Payroll Specialist, Senior

Role & Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end APAC (India and Singapore) and EMEA (UK, Spain, France, and Italy) payrolls.

• Act as the primary SME for APAC payroll, advising stakeholders on regulatory requirements, tax implications, and best practices.

• Handle escalated employee payroll and tax inquiries in both APAC and EMEA with expert-level support.

• Maintain thorough and accurate documentation to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations and for audit readiness.

• Own payroll reconciliations and month-over-month variance analysis; lead monthly, quarterly, and annual statutory reporting across all active payroll countries.

• Ensure compliance with all Indian statutory requirements, including Provident Fund (PF), Employee State Insurance (ESI), Professional Tax (PT), Income Tax/TDS, Labour Welfare Fund, Gratuity, and other applicable regulations.

• Manage external payroll vendors against SLAs, holding partners accountable for accuracy and continuous improvement.

• Partner cross-functionally with HR and Finance across the employee lifecycle to ensure accuracy in new hires, terminations, compensation changes, and variable compensation payments.

• Collaborate with Accounting to reconcile payroll liabilities, resolve GL variances, and support accurate month-end and year-end close.

• Serve as primary contact for internal and external audits, leading documentation preparation, issue resolution, and remediation.

• Proactively identify and mitigate compliance risks across all active payroll countries.

Qualifications

• 5+ years processing payroll in a complex or multinational environment, with deep expertise in India payroll regulations, TDS filings, statutory compliance, and year-end processes.

• Advanced Excel skills, including complex reconciliations, pivot tables, and large dataset analysis.

• Strong knowledge of internal controls, audit practices, and payroll risk management.

• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence HR, Finance, and external partners.

• Strong written and verbal communication; fluency in English required.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

• Experience with Workday payroll and HRIS integrations preferred.