Director, HR Operations (Payroll, Benefits & Compliance) — U.S. & Canada

This is a remote position.

Location: Canada (remote within Canada)

Reports to: SVP Finance (partners closely with Finance & Legal)

Position Type: Full-Time

People Ops leadership

• Set the HR strategy for Canada & U.S. and drive execution across policy, programs, and day-to-day operations.
  

• Lead and develop a People Ops/Payroll team and manage external partners (e.g., PEO, brokers, HRIS).
  

• Partner with executives and people leaders on org design, workforce planning, change management, and manager enablement.
  

Payroll & benefits (Canada + U.S.)

• Ensure accurate, timely payroll cycles across multiple provinces/states; coordinate year-end activities with internal teams and vendors.
  

• Lead benefits strategy and annual renewals; manage brokers/carriers, leaves, and employee communications; optimize plan value and cost.
  

• Standardize, document, and continuously improve cross-border processes (e.g., PEO orchestration in the U.S., multi-province administration in Canada).
  

Compliance, policy & risk

• Maintain modern, compliant handbooks and policies across multiple U.S. states and Canadian provinces; stay ahead of legislative changes.
  

• Establish practical HR controls and documentation that support audits and M&A due diligence without over-engineering.
  

• Advise leaders on employee relations, investigations, performance, and terminations; ensure fair, consistent practices.
  

Performance, compensation & culture

• Implement a simple, fair performance framework (goals, reviews, feedback) tied to business outcomes.
  

• Partner with Finance on compensation benchmarking and pay practices; help leaders make equitable, data-driven decisions.
  

• Track and report core people metrics (turnover, engagement signals, time-to-productivity, diversity indicators where applicable) and drive follow-through.
  

Systems & process improvement

• Own the HR tech stack (HRIS/ATS/payroll integrations) and data quality; champion automation and employee self-service.
  

• Create clear SOPs and SLAs that scale; streamline onboarding/offboarding and cross-entity workflows.
  

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including 5+ years leading HR teams/programs.
  

• Proven, hands-on ownership of U.S. and Canadian payroll & benefits at ~200–500 headcount, multi-state/province.
  

• Strong grounding in employment/labour law (federal + multi-state U.S.; federal + provincial Canada) and pragmatic policy design.
  

• Experience building HR processes and controls in a remote-first, multi-entity environment; M&A integration exposure is a strong plus.
  

• Fluency with HR systems (e.g., ADP/Workday/BambooHR/UKG or similar), vendor management (PEO, brokers, carriers), and people analytics.
  

• Excellent judgment, discretion, and stakeholder management; comfortable switching between strategy and roll-up-your-sleeves execution.
  

How we work

• Remote-first across time zones, with core collaboration hours aligned to North American business hours.
  

• Occasional travel for leadership meetings or integration work (~5–10%).
  

Benefits

• Competitive salary with performance bonus opportunities.
  
• Opportunity for career advancement and professional development.
  
• Dynamic and collaborative work environment that fosters creativity and innovation.
  
• Health insurance and other benefits package.
  
• Flexible working hours and remote work options.