliance

Job description

OpenGov powers more effective and accountable government, and our Accounting team builds the operations that let us grow with that mission. The Senior Manager, Payroll owns US payroll end-to-end and is accountable for its accuracy, completeness, and compliance across every jurisdiction where we employ people.

This leader sets the long-term direction for payroll operations: documenting processes, strengthening controls, and improving systems and automation so payroll scales with the business