Engagement Details

Fractional Payroll & HR Compliance Manager

Duration: Ongoing, with flexibility to adjust as needs evolve

Role: Approximately 1–3 hours per week during steady-state periods, with additional hours around payroll issues, onboarding/offboarding, year-end, benefits renewals and other higher-volume periods.

Location: Remote

Start Date: As soon as possible

Organization Overview

Our client is a fast-growing AI company building a generative media platform for creating, editing and producing visual content. Its technology supports both individual creators and enterprise teams, with products spanning image generation, creative applications, APIs and agent-based workflows. 

The company operates across Canadian and US entities, with 44 total employees (37 in Canada and 7 in US) and contractors in both markets. HR and payroll administration is currently supported through Rippling, a contract bookkeeper and internal team members.

The immediate need is for a hands-on fractional specialist who can provide continuity across payroll and core People Operations while proactively identifying compliance risks before they become larger issues.

Position Summary

We are seeking a fractional Payroll & HR Compliance Manager to provide hands-on payroll administration and compliance oversight across Canada and the United States.

This is not an employee-relations-heavy role. The primary focus is ensuring payroll is processed accurately and on time, employee and contractor records are maintained correctly, required documentation and filings are completed, and benefits and People Operations processes are administered consistently.

The successful candidate will act as an embedded member of the team, taking ownership of key recurring processes while identifying gaps, recommending improvements and escalating matters to external legal or specialist advisors where appropriate.

Hours are expected to be relatively light during steady-state periods but may increase around onboarding, terminations, year-end reporting, benefits renewals and other higher-volume periods.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll & Compliance

• Own the end-to-end payroll process through Rippling, including reviewing inputs, resolving discrepancies and ensuring payroll is submitted accurately and on time.

• Oversee payroll administration for Canadian and US employees and support accurate administration and documentation for contractors.

• Review payroll-related records and documentation and proactively identify errors, gaps or compliance risks.

• Ensure required employment and payroll documentation is completed accurately and on time, including ROEs, T4s and W-2s.

• Coordinate and oversee year-end payroll reporting and statutory filings across Canada and the US.

• Manage relevant Canadian government filings, including Employer Health Tax requirements where applicable.

• Support the compliant administration of employee terminations, including final payroll, documentation and coordination with internal stakeholders or employment counsel as required.

Benefits & Retirement Programs

• Administer Sun Life employee benefits.

• Administer the company's RRSP matching program through Wealthsimple.

• Administer the US 401(k) program.

• Support the annual review and selection of US employee benefits, typically occurring around December.

• Coordinate employee enrolments, changes and terminations across applicable benefits and retirement programs.

HR Systems & People Operations

• Maintain accurate employee and contractor records within Rippling.

• Monitor HRIS workflows, documentation and administrative processes to ensure they are functioning as intended.

• Manage employee leave types, records and approval workflows.

• Maintain and update core people policies as required, identifying situations where external employment counsel should be engaged.

• Administer the employee referral program, including tracking and coordinating payouts.

• Identify administrative or compliance issues that may be missed through existing processes or external compliance reviews.

• Recommend practical improvements to strengthen payroll, HR administration and ongoing People Operations processes.

Stakeholder Support

• Work directly with a small internal group responsible for payroll, finance and People administration.

• Serve as a consistent, embedded point of contact for payroll and core People Operations matters.

• Work independently while keeping relevant stakeholders informed of upcoming deadlines, risks and required actions.

• Proactively surface issues rather than relying on the internal team to identify them.

Required Qualifications

• Hands-on experience administering payroll and related People Operations across both Canada and the United States.

• Strong working knowledge of Canadian and US payroll processes, employment documentation and termination administration.

• Experience administering employee benefits and retirement programs, ideally including RRSP matching programs and US 401(k) plans.

• Experience with Rippling or a comparable HRIS and payroll platform.

• Comfortable taking direct operational ownership of recurring payroll and HR administration processes.

• Able to independently identify compliance risks, investigate issues and provide practical recommendations.

• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage recurring deadlines reliably.

• Comfortable working in a fractional capacity and flexing hours during busier periods.

• Experience supporting a startup, technology company or scaling organization is preferred.