Team and Role Overview

Relativity Space is creating the first autonomous rocket factory.  Our vision is to build the future of humanity in space – starting with rockets.  We have an ambitious mission, and we understand that it takes a village to achieve that.

We are looking for a detail-oriented Payroll Manager with strong integrity and ethics to join the team!  The Payroll Manager will be a critical member of our Accounting group.  Reporting to the Corporate Controller, you will ensure that we are timely and accurately processing employees’ compensation as well as maintaining compliance with the ever-changing payroll laws across different jurisdictions at federal, state, and local levels. 

You will work closely with the General Accounting, Finance, IT, and People teams as well as people managers across the organization, hence having solid verbal and communication skills is key!  You are extremely organized, deadline-oriented, and thrive in a highly uncertain environment where decisions need to be made and executed upon super-fast.  You can translate your technical skills and understanding of the context around you into clear and pragmatic advice for the organization.  You are passionate about your coworkers and employees and will go the extra mile to help.

As the Payroll Manager, you will be responsible for the following:

• Prepare and process biweekly and semimonthly payrolls timely and accurately, including wages (exempt/non-exempt), benefits, garnishments, taxes, and other deductions are correctly reported.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local payroll, wage, hour, and tax laws and best practices.
• Review and audit payroll-related information and processes entered into our HRIS regularly to ensure accurate payroll processing.
• Prepare and maintain accurate records and reports of payroll transactions for exempt and non-exempt employees for each pay period.
• Examine timesheets for hourly employees to ensure their validity and accuracy and verify any inconsistencies and/or violation of company policies.
• Track and process 1099 consultant payments.
• Reconcile monthly health insurance premiums, group term life insurance, employee-elected deferrals, FSA/HSA deductions, and wage garnishments.
• Ensure proper payroll and benefit accounting and compliance as well as monthly reconciliation with general ledger for month-end close.
• File monthly, quarterly, and annual returns with state departments in registered states.
• Generate and review W-2 and 1099 distributions and manage any subsequent corrections necessary for all current and separated employees/consultants in a timely manner.
• Liaise with People, IT, and General Accounting teams for on-boarding and off-boarding to ensure business process is followed.
• Collaborate well as a team member and work autonomously as conflicts and challenges arise.
• Assist in periodic audits and reporting requests as needed and take necessary steps to correct any discrepancies, e.g. external financial, workers’ comp, 401K, and other compliance audits.
• Respond to inquiries on payroll reporting, flux analysis, tax analysis and/or general payroll questions.
• Review and approve employees’ travel and entertainment expenses to ensure company policy is followed.
• Assist the Controller with other contract management work.
• Assist with other duties and projects as assigned.

Come join our mission of building humanity in space!

The Mission/Outcomes and Objectives

We want to send 3-D printed rockets to space!  To help the company achieve this mission, we need to make sure our employees and consultants are paid timely and accurately.  We need to have proper documentation for each pay period for our annual US-GAAP financial audits.  It is also imperative that the company stays compliant with payroll and tax laws at all times.  Your contribution will empower the company to stay focused on building rockets and meet our first rocket launch goal and many thereafter!  Some outcomes and objectives that you will achieve in the near term:

• Improve upon our existing payroll processes to maximize our productivity.
• Create a “payroll manual” that clearly defines and documents our payroll processing workflows.
• Assist the Controller with revamping our corporate travel policy.

Candidate Profile

You are a seasoned Payroll Manager with experience helping businesses scale their operations from 200-1000+ employees.  You have solid verbal/written communication skills and recognize the importance of staying in compliance and processing data accurately.  You are self-motivated and must have a proven track record of delivering your assigned duties on time and meeting deadlines.

You are the type of person with a strong growth mindset for yourself and are always finding ways for the team to be operationally efficient, detail-oriented, and provide a great experience to anyone searching for an answer.

In your previous roles, your first thought has not been to create bureaucracy or process but have worked to find creative solutions to problems.  While there are certain aspects of your role that are black-and-white, you know and understand the ambiguity required in a startup environment – and you thrive in that type of environment.  You are able to balance being both a strategic thinker and hands-on doer; essentially no job is too small and you are not afraid to roll up your sleeves to pitch in and get the job done with a lean team.

Minimum Required Skills and Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree or higher, preferably in business or mathematics/statistics fields.
• 7-10+ years of hands-on payroll administration experience.
• Extensive knowledge in payroll and accounting procedures as well as payroll tax laws and regulations.
• Intermediate Microsoft Excel skills required.
• Must have high ethical standards, including a strong sense of confidentiality and discretion.
• Ability to operate independently and have the strong desire to work as a member of a team.
• Capable of performing and delivering high quality results under high pressure.
• Must be exceptionally detail and results oriented.
• Ability to collaborate in a cross-functional global environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and can think outside of the box.

Preferred Skills and Competencies

• Working knowledge in Zenefits is a major plus!
• Previously participated in implementation of a HRIS.
• Manufacturing or technology industries experience preferred.
• Bonus point for previous people management experience.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.