Director of Employer Contributions - Unemployment Insurance (UI)

DHRM•Richmond, VA

18h•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of UI Employer Contributions is a senior leader within the Virginia Employment Commission's Unemployment Insurance program. This position is focused on executive leadership over its own contribution base. The Director sets and executes the operational strategy for UI employer taxation and is accountable for the accuracy, timeliness, and defensibility of every dollar flowing into the Virginia UI Trust Fund. The Director owns the end-to-end UI employer tax lifecycle: employer registration, liability determination, and successorship; quarterly tax and wage reporting and payment processing; experience rating, benefit charging, and annual tax rate assignment; accounts receivable (A/R) reconciliation, delinquency, and collections; field audit, examination, and program integrity — including detection of worker misclassification and improper transfers of experience rating; and the employer resolution (phone/service) function. The position is directly accountable for federal conformity and for VEC's performance against U.S. Department of Labor UI tax measures. A defining feature of this role is transition leadership. The Director will partner with the Director of PFML Employer Contributions (Tax) to separate shared staff, systems, employer-facing communications, and processes into two clean operating structures without disruption to employers or to Trust Fund collections. The Director will also ensure employers experience the two programs coherently, since most Virginia employers will be liable for both UI tax and PFML premiums. The position may involve extended hours to meet operational demands, quarterly filing deadlines, and federal reporting cycles.

Requirements

Tax Administration Expertise: Experience with insurance or employer taxation — liability determination, taxable wage base application, quarterly tax and wage reporting, experience rating, benefit charging, accounts receivable, and field audit.
Federal Conformity Knowledge: Working understanding of the Federal or State Tax Act, Social Security Act provisions, federal or state performance and reporting requirements, and the federal certification process that preserves employers' credit - or similar experience.
Legal & Regulatory Knowledge: Command of federal and state accounting principles, laws and regulations (or other state's similar law or regulation) and related regulations governing employer liability, tax collection, debt collection, worker classification, and confidentiality of wage and tax information.
Leadership & Program Management: Demonstrated ability to lead high-performance teams and to develop and execute short- and long-range strategies that improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Organizational Transition & Change Management: Ability to separate a combined function into distinct operating structures — reallocating staff, workload, systems access, and employer communications — while sustaining service levels and staff morale.
Analytical Skills: Strong financial and analytical acumen — experience with assessing tax, receivable, and Trust Fund data, identifying trends and fraud indicators, and translating findings into policy and process improvements.
Stakeholder Management: Skilled in managing relationships with demanding stakeholders in complex, high-stakes environments, including employers, third-party administrators, federal partners, legislative bodies, and executive leadership.
Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to represent the Directorate before state officials, legislative committees, appeals bodies, and employer audiences.
Technological Proficiency: Working understanding of how modern technology (employer self-service portals, wage-reporting intake, payment processing, audit case management) improves compliance and the employer experience.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing short- and long-range strategies to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Experience leading high-performance teams and managing relationships with demanding stakeholders in complex, high-stakes environments.
Experience leading teams through organizational restructuring, function separation, or comparable operating-model change.
Must complete mandatory Statement of Economic Interests forms and Conflict of Interest training.
A valid Driver’s License is required.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience in a state unemployment insurance employer tax function, including experience rating and field audit or comparable field.
Knowledge of Trust Fund solvency mechanics, tax rate schedules, and forecasting.
Track record of data-driven, user-centered improvements to employer-facing processes and training.
Experience in progressively responsible roles within state government, particularly related to Commonwealth fiscal or tax rules and regulations.

Responsibilities

Set and execute the operational strategy for UI employer taxation.
Manage the end-to-end UI employer tax lifecycle, including employer registration, liability determination, successorship, quarterly tax and wage reporting, payment processing, experience rating, benefit charging, annual tax rate assignment, accounts receivable reconciliation, delinquency, collections, field audit, examination, and program integrity.
Detect worker misclassification and improper transfers of experience rating.
Oversee the employer resolution function (phone/service).
Ensure federal conformity and VEC's performance against U.S. Department of Labor UI tax measures.
Lead the transition to separate shared staff, systems, communications, and processes for UI and PFML employer contributions.
Ensure employers experience UI and PFML programs coherently.
Manage extended hours to meet operational demands, quarterly filing deadlines, and federal reporting cycles.