Mid Level Payroll Manager Jobs
Mid level payroll manager jobs go to professionals ready to own payroll cycles end to end, resolve compliance issues independently, and guide junior staff without constant oversight. Openings cover 40% remote and hybrid settings across Technology & Software, Retail, and Education, with employers like Intuit, EY, and Glex hiring at this level now.
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Showing 5 of 18+ Mid Level Payroll Manager jobs
Overview
Intuit's QuickBooks Workforce platform calculates, files, and pays payroll taxes on behalf of hundreds of thousands of small and mid-market business customers. This includes an increasingly complex and growing portfolio of tax jurisdictions each with unique filing methods, forms, payment requirements, and schedules.
The Senior Payroll Compliance Manager - Payroll Tax Specialist owns the health and accuracy of this portfolio. You will be the connective tissue between tax agencies, engineering teams, and operations — responsible for detecting when requirements change, translating those changes into product actions, maintaining the source-of-truth data that the broader team relies on, and ensuring that recurring compliance obligations are executed reliably. You will not only execute within this portfolio but help design the systems and standards that make it scalable and auditable over time.
You will support payroll tax compliance work as the team's needs evolve. We are actively building toward automation and tooling that will reduce the manual burden over time, and you will be a key voice in shaping those capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Compliance Operations Design — Partner with leadership to design and build the intake, tracking, and routing systems that standardize how compliance changes are identified, documented, and acted on. This role helps establish the operational foundation — not just execute within it.
- Compliance Escalation Triage — Serve as the primary intake point for compliance issues reported by the Tax Operations team. Diagnose root cause, prioritize, and route to the correct team for resolution. Identify patterns across issues and proactively propose systemic fixes.
- Agency Mandate Monitoring & Response — Monitor agencies for changes specific to forms, filing frequencies, and filing specifications — using authenticated agency portals, direct agency contact, and form comparison tools. Assess the impact of each change on QuickBooks Workforce customers and internal systems and create actionable work items.
- Requirements Documentation — Write clear, technically accurate requirements for engineering teams, including file format specifications, agency contact details, go-live dates, and customer impact. Track implementation through to release and confirm go-live with the agency where needed.
- Agency Requirements Database — Own and maintain the master database of all supported tax jurisdictions: filing methods, forms, amendment instructions, account ID requirements, agency contacts, and system update history. Ensure accuracy through regular review cycles, not just point-in-time updates.
- Agency Data Exchange — Define and maintain the rules, file formats, and requirements that govern agency data exchange across supported jurisdictions. Evaluate and implement updates as states introduce new data feeds, expand scope, or change requirements.
- Agency Relationship Management — Maintain working relationships with contacts at key tax agencies, particularly those with complex or frequently changing requirements. Serve as the compliance escalation point when agency-level notifications require direct engagement on filings, forms, or payment specifications.
- Documentation & Audit Readiness — Develop and maintain compliance documentation and artifacts that support audit readiness, regulatory traceability, and shared understanding across the team. Ensure no single person holds critical institutional knowledge alone.
Working in new ways with AI
- Explore, experiment with, and adopt AI-powered tools to enhance the breadth, depth, and scale of compliance monitoring, research, and documentation — including AI-assisted inbox triage, regulatory summarization, and jurisdiction coverage expansion.
- Partner with the team to evaluate AI-generated compliance detections, applying regulatory expertise to validate and act on AI-surfaced notifications — and providing feedback that improves the quality of automated monitoring over time.
- Use AI tools as a daily research partner to accelerate analysis, summarize complex agency guidance, and generate first-draft compliance documentation — applying sound judgment to review, verify, and refine AI outputs before use.
- Identify recurring manual tasks that are candidates for automation, document them clearly, and partner with engineering to build durable solutions that reduce operational fragility.
Qualifications
- Proven Expertise: 3+ years of experience in payroll tax compliance, tax operations, or a closely related field — ideally at a payroll service provider or financial technology company. Working knowledge of payroll tax filing requirements, including multiple deposit frequencies, reconciliation processes, and year-end filing requirements.
- Technical Acumen: Ability to read and interpret tax agency specifications (NACHA format, EFW2, agency-specific file layouts) and translate them into clear requirements for engineering teams. Familiarity with payroll tax processing systems and compliance platforms is a strong plus.
- Data-Driven and AI-First Mindset: Ability to gather, analyze, and utilize data to assess compliance status and drive decisions. Familiarity with AI/ML concepts and how to leverage them in a compliance setting. Hands-on experience using generative AI tools (such as Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) for research, writing, or workflow automation is a plus.
- Exceptional Communicator: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate regulatory requirements clearly for technical and non-technical audiences alike. Comfortable writing detailed requirements, process documentation, agency correspondence, and internal status updates.
- Organized and Detail-Oriented: Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple concurrent open items across many jurisdictions without missing deadlines. Comfortable working cross-functionally with engineering, product, and operations teams, often without direct authority over the timeline or outcome.
- Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
Preferred
- Experience with tax jurisdictions, including varying filing methods, form structures, and agency-specific requirements.
- Experience designing or improving compliance workflows, intake processes, or operational documentation standards.
- Familiarity with structured agency data exchange formats such as EFW2, NACHA, or agency-specific file specifications.
- Experience preparing compliance documentation for internal or external audits, including regulatory traceability artifacts.
- Exposure to automation tools and scripting, and an interest in reducing manual work through tooling.
- Experience partnering with engineering or product teams to translate compliance requirements into system implementations.
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred.
Intuit provides a competitive compensation package with a strong pay for performance rewards approach. This position will be eligible for a cash bonus, equity rewards and benefits, in accordance with our applicable plans and programs (see more about our compensation and benefits at Intuit®: Careers | Benefits). Pay offered is based on factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location. To drive ongoing fair pay for employees, Intuit conducts regular comparisons across categories of ethnicity and gender.
The expected base pay range for this position is:
California Remote (Bay Area) $137,000- $185,500
Colorado Remote $119,000- $161,000
Hawaii Remote $125,000- $169,000
Illinois Remote $119,000- $161,000
Maryland Remote $119,000- $161,000
Massachusetts Remote $125,000- $169,000
Minnesota Remote $107,000- $145,000
New Jersey Remote $125,000- $169,000
Ohio Remote $107,000- $145,000
Vermont Remote $119,000- $161,000
Washington Remote $125,000- $169,000
Washington, DC Remote $119,000- $161,000
Overview
Intuit's QuickBooks Workforce platform calculates, files, and pays payroll taxes on behalf of hundreds of thousands of small and mid-market business customers. This includes an increasingly complex and growing portfolio of tax jurisdictions each with unique filing methods, forms, payment requirements, and schedules.
The Senior Payroll Compliance Manager - Payroll Tax Specialist owns the health and accuracy of this portfolio. You will be the connective tissue between tax agencies, engineering teams, and operations — responsible for detecting when requirements change, translating those changes into product actions, maintaining the source-of-truth data that the broader team relies on, and ensuring that recurring compliance obligations are executed reliably. You will not only execute within this portfolio but help design the systems and standards that make it scalable and auditable over time.
You will support payroll tax compliance work as the team's needs evolve. We are actively building toward automation and tooling that will reduce the manual burden over time, and you will be a key voice in shaping those capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Compliance Operations Design — Partner with leadership to design and build the intake, tracking, and routing systems that standardize how compliance changes are identified, documented, and acted on. This role helps establish the operational foundation — not just execute within it.
- Compliance Escalation Triage — Serve as the primary intake point for compliance issues reported by the Tax Operations team. Diagnose root cause, prioritize, and route to the correct team for resolution. Identify patterns across issues and proactively propose systemic fixes.
- Agency Mandate Monitoring & Response — Monitor agencies for changes specific to forms, filing frequencies, and filing specifications — using authenticated agency portals, direct agency contact, and form comparison tools. Assess the impact of each change on QuickBooks Workforce customers and internal systems and create actionable work items.
- Requirements Documentation — Write clear, technically accurate requirements for engineering teams, including file format specifications, agency contact details, go-live dates, and customer impact. Track implementation through to release and confirm go-live with the agency where needed.
- Agency Requirements Database — Own and maintain the master database of all supported tax jurisdictions: filing methods, forms, amendment instructions, account ID requirements, agency contacts, and system update history. Ensure accuracy through regular review cycles, not just point-in-time updates.
- Agency Data Exchange — Define and maintain the rules, file formats, and requirements that govern agency data exchange across supported jurisdictions. Evaluate and implement updates as states introduce new data feeds, expand scope, or change requirements.
- Agency Relationship Management — Maintain working relationships with contacts at key tax agencies, particularly those with complex or frequently changing requirements. Serve as the compliance escalation point when agency-level notifications require direct engagement on filings, forms, or payment specifications.
- Documentation & Audit Readiness — Develop and maintain compliance documentation and artifacts that support audit readiness, regulatory traceability, and shared understanding across the team. Ensure no single person holds critical institutional knowledge alone.
Working in new ways with AI
- Explore, experiment with, and adopt AI-powered tools to enhance the breadth, depth, and scale of compliance monitoring, research, and documentation — including AI-assisted inbox triage, regulatory summarization, and jurisdiction coverage expansion.
- Partner with the team to evaluate AI-generated compliance detections, applying regulatory expertise to validate and act on AI-surfaced notifications — and providing feedback that improves the quality of automated monitoring over time.
- Use AI tools as a daily research partner to accelerate analysis, summarize complex agency guidance, and generate first-draft compliance documentation — applying sound judgment to review, verify, and refine AI outputs before use.
- Identify recurring manual tasks that are candidates for automation, document them clearly, and partner with engineering to build durable solutions that reduce operational fragility.
Qualifications
- Proven Expertise: 3+ years of experience in payroll tax compliance, tax operations, or a closely related field — ideally at a payroll service provider or financial technology company. Working knowledge of payroll tax filing requirements, including multiple deposit frequencies, reconciliation processes, and year-end filing requirements.
- Technical Acumen: Ability to read and interpret tax agency specifications (NACHA format, EFW2, agency-specific file layouts) and translate them into clear requirements for engineering teams. Familiarity with payroll tax processing systems and compliance platforms is a strong plus.
- Data-Driven and AI-First Mindset: Ability to gather, analyze, and utilize data to assess compliance status and drive decisions. Familiarity with AI/ML concepts and how to leverage them in a compliance setting. Hands-on experience using generative AI tools (such as Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) for research, writing, or workflow automation is a plus.
- Exceptional Communicator: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate regulatory requirements clearly for technical and non-technical audiences alike. Comfortable writing detailed requirements, process documentation, agency correspondence, and internal status updates.
- Organized and Detail-Oriented: Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple concurrent open items across many jurisdictions without missing deadlines. Comfortable working cross-functionally with engineering, product, and operations teams, often without direct authority over the timeline or outcome.
- Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
Preferred
- Experience with tax jurisdictions, including varying filing methods, form structures, and agency-specific requirements.
- Experience designing or improving compliance workflows, intake processes, or operational documentation standards.
- Familiarity with structured agency data exchange formats such as EFW2, NACHA, or agency-specific file specifications.
- Experience preparing compliance documentation for internal or external audits, including regulatory traceability artifacts.
- Exposure to automation tools and scripting, and an interest in reducing manual work through tooling.
- Experience partnering with engineering or product teams to translate compliance requirements into system implementations.
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation preferred.
Intuit provides a competitive compensation package with a strong pay for performance rewards approach. This position will be eligible for a cash bonus, equity rewards and benefits, in accordance with our applicable plans and programs (see more about our compensation and benefits at Intuit®: Careers | Benefits). Pay offered is based on factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location. To drive ongoing fair pay for employees, Intuit conducts regular comparisons across categories of ethnicity and gender.
The expected base pay range for this position is:
California Remote (Bay Area) $137,000- $185,500
Colorado Remote $119,000- $161,000
Hawaii Remote $125,000- $169,000
Illinois Remote $119,000- $161,000
Maryland Remote $119,000- $161,000
Massachusetts Remote $125,000- $169,000
Minnesota Remote $107,000- $145,000
New Jersey Remote $125,000- $169,000
Ohio Remote $107,000- $145,000
Vermont Remote $119,000- $161,000
Washington Remote $125,000- $169,000
Washington, DC Remote $119,000- $161,000
See All 18 Mid Level Payroll Manager Jobs
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Find JobsMid Level Payroll Manager Job Market
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Retail
- Education
- Manufacturing
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Mid Level Payroll Manager Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a mid level payroll manager job?
Position your experience around ownership, not just task completion. Highlight payroll runs you have managed independently, compliance issues you have resolved, and any process improvements you have driven. Tailor your resume to show that you can operate with limited oversight, handle multi-state or multi-entity payroll, and troubleshoot discrepancies before they escalate. A strong working knowledge of a major payroll platform is expected at this stage.
Which companies hire mid level payroll managers?
Companies hiring mid level payroll managers right now include Intuit, EY, and Glex, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Mid-size and large organizations with sizable workforces tend to hire at this level because they need payroll professionals who can run independently, not just support a more senior manager.
Are there remote mid level payroll manager jobs?
Yes, and the share is meaningful. About 40% of mid level payroll manager openings are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how broadly employers have accepted distributed payroll teams. Fully remote roles often require stronger self-direction and comfort with cloud-based payroll systems, since you won't have a team nearby for quick questions.
How do I move up to a mid level payroll manager role?
The path into mid level typically involves moving from processing support tasks to owning entire payroll cycles, including audits, reconciliations, and tax filings. Building depth in a major payroll platform, taking on multi-state payroll, and demonstrating that you can catch and correct errors before escalation all signal readiness. Measurable impact, like reducing error rates or cutting processing time, strengthens the case for promotion or a lateral move upward.
Which industries hire the most mid level payroll managers?
Mid Level payroll manager roles concentrate in Technology & Software, Retail, and Education, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. These sectors tend to have large, distributed workforces with complex pay structures, which creates consistent demand for payroll professionals who can manage compliance and accuracy without close supervision.