Payroll Manager Jobs in California

Location: La Palma, CA
Employment Type: Full-Time / Exempt
Language: Korean / English Bilingual Required

About the Job

FNS, Inc. is seeking an experienced HR Operations Manager to lead and strengthen our core HR operations, with primary responsibility for payroll, benefits, HRIS, compliance, and process improvement.

This role is ideal for a hands-on HR professional who has extensive experience managing multi-state payroll and benefits administration, including annual benefit renewals and open enrollment, and who has strong working knowledge of ADP Workforce Now.

The HR Operations Manager will not only ensure accurate and compliant day-to-day HR operations, but will also be expected to identify inefficient or manual processes and develop more streamlined, standardized, and technology-enabled solutions.

This position will work closely with HR leadership, Finance, regional management, brokers, vendors, and other business partners and will supervise members of the HR Operations team.

Responsibilities

Payroll & HR Operations

• Lead and oversee end-to-end multi-state payroll operations for exempt and non-exempt employees.
• Review payroll for accuracy, including regular wages, overtime, bonuses, shift differentials, deductions, garnishments, PTO, and employee status changes.
• Manage payroll reconciliations, audits, corrections, off-cycle payments, and payroll-related reporting.
• Partner with Finance/Accounting on payroll reconciliation, labor cost reporting, month-end activities, and related HR financial data.
• Ensure payroll practices remain compliant with applicable federal, state, and local wage and hour requirements.

Benefits Administration

• Lead administration of employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), and other benefit programs.
• Manage the annual benefits renewal and open enrollment process from beginning to end, including employee census review, plan comparison, contribution analysis, employee communication, enrollment, and implementation.
• Serve as a primary HR contact for benefit brokers, insurance carriers, retirement plan providers, and other HR vendors.
• Review benefit invoices, eligibility, deductions, enrollments, and carrier data to identify and resolve discrepancies.
• Support benefits compliance, audits, reporting, and employee escalations.

ADP / HRIS Management

• Serve as an internal ADP Workforce Now subject matter expert and primary point of contact for HR system-related issues.
• Maintain and improve HRIS configuration, workflows, reporting, employee data, security access, payroll interfaces, and related processes.
• Identify opportunities to better utilize existing ADP functionality and reduce manual HR administration.
• Troubleshoot system and data issues and work directly with ADP or other vendors when necessary.
• Maintain strong data integrity through regular audits and reconciliation.

Process Improvement & HR Technology

• Review existing HR processes and identify opportunities to simplify, automate, standardize, or eliminate unnecessary manual work.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, checklists, controls, approval workflows, and HR operational standards.
• Utilize technology, automation, reporting tools, and AI-enabled productivity tools where appropriate to improve HR efficiency, while maintaining confidentiality, accuracy, and appropriate data security.
• Support implementation or enhancement of HR systems and integrations.
• Build practical HR dashboards and recurring reports to help management understand workforce, payroll, benefit, and labor-cost trends.

HR Compliance & Team Leadership

• Maintain working knowledge of federal and multi-state employment requirements affecting payroll, benefits, records, and HR operations.
• Ensure employee records and HR processes are accurate, consistent, confidential, and audit-ready.
• Supervise and develop HR Operations team members and establish clear ownership and internal controls.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex payroll, benefits, HRIS, and HR operations matters.
• Partner with regional HR and business leaders to ensure consistent HR operational practices across locations.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive HR experience, with significant hands-on responsibility in payroll, benefits, and HR operations.
• Hands-on experience managing payroll for 300+ employees.
• Strong experience independently managing payroll and benefits administration.
• Hands-on experience with annual benefits renewal and open enrollment.
• Advanced working knowledge of ADP Workforce Now (WFN) required.
• Experience supporting multi-state payroll and HR operations.
• Strong understanding of payroll, wage and hour, benefits, and HR compliance requirements.
• Strong Excel skills, including PivotTables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, reconciliation, and data analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to identify operational issues and improve processes rather than simply maintain existing procedures.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to handle confidential employee and compensation information.
• Ability to communicate professionally in both Korean and English.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing benefit broker and vendor relationships.
• Experience with payroll/benefit audits, 401(k) administration, workers' compensation, and HR financial reconciliation.
• Experience implementing, configuring, or optimizing ADP Workforce Now or another HRIS.
• Experience building HR reports, dashboards, or workforce analytics.
• Familiarity with process automation, workflow tools, or responsible use of AI tools in HR operations.
• Experience supervising or mentoring HR Operations staff.

The base salary range for this role is between $95,000 - $115,000 yearly, and your base salary will depend on your experiences, qualifications, and skills.