Senior Manager Payroll Leader

Senior Manager Payroll

This is a senior-level position responsible for managing payroll operations and compliance in the Asia-Pacific region. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in payroll management, with a strong understanding of payroll regulations and processes across APAC.

• Strategic Transformation & RFP Leadership: Establish and manage the future payroll framework, following global guidelines for improving existing payroll procedures.
• Lead APAC input into the RFP process, including requirements gathering, vendor evaluation, and transition planning.
• Provide project management oversight for payroll transformation initiatives, align collaborators to timelines and deliverables, and report progress to executive leadership.
• Act as the key advocate for payroll in APAC, championing payroll needs and leading the regional Payroll Roadmap.
• Regional Payroll Governance & Compliance: Align payroll operations with laws and statutory reporting requirements, ensuring tasks are completed by statutory deadlines across APAC (Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and New Zealand).
• Lead vendor governance reviews, produce performance scorecards, and ensure outsourced providers are held accountable to SLAs and contractual obligations.
• Ensure SOPs remain current with vendor model practices and regulatory changes; maintain and strengthen control frameworks, risk management, and audit readiness.
• Serve as primary contact for payroll compliance and delivery issues.
• Payroll Oversight & Business Continuity: Direct and control payroll services from vendors and internal sources, ensuring precision, timeliness, and consistency across APAC markets including Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
• Ensure accurate and timely payroll including base pay, stock compensation, payroll taxes, pension, and statutory and supplemental benefits; supervise expatriate and shadow payrolls for mobility cases with Mobility Services; validate outputs with Finance Managers and Local HR Managers.
• Safeguard business continuity through proactive planning and documentation.
• Automation & Continuous Improvement: Lead system automation projects, resolve payroll technology integrations with HRIS/IT; monitor vendor performance metrics and lead service improvement initiatives; drive automation and digitization to streamline operations and enhance reporting; champion ongoing payroll optimization across the region; build frameworks to onboard new countries/entities; identify knowledge gaps and training needs at country level.
• Finance & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Finance on reconciliations, GL integration, accruals, and statutory reports; own month-end, quarter-end, and year-end processes for APAC entities; collaborate with HR, Master Data Admins, Legal, and Tax to ensure compliance and data integrity; provide payroll input on M&A, expansions, and new entity setup; partner with HRIS/IT to handle payroll platform integrations and troubleshoot.

• Serve as the senior payroll subject matter expert for APAC, advising HR and Finance leadership on risk, compliance, and enhancement opportunities.
• Foster integrated connections across HR, Benefits, Compensation, Finance, and external vendors to ensure timely and accurate results.
• Solicit feedback and proactively manage user issues; promote a culture of outstanding customer service in payroll to ensure positive participant experience.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders in a matrixed, multinational environment.

• Extensive payroll experience (>10 years) with APAC-wide responsibilities and deep understanding of payroll operations across APAC (Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia).
• Proven experience leading payroll transformations, RFPs, and vendor transitions.
• Experience leading large-scale payroll projects and cross-regional initiatives with strong project management skills.
• Expertise in end-to-end global payroll processes and internal control concepts.
• Proficient understanding of APAC payroll laws and legal obligations.
• Hands-on experience with HRIS and payroll platforms (Workday, SAP, ADP, Ascender, or similar).
• Proven ability to collaborate across HR and Finance within a global matrix; skilled at engaging with senior leadership and resolving conflicts.

• Payroll certification (CPP, CIPP, APA) or project management credentials (PMP, PRINCE2); Bachelor's degree in Finance/Tax/Accounting/HR or equivalent experience.
• Familiarity with automation tools, payroll analytics, and reporting platforms.
• Fluency in English; other APAC languages (Mandarin or Korean) a strong plus.