Payroll and Benefits Manager

Description

The Payroll and Benefits Manager owns both the payroll and the employee benefits functions for the entire company, multi-state payroll across multiple legal entities and pay frequencies, and full administration of the group's health, welfare and retirement plans. The role is hands-on and supervisory, leads a team of payroll and benefits administrators. It sets the standard for every store rather than administering a single rooftop, works directly with store Controllers and the executive team, and leads payroll and benefits onboarding each time the group acquires.

Payroll

• Manage the complete payroll cycle for all 18 rooftops and management companies across semi-monthly, bi-weekly and weekly pay groups
• Review and approve payroll registers, pre-process audits, gross-to-net variance reports and funding requests before each transmission
• Administer the full range of dealership pay plans, flat-rate and hourly technician pay with efficiency bonuses and guarantee true-ups; service advisor and manager commissions; sales and management commissions with unit, volume and CSI bonuses; F&I commissions and chargebacks; recoverable and non-recoverable draws; manufacturer and vendor spiffs; and taxable fringe including demonstrator vehicle use
• Serve as the control point for pay plan changes verify authorization, confirm effective dates and validate entry before the pay period closes
• Administer off-cycle payrolls, manual checks, retroactive adjustments and terminations per each state's final-pay requirements
• Own payroll tax compliance for each FEIN deposits, Forms 941, 940, W-2 and W-3, state withholding and unemployment filings, agency notices, and reconciliation to the general ledger
• Administer garnishments, child support orders and tax levies

Benefits

• Administer all group health and welfare plans across every entity, medical, dental, vision, life, disability and voluntary products
• Own eligibility and enrollment waiting periods, qualifying life events, dependent verification, waivers and terminations
• Manage annual open enrollment end to end: system build and testing, employee communications and meetings across all markets, election capture, deduction setup and post-enrollment audit
• Reconcile monthly carrier invoices and self-bill statements to payroll deductions and enrollment; recover overbillings and terminated-employee premiums
• Monitor eligibility file feeds and EDI connections between the HCM platform and carriers
• Administer the 401(k) plan deferrals, loans, per-payroll contribution and match funding, timely remittance, and reconciliation to the recordkeeper
• Coordinate annual compliance testing, Form 5500 and the annual plan audit
• Own ACA compliance measurement and stability period tracking, offer-of-coverage determinations, affordability testing, and Forms 1094-C and 1095-C
• Administer COBRA, FMLA, military, personal and applicable state leave programs, including pay treatment and benefit continuation during leave
• Manage PTO accrual configuration, carryover and payout at termination per each state's requirements
• Support workers' compensation administration and annual premium audits
• Serve as primary contact for the benefits broker and carriers, and support the CFO at annual renewal with census data, cost analysis and plan design modeling

Systems, Accounting and Leadership

• Serve as group administrator for the HCM platform across payroll, benefits, ACA and time and attendance modules
• Own the interface between the HCM platform, the dealer management system and carrier systems, including journal entry mapping by store and department
• Reconcile payroll clearing, accrued wages, accrued commissions, accrued PTO, benefit liability and payroll tax accounts monthly, supporting Controllers through close
• Produce recurring headcount, payroll cost, benefit cost and overtime reporting by store, department and position group
• Enforce internal controls over the payroll and benefits master file, segregation of duties, dual approval for rate, deduction and bank changes, and documented change logs
• Lead payroll and benefits onboarding for newly acquired stores, including successor employer wage base treatment and first-payroll validation
• Supervise, train and develop the payroll and benefits team with documented cross-training
• Act as the escalation point for employee and management pay and benefit inquiries

Requirements

Minimum, candidates must meet all of the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources or a related field, or equivalent professional experience
• Five or more years covering BOTH payroll and benefits administration, with direct hands-on ownership of each 
• Multi-entity, multi-state payroll experience
• Two or more years supervising payroll and/or benefits staff
• Working knowledge of the FLSA, multi-state wage and hour law, payroll tax deposits and filings by FEIN, and year-end reporting
• Working knowledge of ERISA, Section 125, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA and ACA reporting requirements
• Has served as the responsible administrator through at least one complete annual open enrollment cycle
• Experience reconciling carrier invoices and self-bill statements to payroll deductions and enrollment records
• Hands-on configuration experience in a full-service HCM platform across both payroll and benefits modules, building and controlling the system, not data entry alone
• Advanced Microsoft Excel, pivot tables, lookups and large-volume data reconciliation
• Legally authorized to work in the United States and able to work on-site in Houston, Texas

Preferred, not required, but prioritized:

• Automotive dealership or dealer group experience, with direct exposure to flat-rate technician pay, commission structures and draw administration
• Paylocity experience
• CDK Global (Dealer Management System) experience
• CPP or FPC certification
• CEBS, SHRM-CP or PHR certification
• Experience integrating acquired locations or converting payroll and benefits platforms
• Working knowledge of Texas, Florida, Alabama and Georgia employment, wage payment and benefits continuation requirements
• Bilingual English/Spanish

Skills and competencies:

• Accuracy and attention to detail, treats a payroll error or a missed enrollment as a material event, not a routine correction
• Ownership - drives issues to resolution without prompting and follows through across stores, carriers and agencies
• Confidentiality and integrity - handles compensation data and protected health information with absolute discretion
• Communication - explains pay calculations and benefit elections clearly to employees, managers and executives
• Process discipline - documents, standardizes and controls rather than improvising
• Composure - performs reliably in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment