PAYROLL MANAGER

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Position Base
Riverside

Location
UCPath Center

UCPATH CENTER

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UCPath is the University of California's shared services center in Riverside, CA. UCPath manages the payroll, benefits, and other human resources transactions for more than 265,000 UC employees working across ten UC campuses, six medical centers, three national labs and more. The staff at the UCPath Center work in a variety of areas including business operations, customer service, quality management, technology, training, human resources and communications. Learn more about UCPath

Position Summary
The Payroll Manager will work within UCPath, reporting directly to the Assistant Director of Production. The Payroll Manager receives assignments in the form of objectives and determines how to use resources to meet schedules and goals. The Payroll Manager is responsible for providing leadership and expertise to the payroll team, which is comprised primarily of analysts and assistants. The Payroll Manager also manages the implementation and operational workflow of administrative practices and procedures regarding payroll. The incumbent spearheads any actions that entail evaluating salary information and compensation practices to ensure that these are accurate and comply with federal and state legislation. Ultimately, the incumbent of this role serves as a subject matter expert for all payroll matters, providing expertise on complex issues and escalated cases in accordance with established policies and assumes accountability for decisions made by subordinates.

Key Responsibilities

• 60% PAYROLL FUNCTION: Oversees the development of pay methods and procedures on work assignments and provides leadership to the broader Payroll team. The incumbent also provides specialized expertise to identify, evaluate, and develop business process and procedures to meet compliance and processing needs. Facilitates internal coordination with Workforce Admin, Benefits, Payroll, Absence Management and General Ledger processes and oversees mitigating controls to ensure integrity of data will not impact downstream process and work with functional users to develop business processes for various modules and provide support to processing activities. Manages on-cycle, final pay and Accrual management payroll processing. Collaborates with locations, UC Office of the President and UCPath Leadership on strategic plans for technical/business roadmap initiatives related to new functionality and advises stakeholders on the impacts of the functionality to ensure business operations maintains stabilization. Manages and drives business process defects to full resolution via workarounds and incidents. Uses internal tracking tools to maintain a current status of issues. Partners with UC Office of the President and UCPath Leadership and our technical partners to ensure effective and timely resolution of workarounds, change requests and incidents. Provides counsel to location Human Resources, Academic Personnel, and Payroll on processing practices within UCPath when necessary. Leads in the resolution of highly complex and escalated payroll issues and situations; makes final determinations on these issues and acts appropriately. Leads efforts on the implementation of payroll operational practices and process improvements. Responsible for ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Oversees a variety of complex accounting duties including the preparation, processing, and maintenance of payroll, salary, year-end processing and benefit calculations in order to be compliant with federal and state legislation. Responsible for management of payroll data on a regular basis in order to support compensation strategies and spend projections. Develops new payroll policies and procedures as necessary. Ensures continuous process improvement and measures effectiveness of current processes.
• 30% PEOPLE MANAGEMENT: Manages Payroll Department that is comprised of Analysts and Assistants. Provides specialized expertise to identify and evaluate business policy and procedures to meet processing needs. Responsible for department hiring of new employees, salary actions, terminations, and performance ratings. Accountable for the development and monitoring of policies and procedures for department or payroll operations. Implements business processes with adequate business controls and compliance aligned with regulatory requirements.
• 10% RECORDS & REPORTS MANAGEMENT: Provides direct oversight of Payroll teams to develop and implement mitigating controls and record keeping policy and procedures to ensure the security of UCPath data. Ensures that mandated documents and reports as required by federal and state legislation are maintained. Leads coordination with IT support and reporting teams to create a variety of complex payroll related reports as mandated by county office, state, and federal regulations. Improves operational efficiency by ensuring that processes are adhered to, policies are followed, defects are identified, and accurate reports are generated for leadership.

Experience
Required Qualifications

• Min 10 years Progressive experience and leadership in payroll, human resources, and/or accounting/finance, and/or an equivalent combination of education and training, including a minimum of 5 years in a supervisory or managerial role.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a shared services center environment with high-volume, multi-functional operations and service delivery.

Skills and Abilities
Required Qualifications

• Experience with Human Capital Management (HCM), Human Resource Information System (HRIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), or payroll management systems.
• Strong knowledge of modules in PeopleSoft related to Payroll/Accounting Administration. Understanding of the system structure and modifications and impacts to operations and business objectives.
• Strong critical thinking, persuasion/negotiation, mentoring, leadership/management, problem solving, human resources policies and procedures relating to management responsibilities.
• Excellent oral and written communication, quantitative and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated skill in supervising staff, managing daily operations, and providing coaching and feedback to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and team accountability.
• Ability to navigate and apply multi-state payroll regulations, resolve tax discrepancies, and maintain compliance across jurisdictions in a fast-paced environment.
• Advanced knowledge of full cycle payroll processes, or equivalent experience in a related financial, HR, or accounting function.

Preferred Qualifications

• Has a thorough knowledge of modules in PeopleSoft related Human Resources/ Workforce Administration, Benefit Administration, Payroll Administration and General Ledger Modules. Understanding of the system structure and modifications and how they impact operations and business objectives.
• Advanced knowledge of business and process analysis functions. Strong experience supporting PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 Knowledge of business analysis processes, procedures alignment, and compliance with applicable policy and regulation.

Education
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related area and/or equivalent experience / training.

The University of California, Office of the President, is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience. The full salary range shows the growth potential for this position and the pay scale is the budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position.

Job Title
Payroll Manager 2

Job Code
000606

Salary Grade
Grade 25

Payscale:
$135,000 - $150,000

Benefits: For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by UCPath Center visit: Benefits of Working for UC

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This position will work a hybrid schedule which includes a combination of working both onsite at the UCPath Center in Riverside and remote in California.

HOW TO APPLY

Please be prepared to attach a cover letter and resume with your application.

JOB CLOSE DATE

For first consideration, please apply by: June 11, 2026.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Background Check Process: Successful completion of a background check is required for this critical position. Background check process at UCOP

Smoke Free Work Environment: The University of California, Office of the President, is smoke & tobacco-free as of January 1, 2014. UC Smoke & Tobacco Free Policy

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
  • UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
  • UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
  • APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

EEO STATEMENT

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

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