Payroll Director

$75 - $110 per hour | Chicago, IL | Remote | Consulting

We are a publicly traded, market-leading company operating through a large network of entrepreneurial business units across North America and internationally. Our leadership culture is centered around accountability, ownership, continuous improvement, and developing great leaders.

• Platinum Benefits (low deductible, medical/dental/vision/401k/sick time within 30 days of starting)
• Lead an established payroll team supporting a large, complex workforce.
• High visibility role with direct access to senior payroll leadership.
• Opportunity to influence payroll operations during a period of organizational evolution.
• Balance people leadership, operational ownership, and project work.
• Long-term engagement expected through at least 2027.
• Work for a large, financially stable organization that continues to invest in its people, systems, and processes.
• Ability to make a meaningful impact without being buried in layers of bureaucracy.

We are seeking a 2+ year long-term, contract, Payroll Director to provide leadership for an established payroll operations team supporting a large, multi-state employee population. This individual will oversee day-to-day payroll administration for a $1B business and 15 direct reports, drive process improvements, support organizational initiatives, and serve as a key partner to payroll leadership during an ongoing operational transformation.

The ideal candidate is a hands‑on payroll leader who can effectively manage a team, navigate complex payroll environments, and independently drive priorities forward with minimal oversight. This role offers a blend of people leadership, operational execution, and project ownership.

• Lead and develop a payroll operations team supporting a large multi-state employee population.
• Oversee payroll processing activities, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely execution.
• Provide coaching, direction, and workload management across the payroll team.
• Partner with payroll leadership on process improvements and operational initiatives.
• Support organizational change efforts and shared services projects.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives involving payroll, HR, finance, and operational stakeholders.
• Help evaluate and improve payroll workflows, controls, and service delivery processes.
• Monitor payroll tax activities and support transition-related initiatives as needed.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex payroll issues.
• Communicate project updates, risks, and recommendations to leadership.

• 15+ years of progressive payroll experience, including leadership responsibilities over large teams
• 5+ years managing payroll teams in a complex, multi-state environment.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing high-volume payroll operations for large employee populations. (5,000+)
• Union payroll experience is required.
• Strong understanding of payroll tax regulations, compliance, and reporting.
• Experience leading payroll process improvements, organizational initiatives, or operational change.
• Comfortable balancing strategic leadership with hands‑on payroll processing when necessary.
• Experience partnering with HR, Finance, and cross-functional business leaders.
• Proven ability to lead teams through periods of change while maintaining service levels.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to provide clear updates to executive leadership.
• Highly organized, self‑directed, and comfortable working with minimal oversight.
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