Senior Payroll Specialist– International (EMEA & APAC)

Compliance, Tax & Risk Management

• Maintain strong international payroll knowledge, with direct operational expertise in several of the covered countries and the ability to develop knowledge of additional jurisdictions through collaboration with in-country providers and specialist advisers. Proactively identify legislative or regulatory updates and coordinate required operational changes.
• Manage day-to-day multi-country payroll tax compliance activities across EMEA and APAC, including registrations, statutory filings, payment requirements, and routine correspondence with tax and social security authorities such as HMRC, ZUS and the Polish Tax Office, Skatteetaten, the Agencia Tributaria and Seguridad Social, Skatteverket, and Singapore's IRAS/CPF Board. Escalate material assessments, disputes, penalties, or compliance risks to the Global Payroll Manager.
• Support the Global Payroll Manager, Legal, Finance, Tax, and HR with new-country payroll assessments, registrations, implementation activities, documentation, testing, and operational readiness. Legal, tax, permanent-establishment, and employment-law determinations must be validated by the appropriate internal or external specialists.
• Review and reconcile statutory in-year and year-end payroll filings for each covered country (e.g., UK P60/P11D, Polish PIT-11, Swedish arbetsgivardeklaration, Norwegian a-melding, Spanish Modelo 111/190, and Singapore IR8A/IR21), prepare them for authorised approval, and partner with local tax representatives to resolve routine agency notices.
• Support the design, implementation, and ongoing operation of robust payroll controls to safeguard payroll data, comply with GDPR and local data-privacy requirements, and mitigate the risk of errors, fraud, or unauthorised access.
• Maintain complete payroll control evidence, approval records, reconciliations, issue logs, and audit trails for every payroll cycle in accordance with company record-retention requirements.
• Complete periodic payroll system and provider access reviews, bank-detail change controls, variance analysis, and post-payroll reconciliations, escalating control failures, suspected fraud, or unauthorised activity immediately.
• Coordinate day-to-day statutory and external audit activities related to international payroll, including preparation and management of payroll PBC (Prepared by Client) lists across jurisdictions, and escalate material findings or commitments to the Global Payroll Manager.
• Address and resolve payroll discrepancies, tax issues, and employee escalations across multiple time zones with urgency, accuracy, and professionalism.
• Partner closely with the Payroll Accountant and Finance team on payroll journal entries, multi-currency general ledger reconciliations, flux analysis, and accruals on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.

Process Improvement, Training & Leadership

• Champion continuous improvement by identifying, designing, and implementing process enhancements, automation opportunities, and best practices to increase efficiency, accuracy, and scalability across a growing international payroll footprint.
• Support the implementation and continued optimisation of ADP Celergo, including requirements gathering, data validation, configuration review, interface testing, user acceptance testing, parallel payroll testing, defect management, go-live readiness, change management, and post-go-live stabilisation. Overall programme ownership and material design decisions remain with the Global Payroll Manager and designated project governance.
• Create, document, and maintain comprehensive country-specific payroll process manuals, SOPs, control documentation, key-contact lists, access instructions, contingency procedures, and training materials to ensure business continuity and knowledge transfer.
• Provide effective payroll cover across assigned countries and participate in cross-training to reduce dependency on individual team members or external providers during planned or unexpected absences.
• Provide functional guidance, coaching, and training to junior payroll team members on multi-country payroll practices, fostering a culture of accuracy, compliance, accountability, and professional development. This responsibility does not include formal people management unless separately assigned.
• Manage assigned operational relationships with in-country payroll and benefits vendors, monitor performance against SLAs and agreed controls, and provide evidence-based recommendations to the Global Payroll Manager regarding service improvements or escalation.
• Collaborate with HR, Legal, Benefits, and works councils or employee representative bodies where applicable to effectively communicate and resolve payroll-related matters across regions in a professional and timely manner.

Who You Are:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 7–10+ years of progressive, end-to-end international payroll experience supporting employees across EMEA and APAC, ideally including Poland, Singapore, the UK, Norway, Spain, and/or Sweden, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead capacity.
• Experience with international payroll systems required; hands-on experience with ADP Celergo strongly preferred.
• Experience working with Workday HR (HCM) preferred, particularly supporting HR-to-payroll data integration.
• Demonstrated experience managing high-volume, multi-country payrolls with a strong track record of accuracy and on-time delivery.
• Proven experience managing cross-border payroll across multiple EMEA and APAC jurisdictions, including familiarity with local statutory filings, social security contributions, and works council or employee representative requirements.
• Global payroll certification (e.g., CIPP International, GRP, or GPMA) strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of international payroll regulations, tax codes, social