Senior HR Generalist (Payroll, Benefits & HRIS)

Reports To: Human Resources Manager

Location: Milwaukee, WI (On-site)

Employment Type: Full-Time, Salaried, Exempt 

About Wantable  

At Wantable, we’re redefining retail through personalization. Our membership-based model and proprietary technology empower us to curate products that help customers discover confidence and joy through style. 

As a data-driven fashion company, we combine human intuition with algorithmic intelligence to  deliver personalized assortments – balancing creativity, analytics, and operational precision. 

We're seeking a Senior HR Generalist - Payroll, Benefits & HRIS who serves as the subject matter expert and operational authority for multi-state payroll execution, benefits compliance governance, HRIS administration, and regulatory risk management at Wantable. This role owns the integrity, accuracy, and audit-readiness of payroll, benefits, and HR systems infrastructure.

About the Role

Operating with significant autonomy, the Senior HR Generalist - Payroll, Benefits & HRIS prepares and governs end-to-end payroll processing, fully owns open enrollment strategy execution, administers complex multi-state compliance filings, and leads HRIS configuration optimization. The Human Resources Manager serves as the final payroll reviewer; however, this role is accountable for the completeness, accuracy, and audit integrity of all underlying data and processes.

Success in this role is defined by measurable operational excellence, including:

• Achieving ≥98% payroll accuracy within the first 90 days and sustaining near-zero error processing thereafter.
• Maintaining 100% on-time submission of all federal and multi-state compliance filings.
• Achieving 100% accuracy in monthly carrier invoice reconciliation.
• Maintaining 100% HRIS employee data integrity across lifecycle events.
• Establishing and maintaining structured ACA, ERISA, and 401(k) audit schedules with zero missed deadlines.

This role combines deep regulatory knowledge, systems thinking, process transformation capability, and responsible automation adoption to safeguard organizational compliance while increasing operational efficiency.

What You’ll Do

Payroll Governance & Operational Authority

• Serve as the organizational subject matter expert for multi-state payroll administration (with an emphasis on CA, IL, MN, WA), ensuring regulatory compliance and tax accuracy.
• Own full-cycle bi-weekly payroll preparation from data validation through pre-submission audit, achieving ≥98% accuracy within the first 90 days and continuous improvement thereafter.
• Independently diagnose and resolve payroll discrepancies, tax variances, garnishments, and system errors; implement structural process improvements to prevent recurrence.
• Design and maintain documented payroll audit controls, reconciliation procedures, and redundancy safeguards.
• Prepare final exit payout statements for terminated employees and process back-end functions to ensure compliance with final pay regulations and internal controls.
• Identify and implement automation opportunities that reduce manual processing time, increase validation accuracy, and strengthen audit trails.

Benefits Governance, Strategy Execution & Regulatory Compliance

• Act as benefits administration subject matter expert and primary owner of open enrollment planning and execution.
• Partner strategically with brokers and senior leadership to evaluate plan design options, regulatory implications, and cost modeling before executive approval.
• Execute approved benefits changes with structured communication, compliance validation, and system integration.
• Reconcile carrier invoices monthly with 100% accuracy and proactively resolve discrepancies.
• Maintain full compliance ownership for ACA, COBRA, ERISA, OWBPA, Secure Act 2.0, and 401(k) audit requirements.
• Establish and manage recurring compliance calendars and audit documentation frameworks.

Compliance & Risk Mitigation Leadership

• Fully own all federal and state compliance filings, ensuring 100% on-time completion with zero missed deadlines.
• Manage unemployment claims, workers’ compensation documentation, employment verifications, and audit preparation.
• Monitor multi-state regulatory changes and proactively adjust payroll and benefits processes accordingly.
• Maintain a centralized compliance calendar with built-in redundancy controls.

HRIS Owner & Systems Optimization

• Serve as Paycom HRIS system owner, responsible for conf