Description
At Electronic Arts, our mission is to inspire the world to play. As Senior Manager, Payroll, you will lead payroll operations for the United States and Canada, reporting to the Director, Shared Services & Financial Solutions. You will guide a team of 9 payroll professionals in a hybrid work model, collaborating with us in the Redwood Shores office three days a week.
Your primary responsibilities will include overseeing end-to-end payroll processing for US and Canadian operations, ensuring accurate and timely payroll for all employees and compliance with all regulations. You will also own monitoring of regulatory changes (US federal/state, CRA, provincial updates), manage and improve payroll systems, processes, and procedures, increasing efficiency and reducing risk across our organization.
Additionally, you will partner with People Experience (PE), Finance, Legal, and external vendors to support our goals, provide payroll expertise, and maintain strong relationships with payroll system providers. You will own reporting of payroll data analytics, reporting, and KPI to management (e.g., accuracy rates, cycle times, error rates).
You will lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing payroll team, promoting professional growth and knowledge sharing through regular feedback and training programs. You will be responsible for workforce planning and capacity management of team, own payroll strategy and roadmap (e.g. automation, scalability, global alignment), and be accountable for SOX compliance, audit readiness, and internal controls.
You will also be responsible for managing employee payroll experience (self-service tools, issue resolution SLAs etc.). The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field; Pathways Certification (US) and Professional Certification in Payroll (PCP)/Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) (Canada) certifications desired.
The candidate should have 10+ years of progressive payroll experience, including 3+ years managing multi-jurisdictional payrolls in the US and Canada. They should also have experience with payroll systems implementation and improvement projects; proficiency with payroll operations and advanced Excel skills.
Expert knowledge of US and Canadian payroll regulations, tax laws, and compliance requirements, with a track record of maintaining internal controls and audit procedures is required. Experience leading payroll transformation, M&A integration, or global expansion is also preferred.
The candidate should have experience with integrations (HRIS, ERP, timekeeping systems like Workday, Oracle, UKG Pro, etc.), exposure to automation tools (RPA, AI-assisted payroll validation) is preferred, and experience managing escalations and sensitive payroll issues (executive pay, equity, terminations).
Executive-level communication and ability to influence senior leadership is essential. Experience managing geographically distributed teams (US + Canada) and experience in publicly traded or multinational companies is also desired.