Payroll and Benefits Manager

Avoca•New York, NY

4d•$120,000 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

About Avoca Avoca is transforming how home service companies engage with their customers. Our AI-powered conversational agents handle every high-value inbound call, from booking jobs, qualifying leads, and driving higher revenue, all at a speed and consistency unmatched by human call centers. We're a Series B startup backed by Kleiner Perkins, Meritech Capital, General Catalyst, and other top-tier investors, with $125M raised and a $1B valuation. We grew 10x in 2025 and have scaled to 130+ employees in under two years across our NYC headquarters and Santa Barbara office. In a $1T+ market where 85% of missed calls go to competitors, we're building the category-defining platform for AI-driven customer engagement, serving the largest brands in home services. With high-energy, in-office teams in both locations, every hire here has an immediate and visible impact. About the Role As Avoca scales to 300+ employees and contractors globally, we need a dedicated owner for payroll, benefits, equity, and compliance. This role will ensure the fundamentals are flawless — accurate payroll, smooth benefits administration, clean equity tracking, and compliant filings across jurisdictions — while building scalable processes and controls for continued growth. This is a new role reporting to the People Operations Lead.

Requirements

5+ years of experience owning payroll, equity administration, and related compliance, ideally at a startup scaling across multiple states and countries
Direct experience managing payroll and worker-classification compliance across multiple U.S. states and at least one international market
Hands-on experience with Rippling and Carta, or comparable payroll, HRIS, and equity administration systems
Strong process-building instincts — you’ve created controls, workflows, and documentation from the ground up, not just operated within existing systems
Advanced Excel skills and a detail-oriented control mindset for reconciliations, audits, reporting, and payroll accuracy
Clear, calm, and empathetic communication style when supporting employees through sensitive payroll, equity, or compliance questions

Nice To Haves

CPP certification
global payroll experience
deeper exposure to international equity and compliance requirements

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end payroll for U.S. and international employees and contractors
Manage employee compensation changes, including new hires, terminations, compensation adjustments, and off-cycle payments across currencies and time zones
Administer Carta equity workflows, including grants, vesting, exercises, terminations, and employee equity questions
Own multi-state and international compliance, including tax registrations, statutory filings, worker classification, wage and hour requirements, and equity-related regulatory requirements
Own benefits administration, including enrollments, qualifying life events, vendor coordination, employee questions, and compliance-related benefits processes
Monitor regulatory changes as Avoca expands into new states and countries, proactively identifying risks before they become issues
Reconcile payroll and equity with Finance monthly across all entities, and lead year-end compliance activities including W-2s, 1099s, and international equivalents
Serve as the primary point of contact for questions related to payroll, equity, and compliance
Build scalable processes and controls that can support 2-3x growth in headcount and geographic footprint