Payroll Manager

The Role

You’ll be the company’s payroll owner, accountable for how payroll runs from start to finish. You’ll partner closely with Finance, HR, Accounting, employees, and external payroll partners.

Success in this role means our people are paid accurately and on time, payroll data stays clean, and discrepancies are resolved quickly. It also means our processes stay compliant and audit-ready as the company grows.

What You’ll Do

• Own regular and off-cycle U.S. payroll processing in Rippling.
• Validate payroll inputs, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, bonuses, deductions, and reimbursements.
• Administer and reconcile contractor payments.
• Coordinate payroll and bonus processing for employees engaged through Employer of Record (EOR) partners.
• Validate EOR payroll calculations, and reconcile invoices and statements against internal records.
• Manage multi-state payroll requirements, including tax withholding, overtime, final pay, state registrations, tax notices, filings, and reconciliations.
• Administer benefits deductions, garnishments, retirement contributions, and other payroll deductions.
• Keep payroll and employee data in Rippling accurate, and troubleshoot configurations, reports, workflows, and records.
• Investigate payroll discrepancies, find root causes, and drive issues through to resolution.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee payroll questions.
• Support payroll-related audits, census requests, and benefits or insurance reviews.
• Manage year-end payroll activities, including W-2/1099 processing, annual reconciliations, and related tax requirements.
• Build and maintain payroll Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and controls, and find ways to improve accuracy, efficiency, and audit readiness.

Who You Are

You’re an experienced payroll professional who has directly owned U.S. payroll. Your experience goes beyond coordinating payroll inputs for another person or provider to process.

You have:

• 5+ years of payroll experience, including at least 3 years directly administering U.S. payroll.
• Hands-on experience processing payroll in Rippling.
• Experience managing multi-state U.S. payroll. California and/or New York experience is strongly preferred.
• Hands-on experience applying California overtime rules, tax exemptions, and state final-pay requirements.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. payroll taxes, wage deductions, federal and state requirements, and off-cycle payroll.
• Experience independently investigating and resolving payroll discrepancies.
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, particularly for reconciliations and payroll reporting.
• Strong numerical reasoning and exceptional attention to detail.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written English.
• Strong communication and customer-service skills for handling sensitive employee payroll questions.
• The ability to work independently, manage recurring deadlines, and take ownership in a fast-paced environment.

Bonus Experience

• Payroll tax registrations, notices, and agency correspondence.
• 401(k), workers’ compensation, or payroll tax audits.
• Employee census requests and benefits reconciliations.
• EOR payroll administration.
• Contractor payment administration.
• Year-end W-2 and 1099 processing.
• Supporting a U.S.-based company remotely from outside the U.S.
• Building or maturing a payroll function at a startup or high-growth company.

You’ll Thrive Here If You…

• Take ownership of problems from the moment you spot them until they’re resolved.
• Care deeply about accuracy and catch discrepancies others might miss.
• Are comfortable investigating complex payroll issues on your own.
• Balance strong controls with the need to move quickly.
• Communicate clearly and patiently with employees and internal stakeholders.
• Want to shape how payroll operates, making processes more reliable rather than just following existing ones.

This Role Probably Isn’t For You If…

• Your payroll experience has mostly involved collecting or submitting information for someone else to process.
• You haven’t directly administered U.S. payroll.
• You don’t have hands-on experience with Rippling.
• You prefer HR-generalist work over deep payroll ownership.
• You’re looking to manage a team rather than own payroll hands-on.

Why TubeScience

• You’ll own a critical operational function that directly affects employees across the company.
• You’ll work closely with senior Finance and HR leaders and build the payroll function: how it operates, its controls, and how it scales with the business.
• If you’re an experienced U.S. payroll professional who values accuracy and ownership, and you like solving problems from start to finish, we’d love to hear from you.