Payroll & Benefits Administrator

About the Company

SonderMind builds technology-enabled mental healthcare that helps people connect with the right in-network therapist and supports clinicians with tools for care delivery, telehealth, outcome tracking, messaging, and direct booking. The organization is focused on improving access to personalized care and better clinical outcomes.

Role Overview

This position sits within the People Operations team and is centered on end-to-end payroll execution, with special attention to California payroll compliance. You will work primarily in UKG and help ensure employees are paid correctly and on schedule while also supporting benefits administration tasks with speed and accuracy.

The role is a strong fit for someone who is early in their payroll career and wants practical exposure in a fast-paced, people-focused environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Run semi-monthly payroll for the full employee population using UKG Pro and Workforce Management tools, while following applicable state wage-and-hour requirements.
• Review payroll inputs before each cycle closes to catch errors, mismatches, and other discrepancies.
• Handle employee questions about payroll and quickly resolve issues.
• Address payroll matters such as tax items, garnishments, and system setup/configuration issues.
• Assist managers with payroll topics, including timecard checks, approval steps, and UKG timekeeping troubleshooting.
• Administer employee benefits processes such as enrollments, life events, terminations, carrier file feeds, and front-line support for benefits questions.
• Keep UKG employee records current, including compensation, deductions, and tax withholding details.
• Support year-end activities such as W-2 preparation, commission letter handling and distribution, and reconciliations.
• Help manage the 401(k) program, including analysis, reporting review, and reconciliation for compliance purposes.
• Take on additional duties as needed based on business priorities.

Success Milestones

• Within 30 days: completes UKG onboarding and can manage a full payroll cycle with supervision, showing reliable accuracy across employee types.
• Within 60 days: processes payroll with limited oversight, applies California-specific rules such as final pay, meal and rest penalties, and SDI, and identifies exceptions before they create issues.
• Within 90 days: independently owns payroll processing end to end, resolves discrepancies without escalation, and maintains compliance across all state requirements.
• Within 1 year: consistently delivers accurate, on-time payroll with no compliance misses, improves UKG processes, and becomes a dependable resource for California payroll questions.

Required Experience and Knowledge

• 1 to 2 years of direct payroll processing experience, including full-cycle payroll runs.
• Experience with UKG systems such as UltiPro or UKG Pro, plus Kronos or similar HRIS/payroll platforms.
• Working knowledge of California payroll rules, including overtime, meal and rest break premiums, and final pay rules.
• Understanding of core federal payroll compliance topics such as FLSA, taxes, and W-2 reporting.
• Comfort using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for audits and reconciliation work.
• Strong accuracy and the ability to identify and fix payroll errors.
• Solid critical thinking and problem-solving ability.
• Associate degree or higher in Accounting, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Preferred: exposure to multi-state payroll processing.

Compensation and Benefits

The annual salary for this role is $68,000 to $75,000.

• Flexible hybrid work approach.
• At least three weeks of PTO each year.
• Free therapy coverage for employees enrolled in the company medical plan.
• Medical, dental, and vision plans, including HSA and FSA options; HSA includes a $1,100 company contribution.
• Employer-paid short-term disability, long-term disability, life insurance, and AD&D coverage.
• Short-term disability salary top-up for up to seven weeks after the waiting period.
• Eight weeks of paid parental leave, with a potential total of 8 to 16 weeks if STD eligibility also applies.
• 401(k) with 100% match on up to 4% of base salary, vesting immediately.
• Travel to Denver once per year for the annual Shift gathering.
• Fourteen company holidays.
• Company shutdown between Christmas and New Year’s.
• Additional perks such as supplemental life insurance, pet insurance, commuter benefits, and more.

Application and Hiring Notes

This is an ongoing recruitment process and the role will remain open until it is filled.

The company may use AI-assisted tools to support recruiting activities such as scheduling, note-taking, transcription, information organization, and outreach, but hiring decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers. Candidates may request accommodations or alternative engagement methods by contacting talent@sondermind.com.

Equal Opportunity

SonderMind states that it does not discriminate in employment on the basis of protected characteristics including race, color, creed, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, childbirth-related conditions, religion, veteran or military status, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by law.