Regional Senior Payroll Manager, Americas (AMER)

Responsibilities:

• Oversight over end-to-end payroll operations, compliance, and transformation for the Americas region, currently U.S. and Canada with potential future geographic expansion within the Americas region.
• Serve as the technical payroll regulatory expert for the Americas region’s payroll statutory requirements, tax compliance, and regulatory reporting (Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), federal, state/provincial, and local).
• Design, implement, and maintain foundational payroll processes, controls, and organizational infrastructure to support current and future-state operations.
• Drive payroll system configuration, integration, and reporting customization initiatives across payroll and HR platforms (ADP, SAP, BambooHR, or similar enterprise HR Information Systems).
• Lead automation and optimization initiatives to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability of payroll operations.
• Establish and maintain disciplined quality oversight frameworks with quantifiable metrics and KPIs to measure payroll accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
• Implement continuous improvement methodologies and track performance metrics to drive operational excellence.
• Manage business process design and documentation, ensuring standardization and scalability across regions.
• Lead system and supplier evaluations, implementations, and vendor management activities within the Americas region.
• Collaborate effectively across time zones with the India-based payroll team, providing guidance, training, and operational oversight.
• Partner with HR, Finance, IT, and external vendors to ensure seamless payroll execution and issue resolution.
• Establish and maintain payroll process compliance documentation, audit controls, and SOX compliance requirements.
• Conduct root cause analysis on payroll discrepancies and implement corrective and preventative actions.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and employee experience excellence.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Human Resources, or related field.
• 8+ years of progressive payroll experience with 5+ years in a leadership or management role.
• Deep technical expertise in U.S. payroll regulations, tax compliance, and statutory reporting requirements.
• Experience working in fast-paced, ambiguous, high-growth environments where foundational infrastructure and processes are being established.
• Significant hands-on experience with payroll and HR system configuration, including workflow design, integration development, and custom reporting.
• Proven track record of automation and optimization initiatives (e.g., RPA, RDA, AI/ML, Microsoft Power Automate, API integrations).
• Demonstrated experience establishing quality oversight frameworks with quantifiable metrics (accuracy rates, SLA compliance, error reduction, cycle-time improvements).
• Strong foundation in business process management, including process mapping, standardization, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proven success leading system implementations, vendor evaluations, and supplier management projects.
• Experience working across multiple time zones and managing or collaborating with geographically distributed teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage complex data, compliance requirements, and multi-system integrations.
• Proficiency with payroll, finance, and HR systems such as ADP, SAP, BambooHR, or other enterprise HRIS platforms.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence across all organizational levels.

Preferred Skills:

Professional certifications such as Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or other recognized payroll credentials.
Advanced degree (Master's in Business, Accounting, Finance, or related field).
Lean Six Sigma certification or equivalent process improvement certification.
Understanding of payroll governance, audit, and control frameworks (SOX, COSO, ISO, or similar).
Experience with Canadian and South American payroll regulations.
Advanced Excel/data analysis skills and experience with business intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI, etc.).
Project management certification (PMP, Agile, etc.) or demonstrated project management experience.
Experience designing and implementing shared service or center of excellence (COE) operating models.
Knowledge of change management principles and experience leading organizational transformation initiatives.
Familiarity with HR transformation, digital workplace initiatives, and employee self-service technologies.

Key Competencies:

• Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of payroll regulations, system architecture, and compliance requirements.
• Change Leadership: Comfortable with ambiguity and skilled at building infrastructure in high-growth, evolving environments.
• Quality & Metrics Orientation: Data-driven approach to quality management with focus on measurable outcomes and continuous improvement.
• Process Excellence: Strong business process management capabilities with ability to design scalable, efficient workflows.
• Global Collaboration: Ability to work effectively across cultures and time zones with distributed teams.
• Strategic Thinking: Balances tactical execution with strategic vision for future-state organization design.
• Innovation Mindset: Proactive identification and implementation of automation, technology, and process improvements.
• Stakeholder Management: Strong influencing and relationship-building skills across all organizational levels.