Payroll Operations Manager

ABB•Cary, NC

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The US Front Office – Payroll Operations Manager manages a team responsible for end-to-end payroll delivery for approximately 18,000 US and Puerto Rico employees, including union and non-union populations, using Workday Payroll and integrated timekeeping, benefits, tax, finance, and third-party provider solutions. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across payroll production, compliance, controls, employee experience, vendor governance, system optimization, data integrity, and cross-functional transformation initiatives. The position partners with vendors, payroll functions, HR, IS, Finance, Legal, Tax, Benefits, and business stakeholders to share best practices, deliver projects, capture lessons learned, and support scalable payroll operations. Additionally, this role will establish priorities, coordinate activities, drive process improvement, advance automation and analytics, support post-production operations, and contribute to the evaluation and redesign of processes and technical solutions. The work model for the role is onsite in Cary, NC.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with five years of payroll and timekeeping experience, including at least two years of team leadership experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience with Workday Payroll operations, including post-production support.
Strong understanding of payroll integrations with timekeeping, benefits, tax, banking, garnishment, general ledger, accounting, and third-party payroll service providers
Experience in a front-office environment and with SaaS systems.
Knowledge of HR and payroll practices, laws, policies, and procedures.
Hands-on experience with multi-state and multi-company payroll.
Exceptional analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office applications.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, adapt to changing priorities, and meet deadlines.
Strong attention to detail and time management skills.
Professional demeanor and strong executive presence
Ability to handle confidential information discreetly and protect employee privacy.
Prior team management experience.
Candidates must already have a work authorization that would permit them to work for ABB in the US.

Nice To Haves

CPP certification
Workday Payroll experience
ADP experience
Experience with Workday configuration analysis, end-to-end testing, security roles, release management, reporting, calculated fields, payroll dashboards, and analytics.
Payroll tax platform or large-scale payroll transformation experience

Responsibilities

Ensures US/PR payroll services are delivered in accordance with ABB policy directives and applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
Proposes and implements the strategic direction of the US/PR Payroll Services organization.
Champions ABB core values and LEAN initiatives.
Provides subject matter expertise related to payroll operations.
Researches and interprets federal and state regulatory requirements to resolve issues for payroll processing.
Implements, maintains, and reviews payroll processing systems to ensure timely and accurate processing of payroll transactions, including salaries, time entries, benefits, garnishments, taxes, fringe benefits, imputed income, and other deductions.
Contributes expertise to local and global projects with responsibility for assigned KPIs and deliverables.
Implements streamlined practices and processes across areas of responsibility to reduce cost, strengthen internal controls, improve efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction.
Ensures team members deliver excellent customer service by providing accurate payroll information and responding to employee inquiries timely and professionally.
Builds strong relationships with Human Resources and other cross-functional stakeholders to understand customer needs and deliver exceptional service.
Provides feedback, training, and guidance to customer-facing teams to support accurate and consistent responses to payroll-related inquiries.
Promotes employee awareness and adoption of self-service capabilities whenever appropriate.
Manages a team that supports ABB’s US/PR payroll service delivery model.
Recruits, develops, and retains talented team members.
Assists with resource allocation and resolution of resource conflicts.
Coaches and guides team members on complex queries to help develop their process knowledge.
Designs, recommends, and implements processes that improve payroll controls, efficiency, and quality.
Promotes a continuous improvement mindset by encouraging team members to challenge manual, repetitive, or inefficient processes.
Identifies automation, self-service, case management, and workflow opportunities to reduce manual intervention, improve first-time accuracy, and strengthen end-to-end payroll controls.
Partners with HRIS/IS to evaluate Workday Payroll releases, enhancement requests, integrations, and security impacts while supporting change management and user adoption.

Benefits

Choice between two medical plan options: A PPO plan called the Copay Plan OR a High Deductible Health Plan (with a Health Savings Account) called the High Deductible Plan.
Choice between two dental plan options: Core and Core Plus
Vision benefit
Company paid life insurance (2X base pay)
Company paid AD&D (1X base pay)
Voluntary life and AD&D – 100% employee paid up to maximums
Short Term Disability – up to 26 weeks – Company paid
Long Term Disability – 60% of pay – Company paid. Ability to “buy-up” to 66 2/3% of pay.
Supplemental benefits – 100% employee paid (Accident insurance, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance
Paid Parental Leave
Employee Assistance Program
Health Advocate support resources for mental/behavioral health, general health navigation and virtual health, and infertility/adoption
Employee discount program
401k Savings Plan with Company Contributions
Employee Stock Acquisition Plan (ESAP)
11 paid holidays.
Salaried exempt positions are provided vacation under a permissive time away policy.