Fractional People Experience Lead

People Experience Lead

The People Experience Lead is responsible for the end-to-end operation of our agency HR, payroll, benefits, and compliance infrastructure. This is a hands-on, systems-and-relationships role: as administrator of the platforms that run payroll and benefits. The PEL partners with Production Leads and Finance on audits and reporting, managing state-level compliance across multiple jurisdictions. Serving as the point of contact for employees navigating benefits, leave, and workplace questions as a key leader at our agency.

Reports to: Founder of hi5.agency

Work Arrangement: Part time or fractional

Responsibilities

Payroll

• HRIS / Payroll & Tax (Paylocity): Own payroll processing and payroll changes; PTO tracking; New-hire onboarding; State tax ID applications/follow-ups and filing issue resolution; Finance audits and reporting; Benefit deductions and earnings; ACA compliance reporting.
• Wrapbook Payroll: Process production payroll and I-9 verifications for project-based staff.

Benefits

• Medical (Anthem): Audit monthly billing and send Finance billing reports; Lead yearly benefit planning and negotiation; Run open enrollment.
• Ancillary (PayPro): Audit monthly billing and send Finance billing reports; Lead yearly benefit planning and negotiation; Run open enrollment.
• Retirement / 401(k) (Transamerica): Manage plan updates, New-hire enrollment, Contribution changes, Discrimination testing, and legal notice compliance.
• Administration (Employee Navigator): Manage onboarding, Terminations, Life-change events, and Open enrollments in the benefits administration system.
• Broker Relationship: Lead benefit negotiations and renewals; Resolve employee benefit issues in partnership with the broker.

Compliance

• Payroll Tax: Own state payroll tax registration, filings, issue resolution, and audits across all operating states.
• Unemployment: Manage benefit audits, Unemployment claims, and Wage reporting with state unemployment services.

Leadership + Culture

• Partner with Finance on monthly benefits billing and issue resolution.
• Partner with our Production team on freelance onboarding, processing and payroll.
• Conduct monthly employee welfare check-ins.
• Workers' Comp, and related audits.
• Operate as a positive influence for all members of the agency.
• Promote an inclusive and ego free environment.
• Flexibility in working hours to accommodate deadlines or time sensitive needs/requests.
• Always deescalate situations and offer a drama free and solution oriented approach.
• Be kind endlessly.

Qualifications

• 3–6+ years of progressive HR experience, ideally with direct ownership of payroll and benefits administration.
• Hands-on experience with an HRIS/payroll platform (Paylocity or comparable) and production payroll (Wrapbook or comparable) a strong plus.
• Working knowledge of multi-state payroll tax compliance, ACA reporting, and 401(k) plan administration.
• Experience managing benefits broker relationships, carrier billing audits, and open enrollment cycles.
• Comfort partnering cross-functionally with Finance on audits, reporting, and Workers' Comp.
• A people-first orientation—genuine investment in employee well-being and experience, not just administrative accuracy.
• High attention to detail and comfort owning compliance deadlines independently.
• Platform experience a huge plus: Wrapbook, Paylocity, Anthem, Paypro, Transamerica, Employee Navigator, Parallax, Basecamp, Google Suite and Slack.

Work Location: Our production studio and office is in Pasadena, CA, and 99% of our team members work from home.