Manager, Compensation, Analytics & Payroll

WHO WE ARE

Nando’s Peri-Peri USA is a growing restaurant group currently seeking to add a full-time Manager, Compensation, Analytics, & Payroll to our Restaurant Support team. Known best for our marinated and flame grilled chicken basted to your liking with our famous PERi-PERi sauce, our casual and culturally diverse company has deep roots as a global brand originating in South Africa.

NANDO’S VISION

At Nando’s, we want to be the most loved restaurant brand in North America, sharing the spirit of Nando’s PERi-PERi with everyone who chooses to access it. We will redesign and build a business that thrives as it fully answers it is consumers’ needs -and endures overtime through genuinely putting people at the heart of what we do. We will lead with our values and act with care, compassion, and kindness. By doing this, we will Change Lives Together, every day and everywhere.

Role Summary

This is a hybrid position that integrates responsibility for managing Nando’s end-to-end Payroll process, compensation plans and practices, and advanced workforce analytics. Payroll at Nando’s is a critical employee experience touchpoint. This role leads payroll with a strong customer-service mindset, prioritizing pay accuracy, responsiveness, and clear communication to build trust and confidence across the organization.

The Manager, Compensation, Analytics & Payroll is a strategic and operational leader who ensures flawless payroll execution, and delivers actionable insights that drive equity, compliance, and business performance. By leveraging data and partnering across HR and Finance, this role influences pay strategy, optimizes processes, and embeds predictive analytics into decision-making to strengthen organizational growth. Reporting to the Director of Compliance and People Systems, this position is ideal for a data-driven professional who thrives at the intersection of strategy, compliance, and culture while championing efficiency, accuracy, and an exceptional employee experience.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Payroll Operations
  • Lead comprehensive payroll processing operations, delivering accurate and compliant payroll processing for all employees, including wage and overtime calculations, deduction processing, detailed recordkeeping, and execution of off-cycle payrolls.
  • Service-driven payroll leadership, treating pay accuracy as a top organizational priority and delivering responsive, employee-focused support that reinforces trust, compliance, and operational excellence.
  • Prepare and submit quarterly and annual payroll reports and statements to appropriate governmental agencies as required.
  • Manage 401(k) and FSA account contribution funding and reporting, ensuring payroll deductions align with IRS limits.
  • Develop payroll controls and reporting to mitigate risk (point of failure coverage).
  • Train and mentor a payroll backup to ensure continuity and resilience.
  • Process year-end reports, including W-2 and W-2c.
  • Own end-to-end timekeeping operations for hourly employees, ensuring accurate clock-in/clock-out practices and proactively auditing and resolving exceptions—including missed punches, meal and rest break compliance, overtime discrepancies, and manager approvals—to support accurate and timely payroll processing.
  • Train Operations and Business leaders on timekeeping and payroll practices, reinforcing accountability, accuracy, and compliance.
  • Manage the end-to-end minimum wage compliance process by pulling and analyzing data from payroll and timekeeping systems to identify impacted employees. Leverage system functionality to execute bulk wage updates efficiently and accurately, ensuring timely implementation of minimum wage changes across all jurisdictions.
• Compensation Architecture
  • Manage companywide compensation architecture, including job structures, job leveling, pay bands, and compensation policies.
  • Design and manage compensation programs, including merit, short-term, and long-term incentives, to reward performance, drive engagement, and retain top talent—ensuring accuracy, transparency, and alignment with business goals.
  • Conduct market benchmarking and competitive pay analyses to ensure Nando’s compensation practices remain equitable and aligned with industry standards. Leverage salary surveys and market data to maintain accurate benchmarks and support informed pay decisions.
  • Monitor pay equity and address any discrepancies.
  • Support calibration, system readiness, timeline management, and communication to leaders.
  • Identify opportunities for improving compensation-related processes and tools, enhancing efficiency and accuracy

• Data Integrity and Quality Control
  • Perform data entry tasks including, but