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First Student

Manager of Payroll Tax

Posted 20 Days Ago
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In-Office
Headquarters, AZ
90K-110K Annually
Senior level
In-Office
Headquarters, AZ
90K-110K Annually
Senior level
Lead payroll operations and compliance for a multi-state employer, overseeing payroll calculation, tax reporting, SOX controls, HCM/HRIS integrity, executive payments, and a team of payroll professionals. Implement processes, audits, and reporting to ensure accurate payroll, reconciliations, and regulatory compliance.
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The Payroll Tax Manager is responsible for ensuring payroll tax accuracy and maintaining compliance with federal, state, and local tax regulations. The manager will lead and develop 1 to 2 Payroll Tax Specialists and be the primary tax subject matter expert and resource for the payroll tax team and organization. This position will also partner cross-functionally with Payroll, HRIS, Finance, Legal, and other teams to ensure accurate and compliant payroll tax operations.

This position is open to candidates in all states and will be fully remote for candidates located more than 40 miles outside of the Cincinnati area.

Major Responsibilities
  • Oversight of tax compliance requirements, regulations, and confidentiality provisions for the payroll tax team
  • Assure all Federal, State, and Local payroll tax liabilities and associated regulatory tax filings are completed 100% accurate and on time
  • Oversight of each quarterly tax close, as well as the annual W-2/W-2c process
  • Overall maintenance and development of procedures and policies related to the payroll tax department, with understanding of their correlation to other cross-department impacts
  • Oversight and collaborative relationship management with third-party payroll tax system providers to ensure long-term stability of the solution as it relates to our business
  • Develop policies, processes, and procedures to ensure payroll tax compliance in a multi-state environment
  • Maintain payroll data integrity in the systems by running queries, analyzing data, and creating and running various audits
  • Ensure regulatory compliance and prepare EEOC, Bureau of Labor Statistics, multi-state reporting, and other statutory compliance as required
  • Stay educated on the latest laws and legislation at the local, state, and federal levels
  • Partner with Legal to address employee compliance in accordance with federal, state, and local laws
  • Review and analyze current payroll and tax procedures to recommend and implement changes leading to best-practice operations
  • Resolve accounting and reporting discrepancies and irregularities in a timely manner related to payroll, including those within the payroll system, general ledger, or payroll-related tax reporting
  • Drive the development and coaching of payroll tax team members and ensure team members are cross-trained within the department
  • Ensure system compliance with SOX and internal controls
  • Demonstrate strong customer service and problem-solving skills when addressing payroll tax questions and issues
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively at both detail and big-picture levels and drive projects forward
  • Partner effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders at all levels of the organization
Minimum Experience or Skills Required
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related discipline plus 6+ years’ experience in the Payroll Tax field, or the equivalent of 10+ years’ experience in the Payroll Tax field. (Required)
  • 6+ years’ experience with payroll taxes in at least 30+ states. (Required)
  • 5+ years’ experience in payroll tax leadership. (Required)
  • 5+ years’ Workday software experience. (Required)
  • 5+ years’ experience working with third-party payroll tax compliance tools such as SmartCompliance. (Preferred)
  • Certification such as FPC or CPP. (Preferred)
  • Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills with an ability to communicate information clearly and effectively throughout all levels of the organization
  • Demonstrated ability to work well with cross-functional groups
  • Demonstrated interpersonal, collaborative, and relationship-building skills; ability to interact positively with teammates at all levels of the company

Compensation ranges from $90,000 - $110,000 depending on experience.

Language Requirement
This role requires English proficiency. Federal, state, and local requirements, including U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, require training, safety communications, company policies, employment documents, and other job-related communications be conducted in English.


First for a reason:

At First Student, we are a family of 60,000+ employees who take pride in safely transporting more than 5 million students and passengers to and from their destinations each day! Our family of brands include Transco, Total Transportation, Maggies Paratransit, and GVC II. Our employees are at the forefront of safety and innovation; they create and implement the most advanced training and technology the transportation industry has to offer.


In the state of Washington, all technician and driving positions, including but not limited to van drivers and any other position requiring employees to drive a company-owned vehicle, are considered safety-sensitive and are therefore subject to drug and alcohol testing, including cannabis.


All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. First is also committed to providing a drug-free workplace. First will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other fair chance law. Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance Poster is at this link or upon request https://www.phila.gov/media/20210423160847/Fair-Chance-Hiring-law-poster.pdf.

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