Senior Payroll Leader — Multi-State Compliance & Ops

E2 Optics; Englewood (TN); On-site; USD 84,000 - 93,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

E2 Optics in Englewood, CO, is seeking a Lead Payroll Specialist to manage daily payroll operations, ensure accuracy, and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. You will lead payroll workloads, review data, and support audits while developing SOPs and acting as a primary escalation point.

The ideal candidate has 6+ years of multi-state payroll experience, strong leadership, and thorough regulatory knowledge.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• 6+ years of progressive payroll experience.
• Extensive experience with multi-state payroll, compliance, and complex payroll environments.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Advanced payroll compliance and regulatory knowledge.
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and communication skills.
• Ability to lead without direct managerial authority.
• High level of accountability, discretion, and professionalism.

Responsibilities

• Promote company Core Values to foster and safeguard a family-centric culture.
• Lead and coordinate daily payroll operations to ensure payrolls are processed accurately, timely, and in compliance with company policies and applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
• Assign, prioritize, and monitor payroll workloads to ensure deadlines, service levels, and quality standards are consistently achieved.
• Review payroll registers, audit reports, reconciliations, and payroll transactions for completeness and accuracy prior to payroll processing.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex payroll issues, tax notices, compliance questions, payroll corrections, and employee concerns.
• Create, update, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to reflect ongoing payroll process changes, legislative updates, system enhancements, and operational improvements, ensuring the payroll team has accurate and current documentation.
• Ensure payroll policies, procedures, internal controls, are consistently followed across the payroll team.
• Oversee preparation for quarter-end and year-end payroll activities, including reconciliations, tax reporting, W-2 processing, and audit readiness.
• Support internal and external payroll audits by reviewing documentation, validating payroll records, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Act as the Payroll Manager's delegate when assigned, providing operational leadership and decision‑making support during their absence.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

Skills

Leadership

Payroll expertise

Compliance knowledge

Communication

Organization

Problem solving

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

E2 Optics in Englewood, CO, is seeking a Lead Payroll Specialist to manage daily payroll operations, ensure accuracy, and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. You will lead payroll workloads, review data, and support audits while developing SOPs and acting as a primary escalation point.

The ideal candidate has 6+ years of multi-state payroll experience, strong leadership, and thorough regulatory knowledge.