Payroll Process Improvement Lead

Internal Job Board • Vancouver, BC

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Lush North America supports retail and manufacturing operations across Canada and the United States. Payroll is a critical operational function that relies on clean upstream processes, accurate data flow, and strong controls. We are hiring a Payroll Process Improvement Lead to strengthen payroll operations through end-to-end process ownership, cross-functional partnership, and measurable continuous improvement across North America. In this role, as an individual contributor, you will lead and partner closely with People and Culture, Finance, and Lush business units to own and improve critical people-to-pay workflows impacting payroll accuracy, compliance, and team workload. You will advocate for payroll requirements in upstream decisions, align stakeholders on standards, timing, and accountability, and design practical, audit-ready controls that reduce risk and support sustainable ways of working.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in payroll operations, HRIS-adjacent operations, people operations, or a related function with direct payroll impact
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional process improvement initiatives (from problem definition through implementation and stabilization)
• Strong understanding of payroll controls, audit requirements, and data sensitivity
• Experience working with ADP Workforce Now or a similar payroll platform
• Comfort learning system configuration concepts
• Strong systems-thinking mindset with the curiosity to trace upstream and downstream impacts of payroll changes across people, systems, and controls
• Strong analytical skills with experience using metrics to improve operational performance
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to influence stakeholders without formal authority, and push back constructively when payroll risk is introduced upstream.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting ATS to HRIS or ATS to payroll integrations, particularly Greenhouse and ADP
• Experience supporting cross-border payroll operations across Canada and the United States
• Experience implementing service desk workflows, operational dashboards, and ticketing systems

Responsibilities

• Improve the termination process end-to-end: standardized intake forms, approval points, and timely updates in ADP to reduce overpayment and compliance risk.
• Improve processing of change forms for job changes and rate changes with clear approval flows and a complete audit trail.
• Improve seasonal onboarding workflows, including effective coordination with third-party services where appropriate.
• Improve processes around reporting and payment for payroll-adjacent obligations such as workers’ compensation, employer health tax, and other state withholding taxes through stronger tracking, calendarization, reconciliation, and follow-up.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition, People, and Systems teams to define payroll requirements for the US Greenhouse to ADP onboarding integration
• Define source-of-truth decisions, required fields, approval timing, and validation rules
• Lead payroll-side readiness for go-live, including test scenario design, payroll cutover alignment, and reconciliation approach
• Build the operating model that ensures the new workflow is adopted consistently and does not drift back to manual workarounds
• Establish standardized intake and routing for payroll work, including bonus requests, required fields, SLAs, and status definitions.
• Implement payroll KPIs and reporting through SolarWinds Service Desk to improve visibility into workload, volume trends, cycle times, and exception rates.
• Create a centralized operational hub for payroll task planning and tracking. SolarWinds highlights reporting and analytics as a key service desk capability and the quality of reporting depends on consistent categorization and disciplined workflows.
• Maintain and continuously improve payroll SOPs, playbooks, and training materials
• Ensure processes are easy to follow and audit
• Provide stakeholders with updates on progress, risks, and key decisions

Benefits

• Thriving with a diverse company culture, celebrating the uniqueness of our staff and committed to inclusion. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed