Senior Manager, Payroll and People Operations

Versaterm is a PE-backed, high-growth SaaS company building a fully integrated platform across the entire public safety ecosystem — dispatch, law enforcement, forensics, courts, and beyond.  We've grown through strategic acquisitions and deep product investment. What connects all of it is a single purpose: give public safety agencies the tools and insights to make better decisions in high-stakes moments. 

The Senior Manager, Payroll and People Operations is a hands-on leader who owns payroll, benefits, leaves, compensation, and HR operations across Versaterm's U.S., Canadian, and Quebec entities. This role combines close, working oversight of payroll — able to personally step in and run a pay cycle when needed — with building a reliable, well-run People Operations function and a structured, well-managed approach to compensation and benefits. AI is a standard part of how this role gets work done, the same way it's used across the organization today. Reporting to the CHRO, the Senior Manager leads execution, day-to-day program management, and compliance accountability across the full scope of the role. 

Payroll Leadership 

• →Own accurate, timely payroll processing — semi-monthly for U.S. and Canadian entities, biweekly for Quebec — including ad hoc payments, commissions, and bonuses.  

• →Maintain the ability to personally step in and run a full payroll cycle in any entity; this is a working leadership role, not a purely administrative one.  

• →Ensure compliance with federal, state, provincial, and Quebec-specific payroll tax regulations, including statutory and year-end filings (e.g., W-2s, T4s, T4As, RL-1s, T2200s), and maintain accurate state/provincial tax registrations and agency accounts.  

• →Act as data steward and primary partner to the payroll vendor (ADP) and own the Employer of Record (EOR) relationship (Rippling) for countries outside of North America;  

• →Support payroll and benefits integration for newly acquired entities as needed.  

• →Own payroll budgeting, forecasting, and internal controls — including recurring data validation and audit practices — and document processes to reduce key-person dependencies. 

Benefits & Leave Program Ownership 

• →Own the benefits program — health insurance, retirement plans, and related offerings — including plan design, vendor/broker strategy, renewals, rates, administrative standards, and escalation for vendors and third-party administrators.  

• →Own the leave management program end-to-end: policy design, jurisdictional compliance, and personal ownership of complex or high-risk cases.  

• →Ensure benefits and leave administration comply with applicable regulations — including ACA, ERISA, COBRA, FMLA, ADA, and Section 125, and Canadian/Quebec equivalents (ESA, EI, CPP, CNESST) — as well as privacy requirements for employee health information.   

• →Lead annual open enrollment across US and Canadian entities, including employee communications, education, and enrollment support in collaboration with benefits brokerages. 

HR Operations & Systems 

• →Own the HRIS (BambooHR) as system administrator, ensuring data integrity, clean workflows, and reliable reporting. 

• →Own People & Culture policy and compliance programs ensuring they are effective, well-documented, and audit-ready. 

• →Drive continuous improvement in HR service delivery, standardizing processes and closing gaps in the employee and manager experience. 

• →Use AI as a standard working tool across the role — for payroll and benefits analysis, compensation modeling, policy drafting, and reporting. 

Governance & Reporting 

• →Oversee recordkeeping and retention for payroll, benefits, and HR files in line with privacy requirements. 

• →Manage budgets across payroll, benefits, and HR operations, monitoring and reconciling spend. 

• →Support internal and external audits related to payroll, benefits, and HR operations. 

• →Support required workforce reporting (e.g., EEO-1) by maintaining accurate job classification data. 

Compensation & Total Rewards 

• →Administer and maintain the compensation framework — pay bands, job classification, and market benchmarking — in partnership with the CHRO.  

• →Support the annual compensation cycle, including budget planning, calibration, and recommendations for new hires, promotions, and equity adjustments.  

• →Ensure compensation practices comply with pay equity and pay transparency requirements across applicable jurisdictions. 

People Leadership 

• →Manage, coach, and develop a team across payroll and People & Culture operations, acting as both a player and a coach, and support team member professional growth.  

• →Partner cross-functionally with Finance, HR Business Partners, IT, and the CHRO.  

• →Provide front-line and escalated support to employees on payroll, benefits, leave, and compensation matters.  

• →Model discretion and confidentiality in handling sensitive employee and compensation information. 

Other Duties as Required 

• →Perform other related duties as assigned to support team objectives, departmental needs, and overall organizational priorities. 

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field preferred; PLP or CPP designation, or actively working toward one. 

• 10+ years of progressive payroll, benefits, and HR operations experience, including multi-entity, cross-border (U.S./Canada) operations; Quebec payroll experience is a strong asset. 

• A minimum of 3-5 years of demonstrated people leadership experience  

• In-depth knowledge of U.S. and Canadian payroll, tax, and benefits regulations, and familiarity with pay equity and pay transparency requirements. 

• Working knowledge of compensation practices and benchmarking, or strong aptitude and motivation to build this capability. 

• Experience owning or administering an HRIS (BambooHR or similar); comfortable as a technical system owner, not just an end user. 

• Familiarity with Employer of Record (EOR) arrangements (Rippling or similar) and job classification/FLSA exemption analysis is an asset. 

• A genuine, daily user of AI tools (Claude, Copilot) in your own work — for research, drafting, analysis, and problem-solving. AI should already be part of how you work, not something you're learning on the job. 

• Prior experience operating as both a player and a coach — comfortable personally executing a payroll run, not just managing others who do. 

• Strong vendor management and project management skills. 

• High degree of discretion and professionalism in handling confidential payroll, benefits, and compensation information. 

• Excellent communication and organizational skills; able to manage several complex priorities simultaneously under deadline pressure.