Total Rewards and Payroll Manager

Giga Energy Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Equity

401(k) match

Unlimited PTO

Parental leave

FSA/HSA

Job summary

Giga Energy is seeking a Sr. Manager, Total Rewards & Payroll to own and modernize the employee rewards stack, including payroll, benefits, compensation, and equity administration.

You’ll run multi-state payroll end-to-end, standardize controls, and bring equity in-house with external counsel support. You will work at the center of People and Finance, partnering with the Controller and leadership to ensure accurate, audit-ready records and timely compensation cycles.

Qualifications

• End-to-end ownership of payroll for a multi-state workforce with hands-on processing.
• Strong payroll controls, reconciliations, multi-state tax coordination and audits.
• Experience administering benefits enrollment, eligibility, and vendor management.
• Experience administering compensation and equity programs with benchmarking and payouts.
• Systems fluency with modern payroll/HRIS such as Rippling and equity tools.
• Discretion with sensitive employee data and clear communication.
• CPP or equivalent payroll certification.
• Experience building/payroll ops at scaling companies.
• Experience with mixed hourly and salaried workers and multiple entities.
• Hands-on equity administration (grant records, vesting, exercises, reporting).

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll for a multi-state workforce, including bonuses and garnishments.
• Maintain payroll controls, reconciliations, and year-end processing with accounting.
• Administer benefits enrollment, eligibility, renewals, and vendor relationships.
• Administer compensation, incentives, and equity programs; maintain salary bands.
• Bring equity administration in-house with external counsel support.
• Own payroll and rewards systems, data quality, and reporting.
• Answer employee payroll questions with accuracy and confidentiality.
• Collaborate with Controller and People leadership on strategy and calendar.

Skills

End-to-end payroll ownership

Payroll controls

Benefits administration

Compensation & equity

HRIS/Rippling

Equity platforms

Confidential data handling

CPP certification

Multi-state payroll

Experience with equity/grant reports

Education

Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)

Tools

Rippling

Carta/Shareworks

HRIS platforms

Job description

Giga is building gigawatts of AI data centers to hasten a future of intelligence and abundance. We build data centers fast and at scale by combining the capabilities of an equipment supplier, engineering firm, general contractor, and real estate developer under one roof. Our team moves quickly and thinks practically. If you're ready to make an impact in an industry that matters, we're looking for people like you.

• The Pace: We're building at a speed most companies talk about but never actually operate at. If you've been bored somewhere else, you won't be here.
• The Impact: Every person at Giga touches the work that matters. No layers, no waiting for approval chains. You'll see your fingerprints on what we ship.
• The Team: A team of operators defining the future of AI infrastructure. We recruit A-players from the most innovative companies in the world, and they choose Giga because the work here means more.
• The Moment: AI doesn't run without power, and that's us. Giga is the picks and shovels behind the AI revolution. This industry is about to explode, and you'll be in the room where it's already happening.

What you'll do

Giga is hiring a Sr. Manager, Total Rewards & Payroll to be the first dedicated owner of the employee rewards stack: payroll, benefits, compensation, and equity administration. Today, payroll sits inside a busy accounting team, benefits and compensation work is spread across People and Finance, equity administration sits with external counsel, and no single person is accountable for the whole system. You will change that.

You will run payroll end to end for a growing, multi-state workforce: scheduled cycles, off-cycle corrections, per diems, bonuses, deductions, garnishments, and the day-to-day questions that come with hundreds of employees. You will own the controls around it, from pre-close reconciliation and payroll tax coordination with accounting to year-end processing and audit-ready records. You will operationalize benefits, from enrollment and eligibility through employee issues, broker and vendor management, renewals, and utilization, so employees understand and use what Giga offers. And you will administer Giga's compensation, incentive, and equity programs: maintaining salary bands with People leadership, supporting benchmarking, running bonus eligibility, calculations, communications, and payouts with a clean trail, and bringing equity administration in-house, owning grant records, vesting schedules, exercises, and reporting with support from external counsel.

You will not design Giga's compensation philosophy or incentive architecture; those principles stay with company leadership. Your job is to turn them into programs and processes that operate reliably at scale, and to be the first line of defense on pay and rewards questions.

This role works at the center of Giga's People and Finance teams. Payroll execution and controls stay tightly connected to Giga's Controller and accounting team, and benefits direction and the compensation calendar run with People leadership. The reporting home for this role will be confirmed with the selected candidate. Either way, you will own the outcomes below end to end.

In your first 90 days, you will take over the payroll cycle, stabilize the recurring calendar, and document the existing processes, controls, and exceptions. By the end of your first year, Giga should have clean payroll operations, benefits employees understand and use, compensation and equity administration that runs on schedule, and reporting leadership trusts.

Where you'll work

This is a full-time, 100% remote role with no recurring office requirement. You may work from any location in the United States where Giga is able to employ you. You will work with teams across U.S. time zones and occasionally with Giga's international operations, so reliable overlap hours, strong written communication, and clear handoffs matter.

Occasional travel may be required for company onsites or team planning.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll for a multi-state workforce: regular cycles, off-cycle runs, corrections, bonuses, per diems, deductions, and garnishments, with every cycle accurate and on time.
• Maintain payroll controls: reconciliations, variance review, payroll tax registrations and filings with the accounting team, year-end processing, and audit-ready records.
• Own benefits administration: enrollment, eligibility, employee issues, broker and vendor relationships, renewals, and utilization.
• Administer compensation, incentive, and equity programs: maintain salary bands and leveling data with People leadership, support benchmarking, run bonus eligibility, calculations, communications, and payouts, and own day-to-day equity administration (grant records, vesting, exercises, and reporting) with external counsel support.
• Own Giga's payroll and rewards systems and data, including Rippling configuration for payroll and related data, reporting, and the quality of employee and pay records.
• Answer employee payroll and benefits questions with accuracy, urgency, and confidentiality, and fix root causes when the same issues repeat.
• Partner with the Controller and accounting team on payroll accounting, cash funding, and controls, and with People leadership on benefits strategy and the compensation calendar.

Requirements

• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of payroll for a multi-state workforce, including hands-on processing, corrections, garnishments, and year-end. You have personally run payroll, not just overseen a vendor.
• Strong payroll controls and compliance fundamentals: reconciliations, multi-state tax coordination, approval and segregation rules, year-end processing, and audit-ready records working alongside accounting.
• Working depth in benefits administration: enrollment, eligibility, broker or vendor management, renewals, employee issues, and utilization, not just plan selection.
• Experience administering compensation and equity programs: salary structures or bands, benchmarking support, and bonus or incentive calculations and payouts with a clean audit trail, including day-to-day equity administration (grant records, vesting, exercises, and reporting) with external counsel support.
• Systems fluency with modern payroll and HRIS platforms such as Rippling or comparable tools, including configuration, reporting, and data quality.
• Discretion and judgment with sensitive employee and compensation data, and clear, direct communication with employees, executives, and vendors.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or a comparable payroll certification.
• You have built or rebuilt payroll operations at a scaling company, including taking payroll over from a distributed or part-time model.
• Experience with mixed hourly and salaried workforces, field or project-based teams, or multiple legal entities.
• Hands-on experience with equity administration platforms such as Carta or Shareworks, or comparable cap-table tools.
• Experience in energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, or another physical operating environment.

How We Work

We value people who take ownership, raise risks early, communicate directly, and follow through. Incomplete information is part of the job. Make the best decision you can, document it, and adjust as the facts change. Move quickly on reversible decisions and take more care when security, safety, financial, employee, or customer risk is involved.

• Subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance
• Equity (options) in a rapidly growing startup
• 401(k) with 4% employer match
• Unlimited PTO
• Parental leave
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Commuter benefits, where applicable
• Opportunities to collaborate in person at periodic team and company on-sites

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Giga Energy is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.Giga Energy complies with all applicable labor laws, including the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and other relevant state and federal regulations. We provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and encourage applicants who require accommodations during the hiring process to contact us.