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. 

• 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. 

• 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. 

Note: This position requires a security clearance from the Government of Canada. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Canada and must successfully obtain and maintain a Reliability security clearance. Please note that specific customer contracts may impose additional security verification requirements. Obtaining and maintaining all required security clearances is a condition of employment. For more information on the Government of Canada's security screening process, please visit Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Versaterm is committed to fair and equitable compensation that is competitive, consistent, and aligned with the value each role contributes to our organization. The starting salary for this position will be dependent upon many factors, such as the successful candidate’s skills, experience, education, training as well as internal equity, market data, and business needs. In addition to base salary and our comprehensive benefits offering, some roles may also be eligible for variable compensation such as incentive plans or discretionary performance bonuses.