Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements Manager

Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements Manager

Location: Irvine, California preferred; remote candidates may be considered based on experience

Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: $105,000 – $125,000 annually;
Medical Health Insurance; PTO; 401k matching

Apex Class Action is seeking an experienced Senior Manager, Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements to take ownership of the payroll tax and final calculation functions associated with complex class action settlement distributions.

This is a highly technical, hands‑on role designed for an experienced multi‑state payroll tax professional who understands payroll taxation well beyond routine payroll processing. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience calculating, reporting, reconciling, and filing federal and multi‑state payroll taxes and will be comfortable applying that expertise to large-scale legal settlement distributions.

Apex administers approximately 1,000 matters annually across a wide range of complex class action cases. Our portfolio includes wage‑and‑hour and FLSA matters, large consumer class actions involving potentially millions of class members, data breach matters, FCRA cases, and other complex employment and consumer settlements. These matters can involve significant settlement funds, large datasets, multiple jurisdictions, and sophisticated tax and distribution requirements.

A significant responsibility of this position is determining the complete tax impact of settlement payments, including both employee with holdings and employer‑side payroll tax liabilities, so that settlement funds are appropriately funded before distributions are issued.

The successful candidate will initially serve as a senior individual contributor and subject‑matter expert, working closely with Apex's existing disbursement, tax, data, finance, and QSF teams. As the function continues to grow, this individual may ultimately assume responsibility for managing additional team members.

• Own and oversee the payroll tax component of class action settlement distributions from final calculation through tax reporting and reconciliation.
• Review settlement agreements, allocation methodologies, class member data, and distribution calculations to determine the appropriate federal, state, and local payroll tax treatment.
• Calculate employee payroll tax with holdings and employer‑side payroll tax liabilities associated with settlement payments.
• Determine the additional employer payroll taxes and related funding required above the gross settlement awards and communicate those funding requirements to attorneys, defendants, insurers, and other stakeholders.
• Perform and review complex final settlement calculations involving large class populations, including matters with hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of class members.
• Analyze wage and non‑wage settlement allocations and determine appropriate W‑2 and 1099 reporting treatment.
• Prepare, review, reconcile, and oversee federal payroll tax filings, including Forms 941 and 940
  , as well as W‑2/W‑3 reporting
  .
• Prepare and review applicable state withholding, unemployment, and local payroll tax filings across multiple jurisdictions.
• Oversee and review 1099 reporting
  , including the appropriate treatment of non‑wage settlement payments.
• Manage amended payroll tax filings, corrections, agency notices, discrepancies, and other payroll tax compliance matters.
• Work closely with the team responsible for establishing Qualified Settlement Funds, obtaining EINs, opening settlement accounts, and completing state payroll registrations.
• Review tax deposits and liabilities to ensure payments and filings reconcile accurately to settlement calculations.
• Support funding reconciliations before…