Payroll Operations Manager

Cognition
San Francisco, New York, Austin
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeFunction: Business OperationsExperience: 5+ yearsSkills: ["Cross-functional collaboration","Process improvement","Vendor management","Attention to detail","Judgment"]

Own and scale global payroll end-to-end for employees, contractors, and commission recipients across the U.S. and international jurisdictions. You’ll manage domestic and international payroll tax compliance and withholding, administer 401(k) and payroll deductions, handle complex compensation (commissions, bonuses, taxable benefits), and coordinate vendor and partner relationships. Partner closely with Finance, Accounting, People Operations, Tax, and Legal to improve controls, automation, accuracy, and employee experience.

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FursaFursa
Cognition
Cognition
23 hours ago

Payroll Operations Manager

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Last checked: 4 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Own and scale global payroll end-to-end for employees, contractors, and commission recipients across the U.S. and international jurisdictions. You’ll manage domestic and international payroll tax compliance and withholding, administer 401(k) and payroll deductions, handle complex compensation (commissions, bonuses, taxable benefits), and coordinate vendor and partner relationships. Partner closely with Finance, Accounting, People Operations, Tax, and Legal to improve controls, automation, accuracy, and employee experience.
Location: San Francisco, New York, Austin
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Business Operations
Seniority: Manager level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Own global payroll end-to-end for employees, contractors, and commission recipients across the U.S. and international jurisdictions, ensuring accurate and on-time processing each cycle.
  • •Build for scale by designing and improving systems, automation, controls, and documentation to increase payroll volume without proportional effort.
  • •Manage vendors and partners, including relationships with payroll providers, EORs, and benefits administrators, ensuring high standards for accuracy, compliance, and service.
  • •Own payroll tax compliance by coordinating payroll tax registrations, withholding, deposits, filings, reconciliations, and tax notice resolution, including cross-border scenarios.
  • •Administer key programs and complex compensation through payroll systems, including 401(k) contributions/deductions, contractor payments, garnishments, and the correct payroll treatment of commissions, bonuses, taxable benefits, relocation, and other compensation.

Key Requirements

  • •5+ years in payroll, accounting operations, or finance operations, including ownership of complex payroll in a high-growth environment.
  • •Deep domestic and international payroll experience, including meaningful exposure to international payroll and EORs/global payroll providers.
  • •Strong US payroll tax compliance experience (federal, state, local withholding, deposits, filings, reconciliations, and tax notices).
  • •International payroll tax knowledge, with judgment to coordinate with local providers, Tax, Legal, and external advisors.
  • •Fluency with enterprise payroll platforms (ADP, Workday, Rippling, or similar) and ability to improve processes and manage vendors/partners; based in San Francisco and able to work from the office 5 days per week.
Experience:5+ yearsPayrollAccounting operationsFinance operationsGlobal payrollEORInternational payroll
Skills:Cross-functional collaborationProcess improvementVendor managementAttention to detailJudgment
Tech Stack:ADPWorkdayRipplingEOR401(k)

Company Brief

Cognition
Builds Devin, an autonomous AI software engineer and AI-native developer tools (Windsurf, DeepWiki) to automate software engineering workflows for enterprise customers.
Industry: Developer Tools
Company Size: Medium (51 to 250 employees)
Revenue: USD 50M to 100M
Growth: Scaleup
Valuation: Unicorn (USD 1B+)
Funding: Series C
Headquarters: San Francisco, United States
Founded: 2023
Glassdoor
Glassdoor: 4.7
WebsiteLinkedInGlassdoor