AVP of Payroll

Base Salary RangeUSD $ - USD $ /Yr.Join Mariner Finance!

Since 1927, the Mariner Finance family of companies has provided customers with creative, flexible, and convenient lending options. Headquartered in Baltimore, Mariner Finance operates coast-to-coast with physical locations in over half the states. With a growing number of employees, superior customer service remains the cornerstone of our business, and we pride ourselves in delivering a variety of loans with an enhanced focus on exceptional service.

We work with customers to find options that are beneficial to their specific needs, which is why we are recognized by our customers as one of the community’s consumer finance companies of choice.

Benefits:

For information regarding our benefits, please visit:

All full time employees are provided with a generous benefits package in addition to their monetary compensation. Learn more about it today.

In this role, you will...

Provide strategic and operational leadership for Mariner’s payroll function, with accountability for the accuracy, timeliness, compliance, efficiency, and overall effectiveness of payroll operations. Establish payroll priorities and lead initiatives across operations, technology, compliance, reporting, audits, controls, and process improvement while partnering with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to mitigate risk, support business objectives, and continuously enhance the employee payroll experience.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Lead and oversee the end-to-end payroll function, executing the full-cycle, multi-state payroll processing, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant processing of biweekly payroll for all team members..
• Partner with senior leadership to establish payroll strategy and priorities, translating organizational objectives into short- and long-term operating plans, standards, and initiatives that support business needs, mitigate risk, and enhance the employee experience.
• Lead and develop the payroll team, aligning individual and team goals with functional priorities and promoting accountability, professional development, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Own payroll cycle execution and controls, ensuring appropriate validation, balancing, reconciliation, approval, and confirmation are completed each pay cycle.
• Lead the administration and strategic optimization of payroll systems and technology, establishing priorities and overseeing enhancements, integrations, testing, upgrades, controls, and issue resolution to ensure operational continuity, compliance scalability, and alignment with evolving business needs.
• Develop, document, and continuously improve payroll processes and internal controls to increase efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.
• Audit payroll transactions including earnings, deductions, taxes, garnishments, bonuses, incentive payments, referrals, and off-cycle payments, resolving discrepancies promptly.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local payroll, wage and hour, tax, and reporting requirements.
• Serve as the organization's subject matter expert on payroll laws, tax regulations, and payroll best practices, proactively communicating regulatory changes and business impacts. Ensure consistent team adherence to regulatory requirements, internal processes, and company policies.
• Partner with senior leadership and Human Resources, HRIS, Finance, Accounting, Benefits, Compensation, Legal, and external vendors to influence decisions, advance organizational initiatives, and ensure payroll considerations are incorporated into business plans and changes.
• Lead payroll-related audits including external financial audits, Workers' Compensation audits, retirement plan audits, tax audits, and regulatory requests, ensuring ongoing audit readiness and timely response to requests.
• Own and execute year-end payroll activities, including W-2 processing, ACA filings, reconciliations, and other required tax and regulatory reporting.
• Research and resolve complex payroll issues, tax notices, garnishments, and employee inquiries while delivering exceptional customer service.
• Establish and monitor payroll performance metrics, service levels, and trends, maintaining accountability for and identifying opportunities to improve the accuracy, timeliness, compliance, efficiency, and overall effectiveness of payroll operations.
• Establish and monitor payroll controls to safeguard confidential employee information and reduce organizational risk.
• Develop business continuity and succession plans for payroll operations.
• Manage relationships with payroll software providers and third-party vendors to maximize system capabilities and service quality.
• Support mergers, acquisitions, organizational changes, and new business initiatives impacting payroll operations.
• Responsible for managerial matters such as performance appraisals and goal setting, promotions, salary recommendations, and terminations in accordance with the company hiring process, personnel…