Director of Payroll and Total Rewards (Finance)

Position Summary

The Director of Payroll and Total Rewards is a strategic leader responsible for the compliant, efficient, and future-focused administration of payroll, benefits, retirement, and timekeeping programs across the organization. This role plays a critical part in enhancing the employee experience, optimizing HR technology, and aligning total rewards with broader business and workforce strategies. Reporting to the Chief People Officer (CPO), the Director drives operational innovation and leads with a people-centered approach to rewards and recognition. As the organization's subject matter expert in total compensation and systems integration, this leader ensures continuous improvement and enterprise-wide alignment.

• Location: Van Nuys, CA | Hybrid (Onsite presence at least 3 days per week)
• Compensation: $167,500 - $211,000 per year.

Duties and Responsibilities

Payroll Strategy and Operations

• Provide strategic leadership and hands-on oversight of enterprise-wide payroll operations to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant compensation across all employee populations.
• Champion automation and continuous improvement of payroll processes through advanced use of Workday and integrated HRIS/Finance platforms, reducing manual intervention and cycle times.
• Design and enforce robust internal controls to prevent errors, fraud, and non-compliance, with audit-ready processes and documentation aligned with applicable regulatory standards.
• Lead the resolution of complex payroll challenges, including retroactive payments, garnishments, and multi-state taxation, among others, with accuracy and discretion.
• Partner with internal and external leaders to ensure alignment with all federal, state, and local wage and hour laws.
• Serve as the organization's escalation point for sensitive payroll issues, wage disputes, and labor claims, providing strategic counsel and documentation to mitigate legal and financial exposure.
• Ensure seamless year-end processing, including W-2/1099 distribution, reconciliation, and tax filings, in collaboration with external providers and internal stakeholders.

Total Rewards Design and Optimization

• Partner with the CPO and senior HR leaders to align total rewards operations with long-term organizational goals and workforce strategies.
• Design and continuously enhance a future-ready Total Rewards strategy that integrates compensation, benefits, wellness, recognition, and career growth.
• Lead cross-functional efforts to modernize and optimize the employee lifecycle experience, with a focus on automation, impartiality, compliance, and usability.
• Serve as a trusted thought partner in financial, legal, and technology matters, shaping systems architecture and decision-making frameworks to support compliance and growth.

Benefits Strategy and Administration

• Lead the design, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of holistic benefits programs that support the physical, emotional, financial, and social well-being of a diverse, distributed, multigenerational workforce.
• Align benefits offerings with organizational values, workforce goals, and evolving needs.
• Oversee vendor management, contract negotiations, and service-level agreements to ensure high-quality, cost-effective program delivery.
• Partner with the Finance team to model plan costs, utilization trends, and long-term liabilities to inform funding strategies and annual renewal decisions.
• Leverage data analytics and employee feedback to drive continuous improvement and innovation in offerings.
• Ensure seamless administration through HRIS integration, automated workflows, and user-friendly digital platforms, enabling a personalized and transparent benefits experience.
• Lead annual open enrollment processes, ensuring compliance, clarity, and engagement through targeted communication strategies and self-service tools.
• Serve as a key advisor in resolving complex employee benefit issues, appeals, and escalations with empathy, professionalism, and consistency.
• Maintain full compliance with federal and state regulations while managing audits and reporting requirements with precision and transparency.

HRIS (Workday) Expertise and Process Automation

• Act as the Workday functional lead across Payroll, Absence, Benefits, Time Tracking, and Advanced Compensation modules, ensuring effective configuration, testing, and optimization.
• Lead process redesigns to increase data integrity and automation of manual processes such as payroll runs, benefits enrollment, and compliance reporting. supporting a seamless employee experience and real-time analytics.
• Collaborate with IT and external consultants on roadmap planning, upgrades, and integrations.
• Enable seamless data flow across payroll, benefits, time tracking, finance, and talent systems to support real-time insights and executive decision-making.

Team Leadership and Culture Stewardship

• Manage and develop a team of high-performing professionals in payroll, benefits, and related HRIS responsibilities, fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Support financial, mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing programs as part of CLA's broader employee value proposition.
• Build a culture of excellence, responsiveness, confidentiality, and service orientation within the payroll team, upholding employee trust and organizational reputation.

Risk Management and Compliance

• Serve as the enterprise lead in addressing and mitigating legal exposure related to wage and hour disputes, employee classification, labor audits, and other compensation-related claims, ensuring proactive resolution and minimal financial or reputational risk to the organization.
• Monitor legislation and implement regulatory updates, ensuring alignment with federal, state, and local regulatory requirements, as well as internal policies.
• Develop and enforce controls to safeguard employee data, ensure compliance, and mitigate risk across all programs and systems.
• Lead audit and compliance activities with internal and external stakeholders.

Competencies and Skills

• Create strong customer relations and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• Take on new opportunities and challenges with a sense of urgency and enthusiasm.
• Work collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Communicate a clear understanding of the needs of varied audiences and modes.
• Gain the trust and confidence of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Make good and timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
• Hold self and others accountable to commitments.
• Be results-driven, consistently achieving objectives.
• Be interpersonally savvy, relating openly and comfortably to all people.
• Build teams that apply their diverse perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Use feedback and reflection to gain self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses.
• Apply knowledge of business to advance the organization's goals.
• Optimize work processes, prioritizing efficiency, and continuous improvement.
• Maneuver comfortably through policy and people-related organizational dynamics.
• Actively seeks self-development opportunities and challenges.
• Demonstrate situational adaptability as demands shift in different situations.

Supervisory Responsibilities

The position requires the supervision of various employees including individual contributors and first and/or middle managers.

Essential Job Functions

• Ability to operate designated technology devices and programs.
• Ability to work in the designated office and its environment as well as indoor and outdoor environments within airports including airside facilities, landside facilities, and terminal buildings.
• Must be able to communicate verbally and in writing with internal and external stakeholders in a variety of small and large group settings.
• If needed, must have a reasonable space to work from home/remotely with appropriate office set up.
• Ability to work extended hours and in a flex schedule to meet the demands of the position.
• Able to comply with any and all safety requirements necessary to perform the job safely.
• Ability to maintain regular, punctual attendance consistent with the ADA, FMLA and other federal, state and local standards.

Travel Expectations

Occasional travel may be required. A current passport and other possible travel documentation may be necessary.

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Accounting, or related field. Equivalent combination of education and experience is considered.

• 7+ years of progressive leadership in payroll, benefits, or HR operations within a complex, multi-state organization.

• Expertise and direct, hands-on experience with Workday Payroll, Benefits, Time Tracking, and Advanced Compensation modules.

• Proven track record of leading system implementations, process redesign, or organizational transformation.

• Deep knowledge of employment, payroll, and benefits laws, particularly for the State of California and the County of Los Angeles.

• Proven ability to drive operational execution with precision and efficiency.

• Experience managing day-to-day operations with attention to detail while identifying and implementing process improvements and new ideas to enhance efficiency and results.

• Proven success in change leadership and interpersonal and organizational communication, with experience leading organization-wide initiatives.

• Experience partnering effectively across various departments and business units demonstrating strong cross-functional collaboration and influence skills.  

• Strong commitment to confidentiality, data privacy, and ethical integrity

Preferred Education and Experience

• Master's degree or professional certification (e.g., SPHR, CPP – Certified Payroll Professional, CEBS – Certified Employee Benefit Specialist, CCP – Certified Compensation Professional).

• Experience in aviation or similarly regulated industries.

• Fluency in HR technology systems, including configuration, optimization, and integration.

• Experience leveraging HR data analytics and dashboarding tools to support strategic planning initiatives.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, well-being, and future. This includes medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off, and more.

Disclaimer Statement

Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice. This job description may not cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all assigned activities, duties, or responsibilities, and may be amended at any time. Employees may be required to perform other job-related assignments as requested.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Clay Lacy Aviation provides reasonable accommodation when requested by qualified individuals with disabilities unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. We encourage both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with a representative of the Office of Human Resources.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statements Clay Lacy Aviation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Salary Minimum: 167000Salary Maximum: 211500