Manager, People Operations

At Kabam, we’re constantly raising the bar of excellence in free-to-play gaming. We hire for passion and diversity so that we can triumph in our collective skill. Our teams are made up of a fusion of personalities and interests bound together by a collaborative nature, fun-loving culture, and a drive to do what it takes to make great games. And this is where you come in…

Reporting to the Senior Director, People Operations, Total Rewards & RMO, the Manager, People Operations manages, develops and maintains People Operations and Payroll, including operational HR policies, processes and programs, and is accountable for People Systems such as Ceridian Dayforce, and the delivery of People-related reporting and insights. They bring their expertise in People Operations and Payroll to lead, engage and mentor members of the team.

This role is a full-time, on-site position based 5 days a week at our Downtown Vancouver studio.

In this role, you can expect to:

Manages a broad portfolio of operational HR pillars at Kabam:

Manages, develops and maintains operational HR policies, processes and programs as well as People reporting to support People Team and business activities and decision-making.

Negotiates with providers concerning our existing and future policies, advocating for what’s best for the organization.

Acts as the primary point person to the parent company in regards to regular People Team reporting.




Manages the activities of the payroll function:

Develops policies and procedures for payroll process and timekeeping; responsible for the development and implementation of procedural guideline improvements.

Ensures the generation of the company payroll, vacation and sick leave accrual, overtime and withholding status.

Takes ownership and overseeing a Payroll project for implementation and integration and working closely with project managers and stakeholders.

Review reports and analysis’ prepared by Payroll team members before submitting including the RRSP and 401(k) contribution files and benefit invoices for reconciliation.

Lead the analysis, identification, and development of strategies for improving existing payroll processes, systems, and system integration by providing subject matter expertise and influencing decisions.




Acts as Administrator of HRIS/Payroll system:

Manages the development and implementation of HRIS add-ons and integrations, including benefits and payroll systems.

Manages the maintenance of data integrity on Dayforce.

Develops and implements processes to audit and fix incomplete or inaccurate data on Dayforce.

Grants and monitors People Team access to employee information.

Contributes to People Team projects by providing a people systems perspective.




Administers access and control to the ATS system:

Manages configuration, and integration of Lever ATS system with other systems.

Grants and monitors employee, manager, and People Team access to employee information on Lever.




Ensures company practices meet applicable legislative reporting, regulatory and overall compliance requirements:

Meets all government reporting requirements for payroll taxes, withholding and employer contributions.

Keeps abreast of legal and regulatory requirements that have an impact on the organization’s payroll management, compensation and benefits, and adopt requirements and communicate changes to management and stakeholders as needed.

Maintains employee confidence and protects payroll operations by keeping information confidential.

Ensure that the segregation of duties is maintained within payroll so that no one person can process or make unauthorized changes to the payroll.

Maintains payroll system, ensure data integrity and suggest/implement system upgrades and enhancements.

Serve as subject matter expert for payroll systems, identifying opportunities for process improvements.

Troubleshoot system issues with internal stakeholders/external vendors and communicating resolutions/remediation with with end-user experience in mind.

Ensures Payroll and People Team activities, documentation and policies are compliant with K-SOX.

Primary point of contact for KSOX auditors in People Operations matters; works with auditors on information requests and learns best practices.

Ensures the maintenance and currency of HR/Payroll policies and procedures.




Leads People Operations team through different People Team initiatives:

In collaboration with various teams, supports the performance review, bonus, and compensation change cycles.

Works with the Total Rewards team to support the Benefits Open Enrollment, Mid-year and Annual Review processes.




Ensure the overall success of the team:

Manage and coach multiple direct reports on the People Operations team while fostering an engaging and trusting learning environment.

Providing mentorship, coaching, and guidance to team members and building a learning culture.

Establish and drive the team’s vision and goals in alignment with the organization’s overall strategic direction.

Reviews work done by staff and provide guidance.

Cultivate a safe environment for the team that allows for disagreement over ideas, conflict and expeditious conflict resolution.




Leads Support for Employee Inquiries:

Oversees team members on answering tier 1 employee questions on behalf of the People Team.

When necessary, escalates employee issues to the relevant teams.




ICFR related Responsibilities:

Approve timesheets by employee’s line manager.

Prepare and review preliminary payroll report and comparative analysis.

Check and approve RRSP and 401(k) contribution files.

Review and approve benefit invoices prior to submitting invoice for payment.

Identify/research and resolve payroll issues.

Lead payroll related audits.

To be successful in this role, your background includes:

• 6+ years of Human Resources (HR) experience, ideally with a strong background in HR operations and systems in a generalist capacity.
• Experience with HR policy governance, plus managing the successful operational delivery of HR processes, systems, and programs.
• Experience with Ceridian Dayforce or similar HRIS system integrations is highly desirable.
• Experience managing benefits plan analysis, and open enrolment are highly desirable.
• Must have strong knowledge of Canadian employment law. Additional exposure to US and/or Quebec HR policies is a bonus.
• Strong problem-solving ability, managing conflict, adhering to tight deadlines, handling ambiguity, and thriving in a dynamic start-up environment.
• Experience managing a team of direct reports.
• Experience overseeing auditing requirements and compliance reporting at a publicly traded organization.
• Familiarity with the video games industry or a passion for gaming.
• Ability to partner with strategic leaders to drive business strategy and operational goals.
• Experience working and partnering with employees at multiple sites/offices.
• Approaching problems with agility, calmness, and curiosity to create solutions.

Our success is due to the hard work of our people. We share our success with our people through flexible benefits and reward programs, sweet swag, snacks, and more. Here’s a look at some of the support we provide our people:

• Extended Health Coverage: effective day one, no waiting period! Our benefits cover health, dental, life, disability, and extended paramedical services such as vision care, mental health practitioners, massage, physiotherapy, acupuncture, and much more.
• DEIB Benefits: DEIB is important to us and to our people - that’s why our benefits include gender-affirming care, fertility care, and other hormonal treatments and drugs.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: our benefits are built on a flex credit model, so you’re able to choose the coverage levels that are right for you, and allocate the rest to a group RRSP/TFSA, Health Spending account, and/or Personal Spending Account.
• RRSP Matching: everyone retires eventually, and we help our people save for their futures with a contribution matching program once you reach 90 days with us.
• Commuter Benefit: we believe in the power of in-person collaboration, and want to support you in making it work for you! We provide a flexible, monthly cash allowance to help cover the costs of transit, parking, or even personal logistics like childcare and pet care.
• PTO and Parental Leave: we offer paid parental leave, flexible paid time off, paid time off for volunteering, sick leave, and holiday closures.
• Employee and Family Assistance Program: this program provides crisis management support, immediate mental health care, and generalized support for emotional, mental, and financial well-being.
• Telus Virtual Health: we provide increased access to remote healthcare providers for prescription refills or referrals from the comfort of your home.
• Learning and growth: We encourage people to grow both personally and professionally, and support this through regular lunch & learns and an education stipend.
• Pay transparency: We share with employees the pay range their role falls within and clear career maps to determine how they can grow within their role or level-up to a promotion.
• Cool spaces: Our offices are in Vancouver, Montreal, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Whether it’s summers on the rooftop patio in Downtown Vancouver, or watching the fireworks in Montreal’s South Shore - we want our people to feel like their time spent in office is worthwhile!
• Giving back: Kabammers have a dedicated paid day off every year to volunteer to a cause close to their hearts. Some teams even band together for group volunteer days off-site!