Payroll Manager

Full-Time, Remote / Salary, Exempt

Steno is growing! We’re looking for a Payroll Manager to join our winning team, which is revolutionizing the court reporting industry every single day. We’re a diverse team from all over the country and we’re crazy about redefining the boundaries of an outdated industry.

In this role, you will own end-to-end payroll operations for our 500+ person, multi-state workforce, serving as the trusted bridge between Finance and the People team. You’ll manage full-cycle payroll processing, multi-state compliance, and vendor relationships, while partnering with Finance on month-end reporting and headcount planning. We’re looking for someone with hands-on Rippling HCM experience and deep multi-state payroll compliance knowledge who’s comfortable operating as a trusted liaison across teams.

On a regular basis you will

• Own and execute the full payroll cycle for all US and international employees and contractors, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with federal, state, and local requirements.
• Administer and maintain payroll operations within Rippling HCM, including pay runs, tax setup, deductions, and employee data integrity.
• Review timecards for 300+ hourly employees each pay cycle to identify meal and rest break violations, split shift triggers, and reporting time obligations; calculate and enter all owed penalties, premiums, and top-ups; and audit system-calculated overtime — including California daily/weekly and seventh-day rules and other state variations — before payroll closes.
• Act as the primary liaison between the People and Finance teams, ensuring payroll-related information (new hires, terminations, pay changes, leaves, commission/bonus data, wage garnishments, court-mandated deductions) flows accurately with no gaps or delays.
• Partner with department and business unit leaders to process commission and bonus payouts, ensuring calculations, approvals, and timing align with plan documents and policy.
• Lead payroll compliance across all US states and applicable federal requirements, including wage and hour law, tax and unemployment insurance obligations, unclaimed property, and benefits-related payroll reporting.
• Serve as subject matter expert on multi-state payroll compliance, with particular depth in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, Nevada, and Minnesota.
• Monitor payroll tax deposits and filings across all jurisdictions; triage and resolve incoming tax notices with the payroll platform and relevant agencies; maintain payroll records per federal and state retention requirements.
• Investigate and resolve pay discrepancies and employee payroll inquiries accurately and promptly.
• Maintain and improve payroll policies, procedures, and internal controls; identify opportunities to automate or streamline processes.
• Partner with Finance to explain and reconcile payroll expense changes at month-end close, providing variance context and supporting documentation, and support Strategic Finance on headcount planning with payroll cost data, forecasts, and scenario modeling as needed.
• Support internal and external audits related to payroll, tax, and compliance, and other ad hoc payroll projects as needed.

You’re gonna crush it if:

• You have 5+ years of multi-state payroll experience, ideally for a remote workforce of 600+ employees, including non-exempt and exempt employees and commission, bonus, and incentive compensation structures.
• You have deep expertise in wage and hour compliance: meal and rest breaks, split shift, reporting time, and state-specific overtime regulations.
• You’ve worked with Rippling Payroll and Rippling Time & Attendance.
• You have strong, hands-on knowledge of payroll compliance in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, Nevada, and Minnesota.
• You’re experienced processing all pay types, regular and off-cycle runs, bonuses, commissions, leave top-ups, and termination pay, and familiar with state and local payroll tax registration across jurisdictions.
• You have experience working cross-functionally between People/HR and Finance teams, with excellent stakeholder communication skills and a solid understanding of how payroll expenses flow into month-end close.
• Your Excel and/or Google Sheets skills are strong, and you have built and maintained reconciliation and payroll data reports.
• You're highly detail-oriented, organized, with a track record of high-accuracy, on-time delivery, and comfortable managing competing deadlines in a fast-paced, high-growth, remote-first environment.
• Experience supporting headcount planning or workforce cost forecasting with a Strategic Finance/FP&A team, and/or a CPP certification are all a plus.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary - $85,000 - $100,000
• Premium Medical, Dental, & Vision Coverage – options for you and your family, with 100% of premiums covered for some plans – well above industry benchmarks.
• Wellness/Mental Health – shared benefits to be used among employees and families.
• Flexible Paid Time Off – allowing employees to find balance in their lives.
• Options of Equity – we know our success is nothing without our team.
• Access to a 401k through Guideline.
• A home office setup and a monthly stipend to offset internet and phone costs.

Application Information

• Steno is an equal opportunity employer; we do not discriminate on the basis of characteristics protected by law. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.
• Applicants needing special assistance or accommodations for interviews or website access should contact us at [email protected].
• Information provided to Steno, such as professional credentials and skills, educational and work history, the results of technical skills assessments or working exercises, and other information included in an application, is collected, analyzed, and stored in our system.
• Steno personnel will always have a steno.com email or contact you via Rippling Recruiting. Background checks are only conducted after an offer is extended. If you haven't received an expected communication, check your spam.
• Steno uses AI-assisted tools for this role to identify and prioritize candidates whose experience aligns with the role. All hiring decisions are made by our People team