Director of Human Resources, Payroll & Benefits
Job Type: Full-time
Reports To: CFO
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico — 100% onsite
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Overview
At Wiles Companies, we MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Wiles Companies is a fast-growing, multi-state restaurant franchise organization headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our corporate team supports approximately 950 employees across 57 restaurant locations and our corporate office, with operations in New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington.
We are seeking a capable, detail-oriented, and hands-on Director of Human Resources, Payroll & Benefits to lead and strengthen our people-support functions. This position is ideal for an experienced leader who can balance functional leadership with day-to-day execution and who thrives in a fast-paced, multi-entity, operations-driven organization.
The successful candidate will bring strong technical knowledge, sound judgment, an approachable leadership style, and the ability to improve processes through thoughtful change management and cross-functional coordination.
Position Summary
The Director of Human Resources, Payroll & Benefits owns the company’s HR, payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee-documentation functions. The Director leads and develops the HR/Payroll team and is accountable for accurate payroll administration, effective benefits administration, compliant HR practices, reliable documentation, and responsive support for employees and leadership.
This position serves as a key advisor to Operations, Finance, and executive leadership. Restaurant-level hiring, discipline, and termination decisions are led by Operations, while corporate-office employment decisions are led by the CFO. The Director is expected to assess risk, provide recommendations, structure documentation, administer approved actions, and promptly escalate concerns through established channels.
The Director must be comfortable raising concerns, identifying risk, recommending appropriate action, and ensuring that important HR matters reach the appropriate leaders promptly.
Responsibilities
Department Leadership
- Lead, supervise, develop, and support the HR/Payroll team.
- Establish clear responsibilities, deadlines, review procedures, and accountability within the department.
- Build a professional, respectful, and service-oriented team environment.
- Evaluate existing workflows and implement improvements through thoughtful planning and communication.
- Balance process improvement and department development with immediate payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee-support priorities.
- Provide timely coaching, feedback, and support while maintaining an approachable environment in which team members can raise questions and concerns.
Payroll Leadership and Execution
- Maintain direct accountability for accurate and timely payroll processing for approximately 950 employees across multiple entities and states.
- Remain personally engaged in payroll preparation and review to identify errors, missing information, coding issues, and unusual activity before payroll is finalized.
- Review timekeeping information, pay codes, salary and hourly payments, deductions, garnishments, benefit deductions, leave usage, adjustments, retroactive payments, and termination-related payments.
- Ensure salaried employees are not duplicated through automatic-pay settings and manual payroll entries.
- Confirm that eligible employees’ benefits and deductions are reflected accurately.
- Review overtime and other payroll exceptions and investigate unusual or excessive activity.
- Ensure paid-leave requests are properly coded and supported by required documentation.
- Maintain strong payroll review controls, approval procedures, reconciliations, and supporting documentation.
- Establish workflows and team priorities that support accurate, uninterrupted, and timely payroll processing.
- Oversee year-end payroll activities, including W-2 processing and related reconciliations and reporting.
Human Resources and Employee Relations
- Support employee-relations matters through appropriate fact-gathering, risk assessment, documentation, recommendations, and follow-through.
- Work closely with Operations leadership on restaurant employee matters while respecting established decision rights and reporting relationships.
- Coordinate restaurant-facing HR activity with the appropriate Operations leader and maintain established communication and escalation channels.
- Ensure significant employee issues reach the appropriate Operations and executive leaders promptly.
- Help Operations structure appropriate coaching, corrective-action, investigation, and termination documentation.
- Provide objective, fact-based guidance and recommendations.
- Administer approved employment actions accurately, consistently, and professionally.
- Oversee onboarding, employee changes, transfers, leaves of absence, and offboarding workflows.
- Monitor employee-relations activity for recurring risks, documentation gaps, and compliance concerns.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality and discretion while ensuring relevant information reaches the leaders who need it.
Benefits, Compliance, and Employee Records
- Oversee benefits administration, including enrollments, eligibility changes, terminations, employee communication, reconciliations, and vendor coordination.
- Maintain accurate employee records and strong data integrity and confidentiality across HR, payroll, and benefits systems.
- Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment and payroll requirements, including wage and hour laws, paid-leave requirements, I-9 compliance, ACA reporting, W-2s, 1095-Cs, unemployment, and related reporting.
- Coordinate workers’ compensation, leaves of absence, unemployment claims, and related documentation.
- Maintain and update HR policies, procedures, job descriptions, forms, and employee handbooks.
- Identify compliance concerns and elevate them promptly to the appropriate leadership.
- Prepare audit support, compliance schedules, internal reports, and requested documentation.
- Monitor changes in employment and payroll requirements affecting the company’s operating states.
Process Improvement and Cross-Functional Support
- Build and standardize practical, repeatable, and scalable HR, payroll, and benefits processes.
- Partner with Accounting to support accurate payroll-related entries, reconciliations, clean data flow, and timely reporting.
- Provide reporting and recommendations to Finance and Operations leadership.
- Monitor service levels related to employee questions, payroll issues, benefits administration, and HR support.
- Identify risks, bottlenecks, control weaknesses, and process gaps and implement practical solutions.
- Help define the HR, payroll, and benefits information that leadership should receive and review regularly.
- Support organizational planning, policy interpretation, workforce initiatives, and other company priorities.
- Perform additional responsibilities that reasonably support the department and the company’s continued growth.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
- Eight or more years of progressive experience in human resources, payroll, benefits, or related functions.
- At least three years of direct supervisory or department-leadership experience.
- Direct experience managing or leading payroll for a sizeable, multi-state, hourly workforce.
- Experience overseeing both HR and payroll functions in a multi-location or multi-entity organization.
- Restaurant, hospitality, retail, distribution, or other high-volume, multi-location experience strongly preferred.
- Strong working knowledge of payroll administration, benefits administration, wage and hour requirements, employee relations, and employment-law compliance.
- Experience handling sensitive employee matters with professionalism, objectivity, and discretion.
- Strong systems aptitude and experience with HRIS, HCM, payroll, benefits, and timekeeping platforms.
- Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
- SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or a comparable certification preferred.
- Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.
Skills and Competencies
- Hands-on, accountable, and approachable leadership style.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to influence and advise across functions while respecting established decision rights.
- Sound judgment and discretion when handling confidential employee and compensation information.
- Strong listening, relationship-building, and change-management skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication.
- Ability to work collaboratively with Accounting, Operations, and executive leadership.
- Strong organization and follow-through in a deadline-driven environment.
- Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining accurate and timely payroll and HR processes.
- Practical, service-oriented, and solution-focused approach.
- Willingness to remain personally engaged in detailed work when necessary.
Benefits
- Health insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Life insurance
- Vacation, sick leave, and paid holidays
Work Environment
- This is a 100% onsite position at the Wiles Companies headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- No travel is required.
- Work location: In person
Pay: $100,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
