Payroll Manager

As our Payroll Manager, you will own payroll end-to-end, ensuring every team member is paid accurately and on time, while also stepping into the broader world of accounting, payroll tax compliance, and financial operations.  This is a role for someone who enjoys both precision and variety.  Someone who is just as comfortable reconciling payroll accounts as they are jumping in to support adjacent finance needs.  You will bring the experience to spot issues before they become problems and the mindset to continuously improve how things get done. 

This role is ideal for someone who has been doing this for a while, knows their craft, and is ready to apply that expertise in a collaborative, growth-mindset environment. 

How you’ll make an impact: 

You will be our go-to expert for payroll, while also playing a key role across the Finance & Accounting team: 

• Own the full-cycle payroll process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance 

• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on payroll and partner with our payroll provider (UKGPro) to manage processing, adjustments and issue resolution 

• Lead payroll-related reconciliations, journal entries, and reporting activities 

• Support payroll tax compliance, including multi-state registrations, filings, and issue resolution with agencies 

• Collaborate closely with People Operations to ensure employee data is accurate and flows cleanly through payroll 

• Support commission payment preparation and validation 

• Play an active role in month-end close activities, especially where payroll and accruals intersect 

• Contribute to broader accounting and operational needs, including corporate credit card administration, expense-related processes, and other operational accounting needs 

• Identify opportunities to improve and automate payroll processes, controls, and systems…and help implement them 
• Collaborate with FP&A to produce accurate payroll forecasts and provide monthly variance analysis between forecast and actual payroll expenses 

What we’re looking for: 

• 8+ years of experience in payroll, with strong exposure to accounting or general ledger work 

• Strong working knowledge of payroll tax compliance, including multi-state complexity 

• Comfort with reconciliations, journal entries, controls, and financial reporting 

• A proactive, problem-solving mindset with a healthy skepticism (if something looks off, you investigate) 

• A collaborative approach and comfortable operating in a hands-on, team-oriented environment where priorities can flex 

• Clear communication skills and a customer-service mindset supporting internal teams 

• Experience with UKGPro strongly preferred 
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred 

Estimated Salary Range: $110,000-125,000

Actual salary will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to, skill set and level of experience. This salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Strata also provides discretionary variable pay programs based on role. In addition, Strata provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits, health and welfare benefits, paid time off, parental leave, life and accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.

Find out more about Strata benefits here.  

How we work:
The preferred location for this role is in Chicago, IL or St. Louis, MO. We value our people spending time together and have campuses hosting in-person events located in both cities. We are truly a hybrid environment with all team members experiencing the flexibility to work from home. 

Thinking about applying?  
Research shows that women and underrepresented groups tend to apply to jobs only when they check every box on a job posting. If you’re currently reading this and hesitating to click “Apply” for that reason, we encourage you to go for it! A true passion and excitement for making an impact is just as important as work experience.

Should you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please reach out to careers@stratadecision.com. 

Here @ Strata… 
Our culture is driven by our people solving problems together. We embrace learning, collaboration, and continuous career growth. Together, we lift our customers, our products, our company, and our community.  

We believe that each of our team member’s unique perspectives and experiences is what drives innovation and positive change. Our individual differences are what make us a more forward-thinking organization. We foster a culture of inclusion, equity and belonging, regardless of race, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.  

Our Core Values:
While we celebrate what makes each member of our team unique, our core values are what connect us. They set clear expectations for how we approach our work and how each of us can positively influence the experience of our team and our customers.

• We connect with positive intent.
• We are helpful.
• We own it.
• We get better every day.
• We are humble.