To add or remove soil for barn location

[RDrancher]

If it were mine, I would cut for the pad and construct a retaining wall straight across the back, 3' beyond the width of the structure on each side with 45 degree wings to divert the runoff around the pad. A french drain (hard pipe...not the corrugated flexible junk) at the base of the uphill side of the wall would redirect ground water to the outside of the wings. If you use a woven geotextile fabric between the soil and gravel, settling will be minimal.