Senior Manager, Payroll Operations & Accounting

Partners for Rural Impact 's (PRI)work began more than 30 years ago with a place-based partnership in Appalachian Kentucky, where we’ve shown demographics don’t have to determine destiny. Today, we partner with rural leaders and allies across the country to share that work and build local partnerships that put young people on a path to economic mobility.

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Payroll Operations & Accounting leads the organization’s full-cycle payroll function for a multi-state employee population, ensuring payroll is processed accurately, timely, and in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements. This is a hands-on payroll leadership role with direct responsibility for day-to-day execution, oversight, and continuous improvement of payroll operations.

This position requires strong expertise in payroll accounting and payroll-related expenses and benefits (PEBT). The Senior Manager must understand the operational and accounting lifecycle of payroll, from employee-level payroll transactions and system configuration.

The Senior Manager of Payroll Operations & Accounting also provides technical leadership in multi-state payroll taxation, payroll system configuration, benefits and retirement plan deductions and contributions, internal controls, and payroll-related audit activities.

Because payroll processes directly affect employees, the Senior Manager also maintains strong focus on the employee experience. The position periodically interacts directly with employees to resolve complex payroll matters and is expected to consider clarity, accessibility, timeliness, and employee impact when implementing payroll processes, controls, communications, and system changes.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily. The requirements of the position are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required, with regular and predictable attendance essential. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Payroll Operations and Oversight
- Lead and maintain organizational accountability for full-cycle payroll operations for a multi-state employee population, including payroll activities performed by the organization’s third-party payroll provider

- Maintain hands-on involvement throughout the payroll cycle, including data preparation, payroll calculations, review, processing, reconciliation, and post-payroll activities

- Serve as the primary operational owner of the relationship with the organization’s third-party payroll provider

- Coordinate with the payroll provider on system configuration, tax setup, integrations, testing, upgrades, and implementation of regulatory or organizational changes

- Review earnings, deductions, taxes, benefit contributions, retirement plan contributions, garnishments, leave-related adjustments, and other payroll transactions for accuracy

- Implement systems to calculate and process new hires, terminations, compensation changes, retroactive adjustments, supplemental payments, bonuses, unpaid leave, overpayments, and other non-routine transactions

- Manage payroll corrections and off-cycle payments and ensure adjustments are appropriately reflected across payroll, accounting, tax, benefit, and retirement records

- Establish and maintain payroll calendars, procedures, checklists, controls, and supporting documentation

Payroll Accounting and PEBT
- Serve as subject matter expert for the accounting of payroll-related expenses and benefits (PEBT), ensuring payroll activity is complete, accurate, and appropriately classified

- Reconcile wages, employer payroll taxes, employee deductions, employer benefit costs, and retirement plan contributions

- Reconcile payroll records to benefit invoices, retirement plan funding records, tax reports, vendor reports, and other supporting docu