Senior Payroll Strategy & Compliance Leader

Chick-fil-A Frisco Lakes & Chick-fil-A Windsong & 380; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Chick-fil-A, Inc. seeks a Senior Principal Team Leader, Domestic Payroll to lead payroll processing, governance, and compliance across the organization.

You will manage a cross-functional team including Wage & Hour and Payroll Tax Compliance professionals, delivering accurate and timely payroll while guiding process improvements. The role requires deep expertise in federal, state, and local payroll laws, plus strong leadership, communication, and strategic partnership with HR and Legal.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated track record of leading cross functional payroll and/or regulatory compliance teams.
• Experience overseeing third party managed service providers.
• Advanced knowledge of and practical experience managing federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations.
• Strong understanding of HRIS/Payroll system configurations.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex payroll issues, and resolve sensitive matters with discretion and accuracy.
• Strong communication skills, comfortable working with leadership to devise and recommend solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and engage the team to bring our Corporate Purpose and Core Values to life, fostering a culture of growth and contribution.
• Set performance goals that grow Staff contribution while also holding the team accountable for achieving individual and team objectives.
• Empower and develop Staff by delegating work that helps them grow, facilitating effective performance conversations, and assisting Staff in identifying actions that will help them achieve their performance and career goals.
• Partner with the team and individuals to prioritize work and allocate resources, helping remove obstacles and solve problems.
• Provide regular encouragement and recognition, as well as constructive feedback, to help foster Staff member engagement.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a specialized team—including a Principal Team Leader and dedicated compliance professionals—fostering a high-performance, growth-oriented culture that aligns with overall business objectives
• Domestic Payroll Strategy & Governance: Lead domestic payroll operations to ensure compliant, accurate, and timely payroll delivery. Oversee payroll governance, risk management, vendor relationships, and operational performance while driving continuous improvement and team effectiveness.
• Payroll Tax Compliance: Provide oversight of enterprise domestic payroll tax, ensuring accurate calculation and withholding of all federal, state, and local payroll taxes, and partner with Corporate Payroll Tax Team to support quarterly and year-end reporting (including W-2 production)
• Wage & Hour Compliance: Oversee organizational adherence to wage and hour laws (such as FLSA), ensuring accurate overtime calculations, regular rate of pay compliance, and strict alignment with evolving state and local labor regulations
• Strategic Partnership: Serve as a strategic advisor to HR, Legal, Financial Services, Total Rewards, and entity Leadership, providing advanced payroll and compliance expertise to influence and enable new entity development, compensation strategies, and policy design
• Risk Management & Audit: Establish and maintain internal payroll controls and act as the primary leadership liaison for internal and external domestic payroll audits to mitigate organizational risk
• System & Process Transformation: Champion continuous improvement initiatives across both processing and compliance functions, identifying opportunities to leverage technology and updated methodologies to optimize workflows and elevate service delivery
• Executive Escalation & Resolution: Act as the ultimate point of escalation for highly sensitive, complex, or high-risk payroll and compliance inquiries, partnering with senior leadership and legal counsel to resolve critical issues effectively.

Skills

Leading payroll teams

Regulatory compliance

Payroll laws

HRIS/Payroll systems

Troubleshooting payroll issues

Communication with leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

Chick-fil-A, Inc. seeks a Senior Principal Team Leader, Domestic Payroll to lead payroll processing, governance, and compliance across the organization.

You will manage a cross-functional team including Wage & Hour and Payroll Tax Compliance professionals, delivering accurate and timely payroll while guiding process improvements. The role requires deep expertise in federal, state, and local payroll laws, plus strong leadership, communication, and strategic partnership with HR and Legal.