Director of Compensation and Benefits

Athens Services•Irwindale, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Compensation & Benefits is a strategic and hands-on leader responsible for payroll, compensation, retirement, and benefits administration across a multi-site waste and recycling organization. In a safety-sensitive, frontline-driven industry, this role, reporting through the Finance function, ensures employees are paid accurately, competitively, and on time. This role requires deep functional expertise across Human Resources, Finance, and Payroll, and the ability to independently manage and configure Workday without reliance on IT resources. This position provides direct oversight of payroll processing, ensures Workday HRIT programming accuracy and HRIS data integrity, maintains competitive compensation structures, leads annual performance compensation and bonus exercises, validates 401(k) contributions, oversees benefits compliance testing, and delivers exceptional service to frontline employees and leadership. The Director serves as the primary business owner of Workday for HR, Payroll, and Compensation, translating HR and financial requirements directly into system configuration and controls.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in HR, Finance, Accounting, or related field.
8+ years progressive compensation, benefits, and payroll leadership experience.
Significant hands-on payroll oversight experience.
Advanced knowledge of Workday (HCM, Payroll, Compensation) including ability to enter and audit pay code, tax, and compensation changes.
Experience leading annual compensation and bonus cycles.
Experience managing 401(k) reconciliation and compliance testing.
Strong financial acumen and advanced Excel skills.
Demonstrated ability to function as a hands-on HR and Finance practitioner, not solely a program manager.
Proven experience owning and administering Workday in an HR/Payroll environment without dedicated IT support.

Nice To Haves

CCP, CEBS, or CPP certification.
Experience in waste & recycling, transportation, logistics, or other field-based industries.
Experience in safety-sensitive or union environments.
Bilingual English/Spanish.

Responsibilities

Direct, hands-on oversight of multi-site weekly and monthly payroll processing.
Ensure accurate calculation of wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, and adjustments.
Maintain payroll tax compliance, garnishments, and year-end processing.
Establish strong internal controls, payroll audits and reconciliation processes in partnership with Finance and Accounting.
Serve as escalation point for complex payroll issues and ensure A-Factor white-glove service delivery.
Serve as system owner for Workday, HRIS, Compensation, and Payroll module(s) data including data auditing.
Ensure data integrity, organizational structure accuracy, cost center alignment, and reporting accuracy within Workday.
Handle pay code setup, testing, upgrades, workflow controls, and system enhancements.
Configure, maintain, test, and deploy Workday changes, including business process frameworks, security roles, integrations oversight, and reporting.
Translate HR policy, payroll rules, and financial requirements directly into Workday configuration and controls.
Own Workday issue resolution, root-cause analysis, and ongoing optimization, serving as the functional expert for the platform.
Maintain salary ranges and pay structures to ensure external competitiveness and internal equity.
Lead annual merit and bonus planning processes, including modeling and payout validation.
Partner with Finance to validate EBITDA, Net Income, and other performance metrics tied to incentive plans.
Support executive and Board-level compensation reporting.
Apply financial modeling, cost analysis, and forecasting skills to compensation program design and decision-making.
Validate 401(k) deductions and employer contributions each payroll cycle.
Perform weekly and quarterly reconciliations between payroll, Workday, and retirement vendors.
Oversee annual non-discrimination testing and Form 5500 filing.
Manage all benefits vendor relationships, including renewals.
Ensure compliance with ERISA, ACA, COBRA, and related regulations.
Ensure compliance with wage and hour laws and regulatory requirements.
Monitor regulatory developments impacting compensation and benefits programs.
Maintain documented payroll and benefits procedures.
Lead and develop payroll and benefits team members.
Establish service-level standards and accountability metrics.
Partner closely with HR leadership and Finance to ensure alignment between policy, financial controls, and system execution.