Director, Payroll

At Azenta, new ideas, new technologies and new ways of thinking are driving our future. Our customer-focused culture encourages employees to embrace innovation and challenge the status quo with novel thinking and collaborative work relationships.

Azenta Life Sciences is a global leader in the life sciences space with headquarters in Burlington, MA, and offices and operations worldwide. We are a market leader in automated bio sample management solutions and genomic services across areas such as drug development, clinical and advanced cell therapies for the industry's top pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and healthcare institutions globally.   We provide unparalleled capabilities with our lab analysis, sample management and storage services, informatics software, and consumables, with the largest installed base managing millions of samples globally.

Job Summary:

The Director, Payroll, reporting to the Senior Director, Total Rewards & HRIS, provides direct leadership and oversight of the European and U.S. payroll function, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing and related activities. This role owns global payroll governance across U.S. and designated international jurisdictions, including standardized controls, payroll calendars, provider oversight, and escalation of payroll compliance matters. This role manages day-to-day payroll operations, payroll compliance, and payroll system optimization, while supporting expatriate payroll/tax matters.

The Director, Payroll partners closely with Human Resources, Corporate Finance, Information Technology, and external auditors in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment to ensure efficient payroll operations, strong internal controls, and continuous process improvement, while providing leadership on audit readiness, payroll risk management, and cross-functional issue resolution.

Key Responsibilities:

Payroll Operations and Compliance

• Oversee bi-weekly U.S. payroll operations across 25+ states for hourly and salaried employee populations, and oversee payroll operations for the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, and additional European jurisdictions through internal teams and external providers.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local and foreign payroll laws, tax regulations, statutory reporting, filing requirements, and employer remittance obligations
• Direct governance of external payroll providers and in-country partners, including service delivery, compliance support, issue escalation, controls, and continuous improvement
• Maintain and enhance payroll processes to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and scalability, including standardized controls, documentation, and review procedures across jurisdictions

Systems and Process Management

• Identify opportunities to optimize and maximize the Workday payroll system
• Partner with Information Technology on Workday HRIS/payroll enhancements, integrations, and issue resolution
• Maintain internal control documentation related to payroll and tax compliance processes, support internal and external audits, and lead remediation of identified process or control gaps

Financial Reporting and Accounting

• Partner with Corporate Accounting to ensure accurate recording of payroll transactions within the Oracle General Ledger
• Manage payroll-related accruals, including expatriate compensation, withholding, and tax equalization
• Partner with Corporate Accounting and Treasury on payroll funding, account reconciliations, month-end close support, and payroll-related balance sheet oversight.
• Ensure accurate posting of payroll-related reimbursements and expenses

Global Mobility and Special Payroll Matters

• Oversee payroll treatment and coordination for expatriates, tax equalization, shadow payrolls, and other cross-border employee matters, in partnership with Tax, Human Resources, and external advisors
• Lead annual payroll year-end processes and statutory reporting activities across applicable U.S. and international jurisdictions

Leadership and Collaboration

• Lead, develop, and mentor payroll staff while establishing clear accountability, service expectations, and backup coverage for critical payroll processes
• Provide technical payroll and payroll tax guidance to internal stakeholders
• Collaborate with Human Resources, Finance, IT, and auditors to support audits and payroll-related initiatives
• Establish payroll performance metrics and lead resolution of escalated payroll, compliance, and provider issues across jurisdictions.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Accounting, Finance, or related discipline
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) strongly preferred
• 10+ years of progressive payroll experience, including significant ownership of multi-state U.S. payroll operations and multi-country payrolls in Europe, with experience supporting hourly and salaried employee populations and coordinating with in-country payroll providers in jurisdictions such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and France
• Experience working in a corporate, fast-paced environment
• Experience with payroll controls, audit support, process standardization, and payroll system implementations or major enhancements strongly preferred

Skills and Competencies:

• Experience with Workday Payroll preferred
• Experience with large-scale ERP systems required (e.g., SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards); Oracle experience a plus
• Exposure to stock plan administration (e.g., RSUs, stock options, ESPP) a plus
• Familiarity with expatriate payroll and tax compliance preferred
• Demonstrated ability to oversee outsourced payroll providers and manage compliance across multiple jurisdictions
• Advanced proficiency in spreadsheet software (Excel) preferred
• Strong attention to detail with excellent organizational and time management skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively across cross-functional teams

This role is onsite in our Burlington, MA HQ 4 days/week

EOE M/F/Disabled/VET

Azenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This company considers candidates regardless of race, color, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

The posted pay range for this position is an estimate based on current market data and internal pay structure. Final compensation may vary above or below this range depending on factors such as experience, education (including licensure and certifications),  qualifications, performance, and geographic location, among other relevant business or organizational needs.