Payroll Specialist

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Objective / Purpose: 

The Senior Payroll Specialist is a senior professional role responsible for supporting payroll operations across an assigned payroll portfolio with greater independence and complexity. The role is accountable for end-to-end payroll operations across an assigned portfolio of Latin American markets, which may include Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Chile, and Panama, subject to evolving business needs. This role manages complex transactions, performs deeper validations and reconciliations, resolves operational issues, supports projects and change activities, and provides day-to-day technical guidance to colleagues. The role contributes to accurate, timely, compliant, and employee-focused payroll delivery while helping improve process quality and resilience. It covers an assigned regional, multi-entity, or multi-market payroll portfolio, with no budget ownership and no direct reports. 

Accountabilities: 

• Coordinate end-to-end payroll activities through approved systems and external providers for an assigned portfolio. 

• Validate complex earnings, deductions, taxes, statutory contributions, benefits, equity-related transactions, time data, and employee changes. 

• Perform reconciliations, controls, corrections, off-cycle transactions, and year-end support with increased independence, and prepare and maintain audit-ready evidence, documentation, and process records. 

• Investigate complex issues, identify root causes, implement corrective actions within authority, and escalate material risks where appropriate. 

• Serve as an operational contact for payroll providers, and partner with Payroll COE, HR, Finance, Total Rewards, Mobility, Technology, Risk, Audit, and other stakeholders to resolve issues, support service quality, and ensure follow-through. 

• Use approved digital, AI, and automation tools responsibly with human review and validation, and support system changes, testing, transitions, implementations, and process updates related to payroll and connected processes. 

• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and automate recurring work and reduce manual effort or recurring errors, and provide day-to-day guidance, peer coaching, and knowledge sharing to colleagues. 

 Education & Competencies (Technical and Behavioral): 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in HR, Business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field; payroll certification is advantageous. 

• Typically 3–5 years of payroll experience, ideally in regional, multi-entity, or international operations. 

• No direct reports; the role provides day-to-day guidance, peer coaching, and knowledge sharing rather than formal people management. 

• Experience supporting end-to-end payroll delivery across a portfolio of Latin American markets is desirable, particularly in markets such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Chile, and Panama. 

• Strong knowledge of payroll operations, controls, reconciliations, documentation, tax and statutory support, and confidentiality, with experience of outsourced payroll providers and confidence working with payroll data, reports, and structured datasets. Experience with payroll systems and digital tools such as Workday, ADP, SAP Payroll, ServiceNow, or equivalent is desirable. Fluent English; additional relevant languages are desirable. 

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, service, prioritization, and communication skills, with sound judgment in more complex payroll situations. Demonstrates accountability, collaboration, inclusion, curiosity, and openness to change.