Sr Payroll Specialist

The Senior Payroll Specialist is responsible for end-to-end payroll delivery across multiple countries, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, compliance, and exceptional employee experience. This role serves as the SME for payroll operations, statutory compliance, and controls; leads payroll projects (systems, process optimization, vendor transitions); and partners closely with HR, Finance, Legal, and external vendors to drive operational excellence and scale. Handling systems implementation, country rollouts, M&A integrations, process automation, BOTs/RPA, self-service enhancements.

Key Responsibilities

1) Payroll Operations

• Own end-to-end payroll processing for assigned countries (APAC), including data collation, validation, gross-to-net calculations, review, approvals, and pay disbursements.
• Manage off-cycle runs, terminations, retro payments, bonus cycles, and equity/stock transactions as applicable.
• Oversee pre- and post-payroll reconciliations (headcount, variance, GL, bank files, tax/SS/NI/EPF/ESI/PF/Professional Tax/Gratuity, etc.).
• Ensure accurate statutory filings and payments within local deadlines (e.g., India—PF/ESI/PT/TDS etc).
• Maintain payroll calendars, SOPs, SLAs, MOS, KPIs and knowledge base documents.

2) Compliance & Risk Controls

• Ensure compliance with local statutory and regulatory requirements (labor codes, tax, social security, pension/benefits, garnishments, equity taxation).
• Implement and monitor robust internal controls (SOX/ICFR), segregation of duties, and audit trails; remediate issues promptly.
• Prepare audit artifacts and manage internal/external/statutory audits; drive zero-findings culture.
• Maintain data privacy and security standards (local data retention laws).

3) Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Act as primary liaison with core HR, TA, Benefits, Finance (GL, AP, Treasury, Audit), Legal/Compliance, and IT.
• Manage payroll vendor relationships (SLA governance, performance reviews, , escalations, transitions).
• Communicate proactively with leadership, stakeholders, and employees on payroll timelines, changes, and issue resolution.

4) Project & Change Management

• Lead and execute payroll transformation projects (systems implementation, country rollouts, M&A integrations, process automation, BOTs/RPA, self-service enhancements).
• Drive continuous improvement lean process re-engineering, cycle time reduction, first-time-right, touchless processing.
• Own UAT, parallel runs, cutovers, change logs, and post-go-live stabilization.

5) Systems, Integrations & Reporting

• Serve as power user/administrator for payroll and HCM platforms (e.g., SAP, Oracle, etc.).
• Manage integration with HRIS, Time & Attendance, Benefits, Equity, and Finance GL; ensure data integrity and reconciliation.
• Develop standard and ad hoc payroll reporting (headcount cost analytics, accruals, GL postings, variance analysis, cost allocations, statutory trackers).
• Partner with Finance on month-end close, accruals, and audits; ensure accurate GL mapping and journal postings.

6) Employee Experience & Query Resolution

• Resolve complex payroll queries with empathy, speed, and accuracy; manage escalations to closure.
• Create and maintain employee-facing guides/FAQs; conduct payroll orientation for new hires and managers.
• Monitor employee satisfaction metrics and drive improvements in NPS/CSAT.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 8+ years of progressive payroll experience with multi-country/global payroll ownership and high-volume operations.
• Proven experience in project management (system implementations, vendor transitions, process automation).
• Demonstrated stakeholder management across HR, Finance, Legal, IT, and external vendors.
• Hands-on expertise with at least one global payroll engine and one enterprise HRIS (e.g., SAP/Oracle).
• Advanced Excel skills; strong data analysis and reconciliation capabilities.
• Experience with SOX/ICFR controls, internal/external audits, and compliance frameworks.
• M&A payroll integrations, entity set-ups/shutdowns, international assignments/expat payroll, shadow payroll, equity taxation.
• Business continuity planning (BCP/DR), global banking/payments platforms
• Data privacy impact assessments (DPIA) for payroll systems.