Sr. Manager, Payroll
Lead payroll operations for SpaceX's growing workforce, ensuring compliance and process improvements in a fast-paced environment.
Posted by employer 2 months ago
First seen on Joblaze 2 months ago
Last verified on the company career page 1 day ago
Skills & Technologies
Requirements
- Experience
- 10+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
Not disclosed in this posting: visa sponsorship.
Benefits
Joblaze summary
The Sr. Manager, Payroll at SpaceX oversees the payroll operations for a workforce exceeding 25,000 employees, ensuring accuracy and compliance while driving process improvements and automation initiatives. This role requires extensive experience in finance and payroll management, particularly within fast-paced environments, along with a strong grasp of regulatory requirements and SOX compliance. Ideal candidates will have a background in managing teams and a hands-on approach to payroll systems like UKG and Workday. The position offers significant growth potential within a mission-driven organization.
Joblaze insights
- Listed about 2 months ago — first seen on Joblaze August 12, 2026. Last confirmed on SpaceX's careers page October 11, 2026.
- Salary band is in line with the typical range for Management roles (median ~$170,000).
- Starts above 68% of 552 comparable senior management roles in United States we track (median $154,100 across 133 companies).
- Workday appears in 0.6% of 933 comparable senior management roles in United States; Payroll appears in 0.2% of 933 comparable senior management roles in United States.
Quick facts
- Is the Sr. Manager, Payroll role remote?
- No — this is an on-site role in Hawthorne, CA.
- What's the salary range?
- SpaceX lists $175,000–$250,000 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 10 years of relevant experience for this Sr. Manager, Payroll role.
- Where is the role based?
- SpaceX is hiring for this position in Hawthorne, CA.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Payroll, SOX Compliance, UKG, Workday.
- What seniority level is this role?
- SpaceX targets senior candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Sr. Manager, Payroll role at SpaceX.
From the original posting
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
SR. MANAGER, PAYROLL
The Sr. Manager, Payroll is a key member of the finance team and plays a critical role in ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll operations for our rapidly growing workforce. This position combines hands-on payroll expertise with strategic process improvement, SOX compliance, and audit management in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment. Payroll is centrally organized for SpaceX in the US, supporting over 25,000 employees. This role will be supporting the Head of Payroll for SpaceX and will directly interact with the CFO and Corporate Controller. Significant growth potential is expected for this role.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Build a world class payroll process for global employees
- Identify and drive process improvements, automation initiatives, and internal control enhancements
- Develop and maintain documentation of current payroll processes and procedures for both US and global entities
- Support payroll-related projects, including system implementations, integrations, and process transformations
- Assist with end-to-end payroll processing for all US employees on a weekly and biweekly basis, including exempt, non-exempt, and equity compensation
- Support annual payroll compliance reporting for the US, including the preparation, review, and audit of W-2s
- Ensure all monthly close payroll deliverables are completed accurately and on schedule
- Support SOX requirements for all US payroll, including control documentation, testing, monitoring, and remediation
- Lead internal and external audits related to payroll, serving as the primary point of contact
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree
- 10+ years of professional experience in finance with 5+ years in payroll
- 4+ years in a supervisory role managing direct reports
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience working in finance organizations of fast-moving entrepreneurial companies – “run it like you own it” mentality
- Strong working knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll regulations, tax requirements, and compliance obligations
- Hands-on experience with UKG (Ultimate Software) and Workday
- Experience supporting international payroll operations
- Excellent organizational and communication skills
- Demonstrated expertise in SOX compliance and internal control frameworks
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Willingness to work long hours and weekends when needed to meet critical deadlines
- This position is based in Hawthorne, CA, and requires being onsite - remote/hybrid will not be considered
Pay range:
Sr. Manager, Payroll: $175,000.00 - $250,000.00/per year
Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Employees accrue paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy which satisfies or exceeds the accrual, carryover, and use requirements of the law.
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
Standard company text repeated across SpaceX's postings is omitted here.