Financial Associate (Corporate) jobs in Tacoma, WA

TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE:TBI) is the people company.  We were founded on the idea that by connecting people and work, we can help our clients grow their businesses while growing ours.  Since our first office opened more than 30 years ago, we’ve grown to a leading global provider of specialized workforce solutions with annual revenue of $2.3 billion.  In 2022, the company connected approximately 611,000 people with work to approximately 84,000 businesses in a wide variety of industries through our staffing, on-site workforce management, and recruitment process outsourcing services. Today, TrueBlue operates three business segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement and PeopleScout.

TrueBlue has repeatedly been recognized as one of Forbes Magazine’s “Most Trustworthy Companies” in recognition of its solid corporate governance and accounting transparency. We are committed to transparency and delivering the best financial reporting to our internal leadership and to our stockholders. We recruit strong talent that has potential to grow beyond the role initially hired and into future organizational leaders.

The Role

TrueBlue has an exciting career opportunity for a Director of Associate Payroll within the Billing and Payment Shared Services team.  This is a key leadership role within our shared services organization. This position reports to the Vice President of Associate Payroll and Accounts Receivable and is responsible for overseeing the performance of associate payroll processes for two of Trueblue’s brands – Peopleready and PeopleManagement.  Our payroll systems impact the lives of over 250K employees and associates, using either daily or weekly payroll cycles Our company provides staffing solutions for our customers in a dynamic environment, where we are committed to meeting our customer and associate needs. 

We provide staffing services for customers utilizing a branch network that operates in all 50 states of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  To service the unique needs of our customers, each brands operates using different pay-bill solutions.    Collaborating closely with Legal Compliance, Field Operations, and back-office teams, you will provide easy to use, compliant payroll solutions for our associates and customers.  You will drive process improvements including ongoing vendor, process, and system enhancements to ensure optimal performance in the delivery of associate payroll.  In this key leadership role, you will interact with Executive and Senior leaders on all Payroll related items. This role sets the strategic direction for a high-performing, service-oriented team, while driving compliance, innovation, and continuous improvement. 

Ideally, this will be a hybrid role with a blend of at home/Seattle/Chicago office work, but we are open to fully remote depending on the location/candidate.

Your key responsibilities include:

People Management:

• Coach and develop team members on both the US and India teams to achieve their potential, elevate their skills and knowledge, and do their best work.
• Provide prioritization and clear direction for the many demands that face our payroll teams.
• Remove barriers to the team to drive results and team success as a servant leader.
• Build department structures and strategies to provide career opportunities for the collective global team.
• Build on and maintain a culture of empowerment, inclusiveness, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Create and maintain a positive team environment, conduct team meetings, provide recognition, and celebrate successes.
• Develop a culture among the teams that delivers a high level of customer service.

Strategy and Process Management:

• Develop, champion, and implement a strategic vision for Associate Payroll including people, process, and system strategy.
• Establish and manage departmental goals and objectives. Allocate resources and manage changing priorities to achieve objectives in alignment with established initiatives.
• Enable team to resolve complex, global associate payroll issues and proactively respond to emerging business needs and changing statutory requirements.
• Interpret and propose policies to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state rules and regulations while managing the financial impact of those decisions.
• Foster an environment in which customer needs and requirements are anticipated and expectations are exceeded. Analyze actual data for trends, drivers, and performance results against industry benchmarks to drive SLA compliance/quality improvement.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Manage change management activities and collaborate with various stakeholders for items related to associate payroll including but not limited to training, communications, and support.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within the Technology, Operations, Compliance, Finance, and other related organizations to ensure optimization of the end-to-end input and output processes
• Lead the preparation and validation of relevant management quarterly business reviews, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and metrics
• Build and sustain collaborative relationships at multiple levels in the company; work through complex challenges to achieve resolution; build trust by including others and by keeping cross-functional teams focused on success

System Support:

• Lead activities to identify functional requirements for the technical team, and work with the Director of Payroll Strategy and Systems for testing and implementation support for new systems, integrations, or process changes.
• Leverage technology to gain efficiency and accuracy, including the use of chatbots to enable self-service, and RPA to automate manual tasks. Assist in troubleshooting existing payroll automations and work with IT to expand the utilization of BOT processing.
• Proficient in evaluating systems for accurate calculations for all areas of payroll – taxable wages, fringe benefits, pre-tax benefits, absence plans, etc.

Vendor Management:

• Familiarity with provider landscape for payroll services including timekeeping products, payroll payment solutions, and third-party partners
• Partner with vendors to create compliant and reliable systems and processes to deliver timely and accurate payroll, taxes, and reporting
• Actively manage vendor relationships, SLAs, and provide ongoing feedback to improve performance, remove pain points, and ensure the best solutions are implemented

Compliance, Controls, Audits:

• Design and implement proper segregation of duties, Sarbanes-Oxley controls, and internal self-audits. Partner with Internal Audit team to provide compliance reporting and SOX narratives that support the Corporate/Global process controls while ensuring no high-risk audit comments.
• Continually review and assess risk across the business and design controls to address and mitigate risk

Your background:

Individual should have a minimum of 10 years’ experience leading teams and payroll processes in high volume, multi-state, global environment.  In addition, this position requires:

• Ability to adapt management style according to the situation and people
• Ability to prioritize workload, utilize a wide degree of creativity and latitude to accomplish goals, understand business implications of decisions, and complete projects with minimal supervision
• Experience leading a global payroll team, as a majority of your team will be located in India
• Proven experience working with and influencing senior leaders and executives
• Ability to collaborate, influence, and gain buy-in from disparate stakeholders
• Deep knowledge of North American payroll operations, including regulations, taxes, related systems, and a strong understanding of upstream data inputs and integrations
• Advanced data and analytical skills to assist in the identification and diagnosis of payroll issues
•  Advanced problem solving, process improvement and change management skills with the ability to think strategically, analytically, and creatively
• Ability to identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions
• Ability to think through payroll processes and propose technological solutions to save time, improve controls and improve service quality.
• Experience in designing, implementing, and reviewing internal controls aimed at reducing operational risk, i.e., Sarbanes-Oxley
• Continuous improvement mindset with exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications (It would be great if you also had…)

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in HR, Accounting, Business, Finance, or related discipline.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation (or similar)
• Knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
• Experience with Shared Service and Regional Delivery models for payroll
• Ability to work in a global work environment (GBS Team in India) which may require occasional conference calls and work outside of local working hours

The salary for this position is anticipated to range between $132k-$140k/annualy. This range is a good-faith estimate, based on the qualifications necessary for the position, including experience, training, and other considerations permitted by law. Factors that may be used when making an offer may include a candidate’s skills, experience, geographic location, the expected quality and quantity of work, and internal pay alignment, as needed. Most candidates will start in the bottom half of the pay range. An employee’s pay history will not be a contributing factor where prohibited by local law. In addition to monetary compensation, we offer a competitive benefits package that may be available such as PTO, health insurance, commissions, and bonuses.

Corporate values of integrity and respect, and our ability to exceed client expectations distinguish TrueBlue as an employer. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position.

Employee(s) will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. A review of this position has excluded the marginal functions of the position that are incidental to the performance of fundamental job duties. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at-will” relationship.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.