Payroll Lead

About the role

As the Payroll Lead, you will build, oversee, and continuously develop a world-class payroll operations organisation, encompassing both internal teams and outsourced partners. Acting as the operational authority for payroll, you will provide legislative guidance to the business and deliver a high-trust employee payroll experience. You will play a fundamental role in the People Team, coordinating the delivery of accurate and timely global payroll for all employees across multiple regions and entities through our external payroll providers.

What you'll do

• Oversee the end-to-end execution of global payroll processing and coordinate with external vendors to deliver accurate, compliant, and on-time payroll results across multiple regions, entities, and pay frequencies
• Guide and develop our Payroll Specialist and outsourced partners, establishing high standards for performance, accountability, and operational excellence
• Act as the operational authority for payroll, maintaining the integrity of all employee pay data across multiple systems and HR, finance, and accounting pipelines
• Identify, investigate, and resolve complex payroll issues and system discrepancies sustainably, applying clear judgment and root-cause analysis to eliminate recurrence and reduce operational risk
• Design and build the payroll support operating model, including case workflows, intake channels, escalation paths, SLAs, and quality standards
• Build and maintain a rigorous control environment, ensuring external providers uphold strict compliance with all statutory requirements, alongside process documentation, approvals, reconciliations, and audit-ready evidence
• Manage and conduct audits in the areas of payroll accounting and social security in collaboration with internal and external partners within the respective legal jurisdictions
• Architect payroll workflows using automation and AI-powered tools to facilitate improvements in speed, accuracy, efficiency, and scalability with vendors

What you'll need

• Extensive experience overseeing global payroll operations in scaling environments, specifically managing and coordinating external payroll provider relationships
• Deep foundational knowledge in finance, HR, law, or economics as applied to payroll operations
• Global payroll coordination experience with a comprehensive focus on Germany and the wider DACH region
• Excellent working knowledge of global payroll regulations, tax requirements, and standard payroll compliance
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with meticulous attention to detail
• Fluency in German and English to effectively coordinate with local authorities, vendors, and stakeholders

Nice to have

• Background managing international payroll or tax advisory and integrating HRIS platforms (such as HiBob) with payroll systems (such as DATEV or ADP)
• Effective guidance skills, direct communication, and a commitment to continuous professional growth and learning

What they offer

• Competitive salary and stock options (ESOP)
• Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation
• Learning allowance: €500 yearly
• Health and wellness: gym membership and mental health support
• Enhanced parental leave: 22 weeks fully paid for primary caregivers, 6 weeks for secondary caregivers
• 5 days paid family emergency leave and 100% remote work option during pregnancy