Director of Payroll Operations & Compliance

Keller North America, Inc.•Hanover, MD

1d•$190,000 - $200,000

About The Position

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 at scale. As 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.

Requirements

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.

Nice To Haves

CPP, PCP, CPM, or equivalent payroll certification.
Construction industry experience with large craft labor populations.
Experience with shared services, payroll centers of excellence, or functional payroll governance models.
Payroll transformation, technology implementation, automation, or process redesign experience.
M&A, integration, new market expansion, or business transformation experience.
Familiarity with Davis-Bacon requirements.
Experience building payroll dashboards, compliance metrics, labor reconciliation reports, and operational KPIs.

Responsibilities

Provide companywide 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.