Citywide Payroll Director - Controller's Office

Job Description

Under executive direction of the Controller or designated Deputy Controller, the Citywide Payroll Director provides strategic leadership, executive management, and operational oversight of the City and County of San Francisco's centralized payroll administration and processing functions.

The Director is responsible for ensuring the accurate, timely, secure, and compliant processing and disbursement of employee compensation and related payroll obligations across City departments. This includes oversight of the City's PeopleSoft payroll processing environment, payroll calculation and validation, final payroll output reporting, financial reconciliations, payroll tax administration, payroll-related system interfaces, and coordination of payroll disbursements for approximately 35,000 employees.  The Payroll Director is responsible for the quality, accuracy and production of about 1 million payroll checks per year, amounting to the disbursement of $6 billion of salaries and benefits annually. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Executive Leadership and Strategic Management

• Provide executive leadership, strategic direction, and overall management of the Citywide Payroll Division, ensuring accurate, efficient, and compliant payroll services across City departments.
• Plan, organize, direct, and evaluate divisional operations, staffing, resource allocation, performance objectives, and service delivery standards.
• Develop and implement strategic initiatives to strengthen payroll accuracy, operational efficiency, system reliability, and organizational effectiveness.
• Lead, develop, and supervise management and professional staff through performance management, succession planning, workforce development, and continuous improvement.

Citywide Payroll Operations and Administration

• Direct and oversee the accurate and timely execution of citywide payroll processing, including regular and supplemental payrolls, retroactive adjustments, special payments, and year-end activities.
• Ensure the accuracy and timely completion of PeopleSoft payroll calculations, final output reports, system interface files, and coordination of employee compensation disbursements.
• Oversee validation and reconciliation of payroll earnings, deductions, benefits-related transactions, leave balances, and complex compensation provisions, including overtime, premium pay, and negotiated adjustments.
• Establish citywide payroll processing standards, quality controls, and operational procedures; coordinate with departments to ensure accurate payroll inputs and timely resolution of processing discrepancies.

PeopleSoft Payroll Systems Governance and Technology Oversight

• Provide executive oversight of the City's PeopleSoft payroll system, related applications, interfaces, reporting tools, and data integrity to ensure secure, reliable, and accurate payroll processing.
• Direct the interpretation and implementation of labor MOUs, compensation provisions, regulatory requirements, and policy changes into payroll system rules and configurations.
• Establish governance and quality assurance procedures for system changes, including requirements analysis, testing, validation, approvals, and implementation.
• Collaborate with technology teams and City departments to advance system enhancements, automation, modernization, data security, and analytical reporting capabilities.

Labor Agreement Implementation and Regulatory Compliance

• Direct the accurate and consistent implementation of payroll-related provisions in collective bargaining agreements and labor MOUs across the City's represented workforce.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal and state laws, payroll tax regulations, the City Charter, Civil Service Commission Rules, local ordinances, and City personnel policies.
• Partner with DHR, Employee Relations, the City Attorney's Office, and departmental leadership to interpret complex compensation provisions and assess payroll impacts of labor negotiations and regulatory changes.
• Establish compliance monitoring procedures, maintain current payroll policies, coordinate regulatory reviews, and address legal, financial, and operational risks.

Payroll Tax Administration and Financial Accountability

• Direct payroll tax administration, including accurate withholding, reconciliation, reporting, timely remittance, and required year-end employee tax documentation.
• Oversee the accurate recording and reconciliation of payroll expenditures, liabilities, deductions, and employer contributions with the City's financial accounting systems.
• Establish financial controls and reconciliation procedures to identify discrepancies, prevent improper payments, and ensure compliance with reporting and audit requirements.
• Collaborate with the Controller's accounting and financial reporting functions to resolve complex payroll financial issues and advise executive leadership on significant financial exposures and compliance risks.

Internal Controls, Audit Readiness, and Risk Management

• Establish and maintain comprehensive internal controls governing payroll authorization, processing, reconciliation, reporting, and disbursement.
• Direct risk-based monitoring and quality assurance activities to identify payroll errors, unauthorized transactions, control weaknesses, and systemic operational risks.
• Coordinate payroll-related internal and external audits, regulatory reviews, corrective action plans, and implementation of audit recommendations.
• Monitor payroll risk indicators, ensure appropriate segregation of duties and documentation, and report significant control deficiencies and corrective actions to executive leadership.

Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, and Emergency Payroll Operations

• Develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive payroll business continuity and disaster recovery plan to ensure timely payroll processing during major system failures, disasters, cybersecurity incidents, or other emergencies.
• Establish contingency procedures, alternate processing methods, emergency authorization protocols, backup staffing arrangements, and recovery priorities.
• Coordinate with City technology, cybersecurity, emergency management, and financial operations teams to assess vulnerabilities and periodically test payroll recovery capabilities.
• Provide executive leadership during payroll emergencies, directing incident response, stakeholder communications, service restoration, and post-incident improvements.

Citywide Policy Development and Interdepartmental Coordination

• Serve as the Controller's Office principal executive advisor on citywide payroll administration, operational policies, regulatory developments, and strategic initiatives.
• Collaborate with the Mayor's Office, DHR, City Attorney's Office, Treasurer and Tax Collector, and departmental executives to address complex payroll matters and evaluate policy impacts.
• Develop and recommend citywide payroll policies, administrative standards, and operational improvements to promote consistency, compliance, and effective service delivery.
• Lead interdepartmental initiatives, resolve sensitive payroll issues, and present policy recommendations, operational assessments, and financial implications to senior City leadership.

Budget Administration and Resource Management

• Develop, administer, and monitor the Citywide Payroll Division's operating budget, staffing plans, technology investments, and resource requirements.
• Prepare budget proposals, fiscal analyses, and resource recommendations to support operational priorities and long-term strategic objectives.
• Evaluate financial and operational impacts of new payroll mandates, labor agreements, technology changes, and evolving service demands.
• Oversee applicable contracts and vendor performance, identify cost-saving opportunities, and ensure responsible stewardship of public resources.

Performance Management, Innovation, and Continuous Improvement

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators measuring payroll accuracy, processing timeliness, compliance, system reliability, operational efficiency, and customer service.
• Analyze payroll trends, processing exceptions, and operational data to identify systemic issues, mitigate risks, and improve service delivery.
• Lead business process improvements, automation initiatives, workflow standardization, and technology enhancements to strengthen payroll operations.
• Promote organizational learning through staff development, procedural guidance, knowledge sharing, and regular executive reporting on performance and strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, preferably with major coursework in business administration, accounting, finance or a closely related field; AND  

Six (6) years of recent progressively responsible experience managing & administering the activities of a large complex automated payroll system or related payroll / human resource function, all of which must include supervising subordinate payroll staff.

Substitution:  Applicants may substitute the required education with additional qualifying experience on a year to year basis.  One year (2000 hours) of additional qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units.

Desirable Qualifications: 

We are seeking a skilled individual with enterprise operation expertise and leadership experience to focus on operational efficiency, and to facilitate cross-functional collaboration to drive technology transformation aligned with the City’s vision, mission, and core values. 

The ideal and most competitive candidates will demonstrate: 

• Stakeholder engagement experience, and the strong ability to effectively present to City leadership and the public, through excellent verbal and written communication. 
• Thorough knowledge of city/county government operations such as payroll, budgets, resource management, HR processes, and labor bargaining union rules. 
• Thorough knowledge and experience in managing PeopleSoft Payroll System. 
• Thorough knowledge of Federal, State and local regulations pertaining to payroll.
• Proven knowledge of human resources, benefits administration, and payroll principles, processes and practices.
• Six (6) years payroll management experience in a public or nonprofit organization.
• Emergency Preparedness, Response and/or Recovery experience in the area of digital payroll processing systems or payroll operations.
• Current Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification designation.

SELECTION PLAN
Interviews:  Selected candidates will be invited to participate in one or more interviews at the Controller’s Office.

Additional Information

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Recruitment Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact Vicente Centeno at [email protected]

Additional Information:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.