Date Opened: Thursday, January 22, 2026 12:00 AM

Close Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:00 AM

Department: Human Resources Department

Payroll

Salary: $83,208.00 - $104,010.00 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

The City of Charlotte is seeking a Payroll Manager with a passion for service excellence, continuous improvement, and leadership. The ideal candidate is an exceptional team player and people leader who brings advanced technical payroll expertise, strong analytical skills, and proven experience operating in a fast-paced, high-volume environment. This role will uphold the integrity, accuracy, timeliness, and compliance of citywide payroll operations and drive cross-departmental collaboration with Human Resources, Finance, IT, and Benefits.

Position Summary

The Payroll Manager oversees a team of four (4) Payroll Specialists (with one serving as the Lead Payroll Specialist) responsible for the weekly payroll of 9,000+ employees. The Payroll Manager ensures the integrity of payroll systems and processing; provides advanced professional-level assistance in the administration of key components of the city-wide Human Resources Management System (HRMS); conducts complex research and analysis; develops and maintains policies, SOPs, and reports; successfully handles conflict and builds consensus; and establishes effective, long-term working relationships across the City. The Payroll Manager also coordinates complex payroll functions, resolves escalated issues, mentors’ staff, and champions continuous improvement.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

1) Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop a high-performing payroll team; set goals, assign work, coach/mentor, and conduct performance reviews.
• Establish and maintain SOPs, controls checklists, calendars, and evidence repositories to ensure consistency, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Serve as the final escalation point for complex calculations, employee inquiries, and interdepartmental issues; build consensus among stakeholders.

2) Payroll Operations & Processing

• Own end-to-end weekly payroll processing for 9,000+ employees, including gross-to-net calculations, off-cycle payments, retroactive adjustments, shift differentials, premium pay, leave payouts, and final pay.
• Oversee and validate special pay transactions, garnishments, tax levies, and other payroll adjustments; ensure accurate prioritization and timely remittances.
• Supervise the processing of time and labor data, employee job data, and retro transactions related to compensation, time off, benefits, and terminations.
• Manage and approve on-demand checks, and coordinate retiree payouts and deferred compensation documentation.
• Coordinate benefits-related payroll deductions, ensure proper reconciliation to vendor invoices, and manage benefits billing for employees on leave of absence.

3) Systems, Interfaces & Data Integrity

• Serve as subject matter expert for HRMS/Payroll systems (Workday Payroll), including interfaces to banks, ORBIT retirement, benefit integrations, timekeeping issues and financial questions
• Review and analyze payroll audits, reports and interface files; ensure proper transmission, validation, and reconciliation of data across systems; partner with IT to resolve integration issues.
• Validate and adjust monthly ORBIT retirement files; manage submission of the monthly and quarterly files; perform manual adjustments for short-term disability and other statutory programs as needed.
• Own payroll data integrity and audit logs; reconcile data between HRMS, Finance/GL, and third-party systems; maintain robust documentation.

4) Audit, Compliance & Internal Controls

• Design, implement, and maintain a comprehensive payroll audit program (annual plan, quarterly reviews, monthly control checks) covering:
  • Payroll-to-GL reconciliation; variance analysis against budget, prior periods, and trend KPIs.
  • Tax audits and remittances (federal/state/local), including FUTA/SUTA, multi-jurisdiction nexus, 941 alignment, W-2/W-3 balancing, and W-2c corrections when needed.
  • Garnishment/child support compliance (setup accuracy, priority, timeliness, returns).
  • Timekeeping audits (missing punches, approvals, overtime/FLSA, standby/on-call pay, comp time, FMLA-related pay).
  • Leave accruals & payouts (vacation/sick/PTO integrity, eligibility, cash-out rules).
  • Benefits & deduction reconciliations (vendor files, eligibility/effective dates, arrears/catch-ups).
  • Retirement reporting (ORBIT contributions, eligibility and compliance)
  • Elections reviews (tax/payment elections, wage discrepancies, holiday eligibility, 401(k) participation and limits).
• Maintain and test segregation of duties, role-based access, and approval workflows in HRMS/Payroll; perform periodic user access reviews.
• Oversee change management for payroll configurations (earnings codes, tax tables, deductions) and complete UAT for patches/upgrades; coordinate production validations.
• Draft and maintain policies, SOPs, control narratives, process maps, and risk/control matrices; ensure evidence retention meets audit standards.
• Coordinate and lead internal/external audits (City Internal Audit, external CPA firm, State agencies); drive remediation plans and timely closure of findings.
• Ensure compliance with Federal, State of North Carolina, and local regulations (e.g., FLSA, IRS, SSA, unemployment insurance statutes, NC payroll requirements).

5) Reporting, Finance Liaison & Customer Service

• Produce timely operational reports and management insights; prepare dashboards/KPIs for leadership (accuracy rate, on-time rate, exception volume, audit findings, correction cycle time).
• Liaise with Finance to resolve outstanding payroll check issues; ensure accurate financial documentation including journal vouchers and accounts payable requests.
• Deliver high-level customer service to internal stakeholders; provide advanced support on time entry, payroll procedures, and system troubleshooting; communicate clearly via phone, email, and in-person interactions.

6) Continuous Improvement & Strategy

• Drive process improvements (Lean/continuous improvement), automation, and standardization to reduce errors and cycle time.
• Lead root cause analyses for defects; implement preventative controls and targeted training.
• Assess policies and pay practices for equity, compliance, clarity, and operational feasibility; propose updates and manage change with stakeholders.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Advanced understanding of payroll principles, practices, and procedures, including wage calculations, deductions, garnishments, and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.
• Considerable knowledge of FLSA, garnishments, W-2 forms and year-end processing; tax laws/regulations and tax reporting (e.g., 941, W-2/W-2c).
• Knowledge of employee benefits and how they affect payroll (eligibility, arrears, retro, vendor reconciliation, LOA billing).
• Extensive knowledge and ability to research Governmental payroll requirements, ORBIT retirement reporting, and interface file transmissions; familiarity with Employment Security reporting.
• Experience partnering with auditors; strong understanding of internal controls, segregation of duties, and evidence management.
• Expertise in HRMS/Payroll systems (Workday), including absence management, earning/deduction codes, integrations, and UAT.
• Advanced Microsoft 365 skills, particularly Excel (pivot tables, lookups, conditional logic); ability to create and manage reports, interface files, and financial documentation.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and communication skills; resourceful and proactive in troubleshooting payroll discrepancies and integration challenges.
• Ability to lead and mentor team members, foster collaboration, and coordinate with cross-functional departments.
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive employee and payroll information with the highest level of confidentiality and professionalism.
• Self-starter who works effectively as part of teams; ability to manage multiple, and sometimes competing, priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school graduate or equivalent and seven (7) years of progressively responsible in-house payroll processing experience in a complex, high-volume environment.
•  At least 3 years of supervisory experience leading payroll teams, including a Lead Payroll Specialist

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources, Information Systems, or related field.
• Experience with Workday.
• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) or FPC credential preferred.
• Public sector/government payroll experience and knowledge of ORBIT retirement reporting preferred.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Tax and garnishment remittance timeliness and exceptions.
• Employee case resolution time and satisfaction scores.

Work Conditions

• Full-time, exempt position. Occasional evening/weekend work may be required during year-end, audits, or major payroll events.
• Hybrid/onsite schedule aligned with City policy.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email [email protected].

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.