Payroll Tax Manager (North America)

Manulife•Boston, ON
•$92,475 - $160,290•Hybrid

About The Position

The Payroll Tax Manager independently leads U.S. payroll tax compliance in a complex, high-volume, multi-state and multi-entity payroll environment, with growing support for North America payroll tax needs. The role owns tax filings, reconciliations, registrations, agency matters, vendor oversight, controls, research, and issue resolution from discovery through closure, partnering with the Payroll Operations team. The manager oversees U.S. federal, state, and local payroll tax compliance, including filings, remittances, reconciliations, registrations, notices, amendments, and agency account maintenance. The role leads quarter-end and year-end tax activities, researches requirements and law changes, manages vendor and agency issues, analyzes data across business systems, and builds reconciliations, reports, dashboards, testing evidence, and control procedures. The role requires independent judgment to interpret complex tax requirements, recommend actions, communicate risks and business impacts, coordinate across internal teams and external partners, and provide leadership updates. It also turns lessons from notices, corrections, amendments, and agency issues into improved processes, controls, training, and documentation. The position is advertised as an existing vacancy and follows a hybrid working arrangement.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Tax, or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
  • Seven or more years of progressively responsible payroll tax experience in a complex, multi-state, multi-entity environment.
  • Deep knowledge of U.S. federal, state, and local payroll tax withholding, reporting, depositing, filings, registrations, and agency resolution.
  • Demonstrated ownership of quarter-end and year-end payroll tax reconciliations, filings, W-2/W-2c processes, notices, amendments, and tax vendor management.
  • Ability to independently research complex tax issues, make recommendations, and drive outcomes when no documented process exists.
  • Strong Excel, data analysis, documentation, control, project management, and communication skills.

Nice To Haves

  • Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation.
  • Experience with Workday, ADP GlobalView or another enterprise payroll platform, ADP SmartCompliance or another tax filing platform, SAP payroll or payroll accounting data, and financial services or another highly regulated industry.
  • Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, new entities, reorganizations, or new jurisdictions.
  • Experience with Canadian payroll tax matters.
  • Experience with artificial intelligence-assisted research, automation, or reconciliation tools.

Responsibilities

  • Own U.S. payroll tax compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions, including filings, remittances, reconciliations, registrations, notices, amendments, and agency account maintenance.
  • Lead quarter-end and year-end tax activities, ensuring taxable wages, deposits, general ledger activity, vendor data, agency records, and employee tax forms are accurate and supported.
  • Research tax requirements, monitor law changes, determine operational impacts, and maintain governance, controls, documentation, and audit evidence.
  • Work with agencies and internal partners to resolve account setup issues, missing filings, payment discrepancies, tax rates, notices, and other compliance concerns.
  • Own payroll tax matters involving payroll and tax filing vendors, including filing results, exceptions, amendments, account setup, notices, open items, and service performance.
  • Hold vendors accountable for timely investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and documented closure; challenge incomplete responses and escalate recurring or high-risk issues.
  • Analyze payroll tax data across payroll, human resources, finance, tax filing, vendor, and agency systems to identify errors, risks, trends, and control gaps.
  • Build reconciliations, exception reports, dashboards, testing evidence, and control procedures that improve accuracy, visibility, and sustainability.
  • Interpret complex payroll tax requirements, form recommendations, and explain facts, risks, options, and business impacts in plain language.
  • Coordinate across Payroll, Tax, Legal, Finance, Technology, vendors, and agencies to drive decisions, resolve issues, and confirm outcomes.
  • Provide concise leadership updates on material risks, decisions required, corrective actions, and resolution status.
  • Use lessons from notices, corrections, amendments, and agency issues to improve processes, controls, training, and documentation.

Benefits

  • Health insurance
  • Dental insurance
  • Mental health benefits
  • Vision insurance
  • Short- and long-term disability coverage
  • Life and AD&D insurance coverage
  • Adoption and surrogacy benefits
  • Wellness benefits
  • Employee and family assistance plans
  • Retirement savings plans, including pension and 401(k) savings plans
  • Global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions
  • Financial education and counseling resources
  • Paid time off, including up to 11 paid holidays, 3 personal days, 150 hours of vacation, and 40 hours of sick time annually, or more where required by law
  • Statutory leaves of absence
  • Incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance
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