Payroll Manager

Location: Remote within Southern California| Occasional work in our Santa Ana office may be required

Want to work for a great company with competitive pay, excellent benefits, and opportunities for career growth? Optimum HR has been voted one of Orange County's Best Places to Work for the past 10 years, and we're looking for an experienced payroll professional and people leader to join our team as Payroll Manager.

Optimum HR provides small and midsize companies with comprehensive human resources services and support. Our team is known for responsive, high-touch service and a collaborative approach to solving problems for our clients.

About the Role

The Payroll Manager leads the payroll team and oversees accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations. This position manages team performance and client workload distribution, resolves escalated client issues, coordinates cross-functional initiatives, and contributes payroll expertise to management planning and strategic decision-making.

What You'll Do

• Lead, coach, and develop the payroll team, setting clear expectations and creating accountability for performance and service.


• Oversee accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing across a complex, multi-client environment.


• Balance team capacity and client workloads based on complexity, deadlines, service needs, and employee strengths.


• Serve as the escalation point for complex payroll and client-service issues, guiding problems through resolution.


• Monitor payroll accuracy, deadlines, service levels, workload, and recurring issues and take action when improvement is needed.


• Lead and support a hybrid team through consistent communication, collaboration, and accountability.


• Partner with departments across the organization on payroll-related projects, system changes, process improvements, and operational issues.


• Bring payroll expertise to management discussions, identifying risks and recommending improvements to staffing, processes, technology, and client service.


• Stay current on payroll practices and applicable federal and state requirements and ensure changes are effectively implemented.

What We're Looking For

• High school diploma or GED required; bachelor's degree in business, accounting, finance, human resources, or a related field preferred.


• Minimum of three years of payroll experience (including complex, multi-state, high-volume, or multi-client payroll processing) and/or minimum of two years of experience directly managing or leading employees (including coaching, performance management, and accountability) preferred


• Experience with payroll and HCM systems; isolved or PEO industry experience preferred


• FPC or Payroll Certification preferred


• Experience handling escalated client issues and communicating complex payroll matters clearly and professionally


• Strong problem-solving and organizational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and firm deadlines.


• Clear, confident communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across departments.

Work Location Requirements

This position is primarily remote within Southern California, with in-office attendance in Santa Ana approximately 1–2 times per month. Additional on-site attendance may occasionally be needed for meetings, training, company events, or other business needs.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range for this position is $85,000 - $115,000 per year, depending on experience, skills, education, and other relevant factors. In addition to competitive compensation, Optimum HR offers a generous benefits package and a collaborative, team-focused culture.

If you're an experienced payroll professional who enjoys leading people, solving challenging problems, and improving how things get done, we'd love to hear from you.