Director of Payroll Operations & Compliance

Location: Hanover

Company Logo Overview Keller is the world leader in geotechnical construction and deep foundations. With a North American presence of over 100 years, we operate as the market leader with over 50 offices throughout the US and Canada. By connecting global resources and local experience, Keller develops innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions to geotechnical challenges. Our values of integrity, collaboration, and excellence enable us to lead the industry in providing the optimal solution for our clients.

Build the Payroll Engine Behind North America’s Most Complex Construction Workforce Keller North America is looking for a seasoned payroll leader who knows that payroll is more than a process. It is trust, compliance, precision, and operational discipline  our Director of Payroll Operations & Compliance, you will lead the strategy, governance, and execution framework for payroll across our U.S. and Canadian businesses.

This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in complex, multi-state, cross-border, union and non-union environments and knows how to bring consistency, control, and clarity to decentralized operations. You will serve as the critical link between branch payroll teams and corporate payroll operations, helping standardize processes, strengthen compliance, improve communication, and create scalable payroll practices that support Keller’s continued growth.

Responsibilities What You’ll Lead In this role, you will:
Provide company wide leadership for payroll operations and compliance across the United States and Canada. Create standardized payroll calendars, SOPs, checklists, controls, documentation, and escalation protocols. Guide complex payroll matters involving union agreements, prevailing wage, certified payroll, fringe benefits, deductions, trust fund reporting, right-to-work requirements, and job costing. Serve as the go-to escalation point for payroll compliance questions, branch payroll challenges, and union interpretation issues.

Partner with Corporate Payroll, HR, Finance, Legal, Labor Relations, Operations, IT, and regional leaders to improve payroll accuracy, reporting, controls, and visibility. Audit branch payroll practices to identify risks, close gaps, and improve consistency. Support payroll readiness for new branches, new jurisdictions, M&A activity, integrations, and business transformation. Lead payroll governance initiatives that reduce risk, increase efficiency, and build a stronger operating model for the future.

Help shape payroll technology improvements, automation, workflow optimization, dashboards, and operational KPIs. Qualifications What You Bring We are looking for a payroll expert with deep operational judgment, strong compliance discipline, and the ability to influence across a complex organization. Someone who has handled complex payroll at scale and can lead the function strategically, not just manage payroll transactions. Ideal qualifications include:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, HR, Business Administration, or a related field. 15-20+ years of progressive payroll leadership experience. Significant experience with complex multi-state payroll operations. U.S. and Canadian payroll experience strongly preferred. Background in construction, engineering, infrastructure, industrial, project-based, or craft labor environments. Deep knowledge of union payroll, collective bargaining agreements, prevailing wage, certified payroll, fringe benefits, deductions, trust fund reporting, labor costing, and job costing.

Strong understanding of federal, state, provincial, and local wage and hour rules, payroll tax compliance, and labor compliance obligations. Proven success standardizing payroll practices across decentralized, multi-branch, or multi-region organizations. Experience influencing payroll teams and branch administrators, even without direct reporting authority. Strong communication, training, change management, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills. Even Better If You Have CPP, PCP, CPM, or equivalent payroll certification.

Construction industry experience with large craft labor populations.

Experience with share…