Position Summary
The Director of Payroll is responsible for ensuring accurate, timely, compliant, and efficient payroll administration for a diverse, geographically dispersed workforce. The Director will establish consistent payroll standards, strengthen internal controls, optimize payroll systems and processes, and serve as a trusted partner to Accounting/Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, and operating company leadership.
The successful candidate will combine deep technical payroll expertise with strong leadership, analytical capabilities, and a continuous improvement mindset. This individual will play a key role in advancing ATSG's payroll operations while maintaining service excellence, regulatory compliance, and financial integrity.
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Payroll Leadership and Operations
- Direct and oversee payroll operations across ATSG and its operating companies, ensuring accurate and timely processing for all employees.
- Establish enterprise-wide payroll policies, procedures, service standards, and operating practices while accommodating legitimate business-unit and jurisdictional requirements.
- Provide oversight of payroll processing, adjustments, deductions, garnishments, special payments, and off-cycle payroll activities.
- Ensure appropriate administration of varied pay structures, including salaried, hourly, shift differentials, overtime, incentive compensation, and other applicable earnings arrangements.
- Partner with operating company leaders to address business-specific payroll requirements while promoting consistency and operational efficiency
Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management
- Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local payroll, wage and hour, tax withholding, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements.
- Oversee payroll tax administration, including accurate and timely deposits, filings, reconciliations, and year-end reporting.
- Maintain effective controls related to payroll authorization, processing, data integrity, and financial reporting.
- Partner with Legal, Human Resources, and Finance to evaluate payroll implications of regulatory changes, compensation programs, employment policies, and organizational initiatives.
- Support internal and external audits, including the development and implementation of corrective actions when necessary.
- Maintain appropriate safeguards for confidential employee and financial information.
- Ensure compliance with applicable collective bargaining agreements and other specialized pay requirements where relevant.
Payroll Systems, Technology, and Process Improvement
- Provide functional leadership for payroll technology, systems, integrations, and related process improvements.
- Collaborate with HRIS, IT, Finance, and operating company stakeholders to maintain accurate employee data and effective information flow across systems.
- Identify opportunities to standardize, automate, and streamline payroll processes to improve accuracy, efficiency, and the employee experience.
- Lead or support system enhancements, implementations, upgrades, testing, and optimization initiatives.
- Evaluate payroll workflows, reporting capabilities, and internal controls to identify gaps, risks, and improvement opportunities.
- Establish appropriate documentation, cross-training, and business continuity procedures to support uninterrupted payroll operations.
Financial Controls, Reporting, and Reconciliation
- Partner with Accounting and Finance to ensure accurate payroll accounting, general ledger reconciliation, and financial reporting.
- Oversee payroll-related reconciliations, including wage payments, taxes, benefits deductions, accruals, and other payroll liabilities.
- Support financial close activities, annual audits, budgeting, forecasting, and payroll-related financial analysis.
Leadership and Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Lead, develop, and support payroll team members, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, accuracy, and service excellence.
- Establish clear roles, responsibilities, training standards, and performance expectations.
- Build effective working relationships with Human Resources, Benefits, Compensation, Finance, IT, and operating company leadership.
- Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert and escalation point for complex payroll matters.
- Partner with HR and operational leaders to resolve payroll concerns promptly and professionally.
- Develop succession planning, knowledge-sharing, and cross-training practices to reduce operational dependency on individual employees.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
- Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible payroll experience, including at least 3 years in a payroll management or leadership capacity.
- Demonstrated experience overseeing complex, multi-state payroll operations for a large, multi-entity or geographically dispersed organization.
- Comprehensive knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations, wage and hour requirements, payroll reporting, and related compliance obligations.
- Experience managing payroll operations, controls, reconciliations, audits, and year-end activities.
- Proficiency with enterprise payroll systems and related HRIS and financial system integrations.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage competing priorities, and collaborate effectively across functions.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment and maintain confidentiality when handling sensitive employee and financial information.
Preferred Qualifications
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) credential.
- Experience leading payroll operations for an organization with 3,000 or more employees.
- Experience in aviation, transportation, logistics, manufacturing, or another operationally complex, highly regulated industry.
- Experience supporting multiple legal entities, pay groups, and payroll schedules.
- Experience with UKG payroll and HRIS platforms.
- Experience supporting unionized workforces, collective bargaining agreements, or complex shift-based compensation arrangements.
- Experience leading payroll system implementations, automation initiatives, process standardization, or shared services transformations.
- Familiarity with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) internal control requirements, where applicable.
