[Hiring] Manager of Payroll Consulting @FosterThomas

Role Description

The Manager of Payroll Consulting is a leadership role focused on growing FosterThomas's payroll consulting practice — expanding revenue and billable hours, deepening client relationships, and building a strong consulting team. This role blends hands-on payroll expertise with client-facing consulting work:

• Spend time on client discovery calls, Statement of Work (SOW) development, workforce and capacity planning, and partnership development.
• Lead a team of payroll specialists and virtual employees.
• Manage the financial and operational health of client engagements.
• Serve as a key point of contact with internal practice leaders and external client contacts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of progressive payroll experience, including in-depth functional knowledge of large-scale payroll platforms (ADP products, including WorkForce Now, strongly preferred).
• Experience managing a team of payroll professionals, including managing virtual or remote staff.
• Experience developing SOWs, scoping consulting engagements, or operating in a professional-services/consulting delivery model preferred.
• Experience building or growing partnerships, revenue, or account scope within a consulting, agency, or professional-services environment is a plus.
• Experience processing complex, multi-state payroll for 1,000+ employees; ability to research and resolve data conflicts affecting payroll processing.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills, with comfort running and interpreting operational and financial reports.
• Experience with payroll systems implementations is a plus.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills; a consultative mindset and the ability to build trust quickly with clients and internal partners.
• Ability to set priorities, manage multiple engagements simultaneously, and adapt quickly as client and business needs shift.
• Proficiency with MS Office; CPP certification a plus.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality of company and client information.

Requirements

• Support growth of the payroll consulting practice's billable hours and revenue through expanded scope within existing accounts and new business development.
• Lead client discovery calls to assess payroll needs, uncover pain points, and shape the right service approach and engagement scope.
• Draft and manage Statements of Work (SOWs), defining deliverables, timelines, staffing, and fees for consulting engagements.
• Develop and expand partnerships — including technology and service partners — that support the growth of the payroll consulting practice.
• Partner with other FosterThomas practice leaders to identify cross-sell opportunities and deliver integrated client solutions.
• Track billable hours, utilization, and engagement profitability on an ongoing basis, flagging variances and recommending corrective action.
• Support workforce planning for the payroll team — helping forecast staffing needs and allocate resources across engagements.
• Run and analyze reporting across financial, operational, and client-facing dimensions to inform decisions and updates.
• Manage, mentor, and develop a team of payroll specialists and virtual employees, ensuring quality and productivity.
• Facilitate regular stakeholder discussions with client contacts and internal leadership on program status, risks, and opportunities.
• Serve as an escalation point for critical payroll issues, driving root-cause analysis and corrective action.
• Oversee accurate, timely payroll processing for supported clients and ensure compliance with client policies and procedures.
• Support payroll team development and a culture of continuous improvement across the practice.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations.

Benefits

• This remote role offers great professional growth potential.
• The chance to help build a growing consulting practice.
• Lead and develop a team.
• Work directly with clients on meaningful payroll initiatives.
• Backed by FosterThomas's 27-year track record in HCM consulting.