Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements Manager

Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements Manager

Location: Irvine, California preferred; remote candidates may be considered based on experience
Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: $105,000 – $125,000 annually; Medical Health Insurance; PTO; 401k matching

About the Role

Apex Class Action is seeking an experienced Senior Manager, Payroll Tax & Settlement Disbursements to take ownership of the payroll tax and final calculation functions associated with complex class action settlement distributions.

This is a highly technical, hands-on role designed for an experienced multi-state payroll tax professional who understands payroll taxation well beyond routine payroll processing. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience calculating, reporting, reconciling, and filing federal and multi-state payroll taxes and will be comfortable applying that expertise to large-scale legal settlement distributions.

Apex administers approximately 1,000 matters annually across a wide range of complex class action cases. Our portfolio includes wage-and-hour and FLSA matters, large consumer class actions involving potentially millions of class members, data breach matters, FCRA cases, and other complex employment and consumer settlements. These matters can involve significant settlement funds, large datasets, multiple jurisdictions, and sophisticated tax and distribution requirements.

A significant responsibility of this position is determining the complete tax impact of settlement payments, including both employee withholdings and employer-side payroll tax liabilities, so that settlement funds are appropriately funded before distributions are issued.

The successful candidate will initially serve as a senior individual contributor and subject-matter expert, working closely with Apex's existing disbursement, tax, data, finance, and QSF teams. As the function continues to grow, this individual may ultimately assume responsibility for managing additional team members.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and oversee the payroll tax component of class action settlement distributions from final calculation through tax reporting and reconciliation.
• Review settlement agreements, allocation methodologies, class member data, and distribution calculations to determine the appropriate federal, state, and local payroll tax treatment.
• Calculate employee payroll tax withholdings and employer-side payroll tax liabilities associated with settlement payments.
• Determine the additional employer payroll taxes and related funding required above the gross settlement awards and communicate those funding requirements to attorneys, defendants, insurers, and other stakeholders.
• Perform and review complex final settlement calculations involving large class populations, including matters with hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of class members.
• Analyze wage and non-wage settlement allocations and determine appropriate W-2 and 1099 reporting treatment.
• Prepare, review, reconcile, and oversee federal payroll tax filings, including Forms 941 and 940, as well as W-2/W-3 reporting.
• Prepare and review applicable state withholding, unemployment, and local payroll tax filings across multiple jurisdictions.
• Oversee and review 1099 reporting, including the appropriate treatment of non-wage settlement payments.
• Manage amended payroll tax filings, corrections, agency notices, discrepancies, and other payroll tax compliance matters.
• Work closely with the team responsible for establishing Qualified Settlement Funds, obtaining EINs, opening settlement accounts, and completing state payroll registrations.
• Review tax deposits and liabilities to ensure payments and filings reconcile accurately to settlement calculations.
• Support funding reconciliations before distributions are released.
• Work collaboratively with data and disbursement personnel responsible for ACH payments, digital payments, check issuance, returned checks, and other distribution activities.
• Explain complex payroll tax calculations and settlement funding requirements clearly to attorneys, defendants, internal teams, and other non-tax professionals.
• Identify payroll tax risks, discrepancies, or funding deficiencies before settlement distributions occur.
• Develop and improve internal processes, controls, calculation models, and procedures related to settlement payroll taxation.
• Serve as an internal subject-matter expert on federal and multi-state payroll tax issues.
• Assist in developing and mentoring members of the disbursement and tax teams and potentially assume broader team-management responsibilities as the department grows.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional payroll tax experience, with 10+ years strongly preferred.
• Extensive experience with multi-state payroll tax compliance.
• Strong knowledge of federal payroll taxation, including FICA, Medicare, FUTA, federal withholding, and employer-side payroll tax obligations.
• Strong working knowledge of state withholding, unemployment insurance, and other state and local payroll tax requirements.
• Demonstrated experience preparing, reviewing, and reconciling Forms 941, 940, W-2, W-3, 1099s, and related federal and state filings.
• Experience calculating employer-side payroll taxes and determining total employer funding requirements.
• Experience handling payroll tax amendments, agency notices, reconciliations, and tax-related discrepancies.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills are required, including the ability to work with large datasets, complex formulas, reconciliations, lookup functions, pivot tables, and calculation models.
• Ability to independently review complex calculations and identify discrepancies before funds are distributed.
• Ability to clearly explain technical payroll tax concepts to attorneys, executives, clients, and other stakeholders.
• Strong attention to detail and an ability to work accurately with high-dollar transactions and large datasets.
• Ability to manage multiple complex matters simultaneously in a high-volume environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with payroll tax filing and compliance software.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 or similar CRM/ERP platforms.
• Experience working with banking and treasury management platforms.
• Experience with Qualified Settlement Funds or settlement administration.
• Experience with class action settlement administration, FLSA or wage-and-hour matters, consumer class actions, data breach matters, FCRA cases, or other complex litigation environments.
• Experience working with extremely large datasets or payment populations involving hundreds of thousands or millions of recipients.
• Experience managing or mentoring payroll, tax, accounting, or disbursement professionals.

Prior class action settlement administration experience is not required. We are primarily seeking a highly experienced payroll tax professional who can apply their expertise to the unique requirements of settlement administration.

What Success Looks Like

The person in this role will become Apex's primary subject-matter expert for settlement payroll taxation. They will be able to independently review a complex, multi-state settlement, determine the appropriate tax treatment, calculate employee and employer tax obligations, determine the total amount that must be funded, validate final settlement calculations, and confidently explain those calculations to attorneys and clients.

They will also be comfortable operating in an environment where one matter may involve a highly technical multi-state FLSA settlement while another may involve a nationwide consumer, data breach, or FCRA class action with hundreds of thousands or millions of class members.

This position is ideal for a payroll tax professional who enjoys solving complex problems, working with large datasets, and taking ownership of technically challenging payroll and tax matters.