Payroll Manager

MITRE Corporation - Bedford, MA

Full-time - Mid Level

Bedford, MA

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges—and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day—working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE—and make a difference with us. MITRE's Accounting and Financial Reporting Division is seeking a dynamic Payroll Manager who will be responsible for the overall direction and guidance of a team of 5 payroll professionals and managing external relationships with ADP and PwC. The Payroll Manager will be an integral part of the team responsible for overseeing the processing payroll, labor distribution, payroll account reconciliations, various payroll reporting, ensuring data integrity and working on system automation and integration projects. This role reports directly to MITRE's Corporate Controller. This is a highly impactful position for a largely US-based employee workforce along with expatriates and a small set of geographically dispersed employees (Singapore and Australia). The ideal candidate for this position will have hands-on experience and strong knowledge of U.S. payroll processes, including familiarity with payroll benefits and taxes. They must be adept at using various platforms and interactive tools, improving payroll practices with emphasis on quality and handling various confidential issues. In addition, this role is best served by candidates who are analytical, organized, have strong collaboration and communication skills, strong attention to detail, and can prioritize and multi-task. The ideal candidate will embrace new technology and be a change champion for the adoption of new approaches, while building a high-performing team and strengthening a positive culture overall. This is an outstanding opportunity to work amongst a dynamic finance team to influence future state processes and grow your career, in addition to playing a key part in the business operations functions that maximize MITRE's value to our clients and government sponsors. The role will be a hybrid position in our Tampa, FL, McLean, VA or Bedford, MA offices.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for bi-weekly payroll cycle processing for 10,000+ employees (timecard entry through completion and file transmissions).
• Lead, mentor, train, and motivate team members to ensure a high level of performance of payroll team.
• Be actively involved in hiring, interviewing and selecting new team members, as well as reviewing performance of team members and addressing actions for low performers.
• Ensure administration of payroll is timely and compliant with all applicable Federal/State laws and tax regulations.
• Prepare and/or review of audit items impacting payroll (such as tax withholdings, deductions, pay calculations, retroactive transactions, year-end activities).
• Assess and manage risks and issues, spearheading the resolution of escalated payroll issues and adjustments.
• Accountable for managing vendor relationships with good, clear communications and ensuring strong collaboration between internal and external team members.
• Responsible for planning and executing analytical tasks, including documentation of business and functional requirements.
• Oversee and approve 3rd party shadow payroll processing for the delivery of the Global payroll program for Singapore and Australia.
• Drive payroll process efficiencies and improvements.
• Guide Payroll staff to analyze the current state of the payroll processes, while helping them identifying pain points and offer possible solutions.
• Assist with HRIS and Payroll system automation and integration initiatives and other ad hoc projects.
• Lead the team in the full project lifecycle including, Business Analysis, Functional Specification, System Configuration, Design and Testing.
• Support internal, external, Government audits including coordinating with auditors, preparing required items, investigating findings, and making recommendations as applicable.
• Participates in ad-hoc projects as they arise.

Requirements

• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree with an emphasis in Payroll Administration, Accounting, Finance, or related field; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• 10+ years of experience handling all aspects of payroll administration in a complex organization, with Government Contracting industry a bonus.
• Leadership experience, being accountable for self and ensuring quality outputs of the team and delivery efforts.
• Ability to assist with system implementations and upgrades.
• Experience with and desire to mentor and cultivate staff growth.
• Confident self-starter who can work under pressure, using their own initiative and with the drive to work to aggressive deadlines and to see tasks through to completion.
• Strong problem solving and troubleshooting skills with the ability to exercise mature judgment.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to interact at all levels of the organization.
• High level of proficiency in auditing data, reconciliation and controls.
• Desire to challenge existing processes and drive forward change.
• Ability to articulate with a high level of business acumen, influence with data, respond across complex discussions, and engage with all levels in a polished and professional manner.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Excel.

Nice-to-haves

• Previous experience with Workday, ADP Smart Compliance and/or Deltek CostPoint is a plus.
• CPP Certification is a plus.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits
• Exceptional professional development opportunities
• Culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth