Manager / Senior Manager of Payroll and T&E

About the role

This role manages payroll processing and employee expense management for a growing nuclear energy company. The position partners with HR, Finance, and business leaders to ensure accurate compensation and compliant expense practices. You will own end-to-end execution while supporting a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Finance teams manage money, forecasts, and reporting. Analysts build models and explain variance. Controllers run accounting and compliance. FP&A professionals support decisions with budgets and forecasts. The work is precise, deadline driven, and tied to business results. Finance teams follow tight calendars, with monthly closes and annual planning cycles. Accuracy and auditability are expected on every deliverable.

Key facts

Requirements

Hold a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.

Bring 5+ years of payroll experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, including multi-state payroll.

Demonstrate a solid understanding of federal and state payroll tax laws and wage and hour regulations.

Show experience administering a corporate T&E program.

Demonstrate proficiency with a major payroll system such as ADP, Workday, or Rippling and Microsoft Excel.

Work with a high bar for accuracy and timeliness, recognizing that payroll errors impact employees and trust is built one cycle at a time.

Handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism, especially when resolving sensitive employee issues.

Partner effectively across HR, Finance, and the broader business, translating policy and compliance requirements into clear guidance for non-specialists.

Stay organized under competing priorities and adapt quickly in an ambiguous, rapidly changing environment.

Take ownership of the end-to-end experience from system configuration to employee education to year-end close.

Nice to have

Earn a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation.

Have experience with Rippling.

Be familiar with expense management tools such as Ramp.

Have experience partnering with HR and Finance on compensation planning, audits, or system implementations.

Possess exposure to multi-entity, multi-currency, or international payroll processing.

Be comfortable working in ambiguous, rapidly changing environments with competing priorities.

Practical notes

U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency is required.

This role is based in Torrance.

Typical interview steps

Finance interviews usually include technical questions on accounting or modeling, a case study, and behavioral rounds. Candidates may be asked to build a forecast or explain a variance. Spreadsheet skills are tested in most loops. Accuracy and clear explanations matter. Interviewers may give a real dataset and ask for a quick analysis. Showing your work and explaining assumptions matters as much as the final number.

Good to know

The role focuses on payroll and travel and expense management in a high-growth energy startup.

The role uses payroll and T&E platforms to ensure compliance and accuracy.

Employees work on impactful energy technology projects with significant ownership.

The environment involves rapid change and requires adaptability across HR, Finance, and business functions.

Questions to ask

Good questions to ask the employer in the interview: what does success look like in the first six months, how is the team structured, what is the current biggest challenge, and how are decisions made. Asking about growth paths and the review process is also well received. Employers expect questions, and good ones show preparation.

Career growth

Finance careers move from analyst to senior analyst, manager, and controller or FP&A director levels. Some people earn certifications such as CPA or CFA. Cross-functional work with operations and leadership grows with seniority. Finance careers reward precision early and business partnership later. Learning the operations of the company beyond the numbers accelerates growth.