Head of North America Payroll

State Street•Boston, MA

11d•$110,000 - $188,750

About The Position

The Head of North America Payroll, Vice President, is a member of the Global Payroll and Time & Attendance leadership team and contributes to the strategic and tactical direction of the organization. The role leads end-to-end payroll delivery for the United States and Canada in collaboration with global HR process owners, HR Centers of Excellence, Finance, Tax, Legal, Technology, Risk, and third-party providers. The position is accountable for accurate, timely, and compliant payroll; a strong and sustainable control environment; and transformation of the North America payroll function through process redesign, standardization, automation, technology, and operating-model improvement. It leads a service-oriented team, strengthens governance and audit readiness, and builds trusted relationships across the region and globally.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree.
10–15 years of relevant payroll experience, including significant leadership responsibility for complex United States and Canadian payroll operations.
Demonstrated ability to lead and build high-performing teams and cultures within the region and across a global organization.
Proven experience designing, implementing, and managing an effective payroll risk and control environment, including audit support and sustainable remediation.
Demonstrated success transforming payroll operations through process redesign, standardization, automation, technology implementation, vendor change, or operating-model improvement.
Strong knowledge of US and Canadian payroll operations, payroll tax, statutory reporting, year-end requirements, employee payments, reconciliations, and vendor governance.
Experience leading complex projects and change initiatives while maintaining payroll continuity, compliance, and stakeholder alignment.
Accountability for quality, accuracy, timeliness, and control of results, with the judgment and urgency to manage complex issues.
Strong leadership, analytical, organizational, communication, change-management, time-management, and prioritization skills.
Track record of building effective relationships with senior leaders, internal stakeholders, control partners, and third-party providers.

Nice To Haves

Workday experience.

Responsibilities

Lead people management and foster an environment where employees are engaged to do their best work.
Oversee end-to-end payroll delivery for the United States and Canada, including payroll results, reconciliations, funding, employee payments, tax and statutory obligations, year-end activities, and complex exceptions.
Design, implement, document, and sustain a payroll risk and control framework covering preventive and detective controls, segregation of duties, approvals, access governance, reconciliations, exception reporting, evidence retention, and periodic effectiveness reviews.
Lead remediation of control deficiencies, audit findings, compliance gaps, payroll errors, and recurring process failures; identify root causes, establish corrective actions, and promptly escalate material risks.
Define and execute the North America payroll transformation roadmap, including operating-model redesign, process simplification, standardization, automation, technology enablement, data-quality improvement, and reduction of manual work and key-person dependencies.
Establish measurable service, accuracy, compliance, control, productivity, and transformation outcomes; report performance, risks, dependencies, and remediation progress to leadership and stakeholders.
Represent North America in global transformation, governance, merger and acquisition, vendor-transition, system-implementation, and policy initiatives.
Monitor US and Canadian payroll, tax, employment, and regulatory developments and ensure required operational, system, control, and communication changes are implemented promptly.
Manage third-party payroll and tax providers against contractual obligations, service levels, control expectations, issue-resolution commitments, and transformation objectives.
Drive technology requirements and lead payroll testing, implementation, integration, and stabilization activities with HR Technology and other stakeholders.
Maintain process ownership, standard operating procedures, control narratives, payroll calendars, business-continuity plans, cross-training, and governance forums.
Provide leadership in resolving complex payroll issues and build strong partnerships with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, Technology, Risk, Internal Audit, employees, and third-party providers.

Benefits

Retirement savings plan (401K) with company match.
Basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and optional additional insurance coverage.
Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, short-term disability, and family care responsibilities.
Access to an Employee Assistance Program.
Incentive compensation, including eligibility for annual performance-based awards, subject to stated exclusions.
Eligibility for certain tax-advantaged savings plans.
Inclusive development opportunities.
Flexible work-life support.
Paid volunteer days.
Employee networks.