Senior Manager, Total Rewards, Payroll & People Systems

Nando’s•Washington, DC

8h•$110,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Total Rewards, Payroll & People Systems is a hands-on operational and analytical leader responsible for managing payroll accuracy, compensation administration, benefits operations expert, and HR systems integrity. This role partners closely with HR, Finance, and Operations to ensure compliant, timely, and data driven execution across payroll, pay programs, and HR systems. The Senior Manager will lead critical day-to-day processes, build strong controls, and drive incremental process improvements—while escalating more complex, strategic decisions to People Leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in HR, Finance, Business, or related field.
5–7+ years in compensation, payroll, or HR operations roles; hospitality/restaurant experience a plus.
Hands on experience managing payroll cycles in ADP (WFN, Time & Attendance, Data Cloud preferred).
Strong analytical and Excel skills (VLOOKUP, pivot tables, modeling).
Experience with job evaluation, pay administration, and compensation analysis.
Demonstrated precision in data management with strong attention-to-detail and effective cross-functional collaboration.

Nice To Haves

Experience working deeply with HotSchedules and Harri is a strong plus and will help the candidate contribute quickly, even as systems evolve.

Responsibilities

Manage end-to-end payroll processing for U.S. Nandocas across regular, off-cycle, and special payrolls.
Ensure accurate, timely, compliant payroll, including wages, overtime, deductions, garnishments, multi-state tax and labor compliance, Fair Workweek / predictive scheduling rules (where applicable), and yearend activities (W2/W2c).
Maintain payroll controls, documentation, audit trails, and reconciliations.
Prepare and submit required payroll tax reports and partner with Finance on funding and variance review.
Provide responsive support to employees and managers regarding payroll matters.
Administer compensation programs, structures, pay ranges, and job classifications.
Ensure compensation programs, pay adjustments, and incentive plans are accurately reflected, configured, and administered within the payroll system (e.g., ADP) to support correct and timely pay outcomes.
Support minimum wage compliance and ensure wage updates are reflected in payroll and labor forecasting tools.
Support leaders and HR Business Partners with compensation recommendations and lifecycle pay changes.
Collaborate with Talent Management organization regarding Internal Equity Review and Analysis
Maintain compensation guidelines, workflows, and documentation.
Provide data and insights that support workforce planning conversations.
Coordinate the annual performance cycle and ensure data accuracy throughout the process.
Manage merit and bonus cycle setup, timelines, eligibility, and reporting.
Partner with Talent teams to engage with leaders to ensure consistent communication and execution across client groups.
Support ongoing performance checkins and data tracking.
Serve as the day-to-day operational partner for benefits administration.
Support annual open enrollment, new hire enrollment, ACA tracking, and vendor coordination.
Oversee monthly benefits processing and reporting.
Manage employee leaves (FMLA, ADA, STD/LTD, parental, workers’ compensation) and partner on return-to-work plans.
Engage with vendors and third-party administrators to support accurate processing, issue resolution, and ongoing benefit operations.
Serve as a functional HRIS expert for ADP and related People systems.
Configure, test, and deploy system changes, workflows, and automations.
Maintain user permissions, security roles, and data governance.
Support upgrades, integrations, and crossfunctional testing initiatives.
Manage day-to-day relationships with key vendors (e.g., ADP, Harri) ensuring service quality, issue resolution, and alignment to Nando’s operational needs.
Ensure accurate employee data throughout the joiner–mover–leaver lifecycle.
Identify and resolve data inconsistencies across systems.
Maintain regular reporting dashboards (turnover, headcount, retention, organizational health).
Provide adhoc analysis and insights to HR leadership and crossfunctional stakeholders.
Support ongoing process improvement efforts by identifying opportunities for future automation, system optimization, and enhanced integrations, implementing changes incrementally to ensure proper alignment of resourcing and budget.
Partner with Finance on payroll reconciliation, budgeting inputs, and compensation related planning.
Collaborate with People Team leadership on policy updates, compliance needs, and process improvements.
Support broader Total Rewards, HRIS, and People Operations initiatives.