VP of HR Operations

Eurofins; Lancaster (Lancaster County); On-site; USD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Eurofins is seeking a Payroll & Benefits Vice President to lead the strategy, governance, and delivery of payroll and employee benefits for ~13,500 US employees across multiple entities. The role partners with HR, Finance, Legal and executive leadership to ensure accurate payroll, effective benefits, and regulatory compliance.

You will oversee vendor relationships, system optimization (Oracle HCM, Workday), and drive continuous improvement across payroll operations, while managing HRIS, IT, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Experience leading payroll and benefits for a complex multi-state US workforce.

Responsibilities

• Lead all U.S. payroll operations for a large, multi-state employee population with multiple pay frequencies.
• Oversee health and welfare, retirement, leave, and other benefit programs, including self-insured plans.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll and benefits regulations (ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA).
• Manage executive compensation programs, including annual and long-term incentives and deferred compensation.
• Develop and improve payroll and benefits policies, controls, and documentation.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Change management

Analytical skills

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Oracle HCM

Workday

SAP SuccessFactors

ADP

Job description

Eurofins Scientific is an international life sciences company, providing a unique range of analytical testing services to clients across multiple industries, to make life and our environment safer, healthier and more sustainable. From the food you eat, to the water you drink, to the medicines you rely on, Eurofins works with the biggest companies in the world to ensure the products they supply are safe, their ingredients are authentic and labelling is accurate. Eurofins believes it is a global leader in food, environmental, pharmaceutical and cosmetics products testing and in agroscience CRO services. It is also one of the global independent market leaders in certain testing and laboratory services for genomics, discovery pharmacology, forensics, CDMO, advanced material sciences and in the support of clinical studies.

In over just 30 years, Eurofins has grown from one laboratory in Nantes, France to over 65,000 staff across a network of more than 950 independent companies in over 57 countries and operating more than 800 laboratories. Eurofins offers a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods to evaluate the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin, traceability and purity of biological substances and products, as well as providing innovative clinical diagnostic testing services, as one of the leading global emerging players in specialised clinical diagnostics testing.

In 2026, Eurofins generated total revenues of EUR € 7.3 billion, and has been among the best performing stocks in Europe over the past 20 years.

Position Summary:

The Payroll / Benefits Vice President is responsible for leading the strategy, governance, compliance, and delivery of payroll and employee benefits programs for a diverse workforce of approximately 13,500 employees across multiple legal entities across the United States. This role ensures employees are paid accurately and on time, benefit programs are administered effectively, and all payroll, tax, wage and hour, retirement, health and welfare, and related compliance obligations are met. The Director serves as a senior leader and trusted partner to Human Resources, Finance, Legal, Operations, and executive leadership, with accountability for operational excellence, employee experience, vendor performance, system optimisation, and continuous improvement. The position will include direct reports from HRIS IT, Payroll, Benefits, and Executive Compensation departments and be instrumental in Company’s mergers and acquisitions projects.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead all U.S. payroll operations for a large, multi-state employee population, ensuring accurate, timely, compliant payroll processing across multiple pay frequencies, employee types, locations, and business units.
• Oversee the administration, governance, and employee experience of health and welfare, retirement, leave, wellness, voluntary, and other benefit programs, including the administration of self-insured medical and dental plans.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll, tax, wage and hour, benefits, ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, and other applicable employment-related regulations.
• Collaborate with Human Resources, Legal, HRIS, and external advisors to resolve complex employee pay, time, tax, leave, and benefits matters.
• Manage the executive compensation program, including annual incentive, long-term incentive, deferred compensation, and executive benefit arrangements, ensuring accurate administration, documentation, approvals, payroll coordination, and alignment with plan terms and Group systems.
• Maintain strong controls over executive compensation data, calculations, eligibility, award agreements, deferral elections, vesting schedules, payout calculations, tax withholding, and payroll reporting.
• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve payroll and benefits policies, procedures, internal controls, audit practices, and documentation.
• Partner with Finance and Accounting on payroll funding, reconciliations, accruals, general ledger integrations, audits, reporting, and financial controls.
• Lead, develop, and coach payroll and benefits teams, building capability, accountability, customer service orientation, and career development across the function.
• Manage vendor and broker relationships, including payroll providers, benefits administrators, brokers, auditors, and technology partners.
• Drive annual benefits planning, open enrollment, renewal analysis, plan design recommendations, rate setting, employee communications, and implementation activities.
• Own payroll and benefits system performance, data integrity, integrations, reporting, access controls, testing, upgrades, and process automation in partnership with HRIS and IT.
• Monitor service levels, issue resolution, compliance trends, root causes, employee inquiries, and key performance indicators to improve accuracy, timeliness, efficiency, and employee satisfaction.
• Lead merger, acquisition, restructuring, new entity, and workforce expansion activities related to payroll setup, tax registrations, benefits eligibility, plan transitions, and employee communications.
• Prepare executive-level reporting and recommendations related to payroll operations, benefit costs, compliance risk, process improvement, workforce trends, and employee program effectiveness.
• Foster equitable, inclusive, and accessible payroll and benefits practices that support a geographically dispersed and diverse employee population.

Basic Minimum Qualifications (BMQ):

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive payroll, benefits, HR operations, finance operations, or total rewards experience, including leadership of teams and enterprise-scale programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading payroll and benefits for a complex, multi-state U.S. workforce, preferably in an organization with several thousand employees.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. payroll tax, wage and hour requirements, garnishments, year-end processing, W-2 reporting, ACA reporting, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, and related compliance obligations.
• Experience managing payroll and benefits vendors, brokers, carriers, third-party administrators, auditors, and outside counsel or consultants.
• Experience leading and managing a self-insurance medical and dental plan, including rate setting, IBNR analysis, broker interaction, and recommendations to senior executives.
• Experience administering or overseeing executive compensation programs, including annual bonus plans, long-term incentive plans, equity or phantom equity awards, deferred compensation, executive severance, change-in-control arrangements, and executive benefit programs.
• Working knowledge of executive compensation governance, regulatory, tax, accounting and disclosure considerations, including Section 409A, Section 162(m), SEC proxy disclosure concepts, pay-versus-performance reporting, clawback requirements, and equity compensation accounting considerations, as applicable.
• Strong understanding of Oracle HCM, payroll, timekeeping, benefits administration, finance, and reporting systems, including integrations and data controls.
• Ability to work with highly confidential executive compensation information and exercise sound judgement, discretion, accuracy, and professionalism when supporting senior executives and governance stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead process improvement, system optimisation, compliance remediation, audits and cross-functional projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, problem-solving, change management and executive presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPA, or similar professional certification.
• Experience with large-scale HCM, payroll, timekeeping and benefits platforms such as Workday, UKG, ADP, Dayforce, Oracle, SAP SuccessFactors, or similar systems.
• Experience supporting decentralised operations, field-based workforces, shared services, multiple legal entities or organisations with significant acquisition activity.
• Background in evaluating benefits strategy, plan competitiveness, cost containment, employee communications and compliance risk.
• Operational Excellence: Builds scalable, controlled and reliable payroll and benefits processes that support a large and complex workforce.
• Compliance Mindset: Anticipates regulatory risk, strengthens controls and ensures accurate documentation, reporting and audit readiness.
• Employee-Centered Service: Balances technical accuracy with responsive, clear and respectful support for employees and leaders.
• Strategic Partnership: Connects payroll and benefits decisions to business priorities, workforce needs, financial impacts and long-term talent strategy.
• Inclusive Leadership: Leads diverse teams with transparency, accountability, empathy and commitment to continuous development.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Uses metrics, trends, benchmarking and root-cause analysis to improve outcomes and guide recommendations.

Key Working Relationships:

This role works closely with Human Resources, Finance, Accounting, Legal, HRIS, IT, Operations, external auditors, benefits brokers, payroll vendors, tax providers and third party administrators. The Director will be expected to influence across functions, lead through complexity and ensure payroll and benefits programmes scale effectively with organisational growth and change.