North America Payroll Lead – (Remote: CR, MEX or ARG)

Job Category: Human Resources (Payroll & Benefits)
Job Type: Full Time
Job Location: Remote (Mexico, Costa Rica or Argentina)

Our client a Global SaaS company with over 500+ employees worldwide, specializing in Sales Performance Management (SPM) solutions for sales compensation, incentives, and revenue operations, is hiring a hands-on Payroll Lead to own end-to-end payroll processing across North America, and support international payroll operations spanning multiple countries. This role sits within People Operations team and reports to the Senior Director, People Operations. This is an individual contributor role to start, and you will be directly executing payroll cycles. The immediate expectation is full, independent ownership of North American payroll, and over time, there is potential to oversee a junior payroll resource.

We are looking for an individual contributor with the experience to work independently and take full ownership of the payroll processes. You have seen enough payroll cycles — including severance payments, retroactive adjustments, multi-province/state scenarios, and year-end processing — to know how to handle new situations when they arise. An approximately two-week shadowing period will help you become familiar with the systems and company-specific processes. After that, you will be expected to operate independently, using sound judgment and asking targeted questions when needed.

• Degree or diploma in HR, Business Administration, Accounting, or a related field
• Minimum 8 years of payroll experience, with at least the past 3+ years in a lead or senior individual contributor role
• Hands-on, processing-level experience with both US and Canadian payroll (Beyond payroll oversight or people management responsibilities).
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage full payroll cycles, reconciliations, and year-end activities for both countries
• Experience administering North American employee benefits (US and Canada)
• Advanced Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUPs, reconciliation models)
• Strong working knowledge of IRS and CRA payroll rules and legislation
• High numeracy, attention to detail, and ability to manage competing deadlines across time zones
• Proficiency in English (written and verbal); Spanish is an asset

• Familiarity with international payroll via a third-party provider (exceptions-based model)
• Experience with UKG is a strong plus; candidates with hands-on experience in ADP, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Ceridian, or similar platforms are equally considered.
• Experience with CloudPay is a bonus
• Payroll certification: PCP, CPM, CPP is considered an strong asset

Payroll Execution — Core Responsibility:

• Own and personally execute full-cycle payroll processing for the United States and Canada using UKG (our HRIS and payroll platform)
• Manage payroll inputs, calculations, adjustments, reconciliations, and government remittances
• Produce W-2s (US) and T-4s (Canada); manage quarterly and year-end payroll activities and tax filings
• Provide exceptions and review/approve international payroll reports processed through CloudPay (our third-party provider covering Australia, UK, Romania, Mexico, and an additional LATAM country)
• Apply working knowledge of IRS (US) and CRA (Canada) rules to make sound judgment calls on how payroll inputs should be processed — this is not a data entry role.

Benefits Administration:

• Administer US benefits: medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, and 401(k)
• Administer Canadian benefits: health and dental plans, and RRSP
• Process enrollments, life events, open enrollment updates, and terminations
• Maintain data accuracy across UKG and external benefit vendors
• Support international benefits administration in partnership with regional brokers and CloudPay

Compliance & Controls:

• Ensure compliance with federal, state/provincial, and applicable international payroll legislation
• Maintain internal controls, support audits, and keep payroll and benefits data confidential and accurate
• Monitor legislative changes that impact payroll or benefits processing

Systems & Reporting:

• Manage and optimize the UKG platform (payroll and HRIS modules)
• Maintain the UKG–CloudPay integration and flag data flow issues
• Produce payroll analytics and reporting for leadership, Finance, and workforce planning

Employee Support:

• Act as the escalation point for payroll and benefits questions from employees across all regions
• Deliver clear, timely, and accurate support — with the maturity and confidence to explain complex payroll concepts to non-payroll audiences

Months 1–3: Learn our UKG environment, CloudPay workflow, and payroll cycles. Begin processing North American payroll with oversight. Support benefits administration and employee inquiries.
Months 4–6: Take independent ownership of full-cycle US and Canada payroll. Lead benefits reconciliations and open enrollment activities. Begin supporting international payroll review and approval.
Month 7+: Own global payroll and benefits operations end-to-end. Lead year-end processing and compliance activities. Drive process improvements. Potential to begin overseeing a junior international payroll resource.

Remote — open to candidates in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Argentina only due to existing legal entities and employer-of-record arrangements in these countries.