Senior Payroll Director - Hybrid NY, Scale & Optimize

Vaco; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco in New York, NY seeks a Director of Payroll to lead end-to-end payroll operations for a large healthcare employer. This hybrid role requires hands-on leadership, deep NYS/federal tax knowledge, and multi-state payroll experience to ensure accuracy and compliance.

You will optimize payroll structures, partner with HR and IT for HRIS implementations (Paylocity, Workday, ADP, Paycom), and build a high-performing team with strong controls and SOPs.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive, full-cycle payroll experience with leadership responsibility.
• Deep knowledge of federal, NY state and local payroll regulations and multi-state withholding.
• Experience preparing payroll tax filings (Form 941s, W-2s) and year-end reporting.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills for large data sets and reconciliations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end multi-state payroll processing for a large workforce.
• Lead payroll team with SOPs and performance metrics; drive continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with HR and IT to optimize HRIS/payroll systems (Paylocity, Workday, ADP, Paycom).
• Direct tax filings and reconciliations for federal, state, and local levels.
• Ensure internal controls and audit readiness across payroll processes.
• Provide pre-processing audits and analyze variances impacting costs and reporting.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

Multi-state payroll

Excel

Education

Bachelor's in Accounting

CPP/CPA preferred

Tools

Paylocity

Workday

ADP

Paycom

Job description

Vaco in New York, NY seeks a Director of Payroll to lead end-to-end payroll operations for a large healthcare employer. This hybrid role requires hands-on leadership, deep NYS/federal tax knowledge, and multi-state payroll experience to ensure accuracy and compliance.

You will optimize payroll structures, partner with HR and IT for HRIS implementations (Paylocity, Workday, ADP, Paycom), and build a high-performing team with strong controls and SOPs.