Manager Client ServicePayroll Payroll Department

Job Description

Are you passionate about developing people and building strong teams? Do you thrive in creating clarity, supporting growth, and keeping others energized and motivated? We’re looking for a Manager to join our growing firm and help lead our nine-member payroll department.

In this newly redesigned role, you’ll focus on the people side of leadership—providing coaching, training, and clear communication to ensure our payroll team thrives. You’ll hold regular 1:1s, coordinate workflow, and be the first point of contact for staff support and development. Partnering closely with our Director of Payroll, who leads technical operations, you’ll bring balance to the department by keeping the team aligned, engaged, and growing.

You’ll also serve as a key communicator with clients and vendors, ensuring positive relationships and smooth collaboration.

• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and support for payroll team members
• Monitor and coordinate team workflow to ensure timely and accurate payroll delivery
• Interview, select, and train new employees
• Foster open communication and collaboration across the department
• Support a culture of accountability, development, and continuous improvement
• Conduct monthly one-on-one meetings and quarterly conversations with all team members to guide performance, address challenges, and celebrate wins
• Serve as the first point of contact for client and vendor communication, ensuring issues are addressed promptly and relationships stay strong
• Participate on the payroll leadership team—weekly EOS L10 meetings—with the Director of Payroll and COO on departmental goals and initiatives

• Oversee daily processing workflow to ensure all payrolls are processed, taxes are paid, bank accounts reconciled, ACH file sent, and package fulfillment completed timely and accurately
• Work with vendors to resolve issues and reconcile vendor invoices
• Process voids, client corrections, service bureau corrections and supplemental runs
• Manage the YPD calendar to ensure all daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual processes are completed on time
• Create technical solutions to resolve payroll issues with processing software and related technology
• Conduct weekly team meetings to address operations-related issues/goals with agenda and notes
• Oversee client communications via isolved or Qount, cover letter notes, and email tag lines
• Ensure adequate staffing to complete daily processing/tax & finance needs
• Research payroll law related issues
• Assist in setting up new clients when needed
• Perform and analyze internal payroll processing audits
• Handle daily Tax/Finance/ACH functions as backup when Tax Specialist is out
• Approve draw-down requests with banking institutions
• Approve/deny vacation requests; maintain minimal staffing needs

Required:

• Proven experience in people leadership; strong track record of mentoring, coaching, and developing staff
• Commitment to delivering exceptional client service, with a strong desire to exceed expectations and hold others accountable
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey complex information clearly
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate workflows in a deadline-driven environment
• Solid organizational skills and the ability to keep the team focused under pressure
• Highly adaptable to change and a strong desire to progress technologically
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal teams (including accounting), clients, and vendors, while communicating with stakeholders at all levels

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in business, accounting, HR, or related field; or
• 3–5+ years in payroll, accounting, or operations management

Premium:

• Previous experience managing a multi-faceted payroll operations team
• Experience with isolved payroll platform
• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) designation or pursuit of certification
• Experience with EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) tools and practices
• Familiarity with payroll tax laws and multi-state compliance requirements

Here’s a peek at what’s ahead as we get to know each other:

Progression through each step of the…