Associate Director-Global Payroll-Pune

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Talent Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop Managers, Assistant Managers, and extended payroll teams across regions
• Build a strong leadership bench and ensure succession planning across geographies
• Drive strategic hiring to build a high-performing, scalable, and diverse team
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning

Global Payroll Delivery Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight for end-to-end payroll delivery across UK, Europe, APAC, US, and LATAM
• Ensure adherence to SLAs, KPIs, compliance standards, and client expectations
• Drive standardization of payroll processes, governance frameworks, and service delivery models globally
• Act as a second-level escalation point for complex and high-impact payroll issues

Transition & Global Mobility Coordination

• Partner closely with Transition and Implementation teams to ensure seamless onboarding of new clients and processes
• Ensure all transition milestones are met and projected go-live timelines are achieved
• Oversee risk identification, mitigation planning, and post-go-live stabilization
• Drive knowledge transfer, process documentation, and operational readiness

Stakeholder & Client Engagement

• Engage with senior client stakeholders across regions, acting as a trusted advisor on payroll delivery
• Drive client satisfaction through proactive communication, governance, and service excellence
• Manage complex escalations and lead resolution with a structured, solution-driven approach
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Tax, Advisory, HR, Finance, and Technology within BDO

Compliance, Risk & Governance

• Ensure adherence to multi-country statutory, regulatory, and tax compliance requirements
• Oversee audits, compliance reviews, and governance frameworks across regions
• Ensure audit readiness, documentation standards, and risk mitigation practices
• Stay aligned with evolving global payroll regulations and BDO policies

Operational Excellence & Transformation

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across payroll delivery
• Identify and implement automation, standardization, and digital transformation opportunities
• Leverage data, dashboards, and analytics to improve performance and decision-making
• Reduce rework, errors, and escalations through strong quality frameworks

Financial & Commercial Oversight

• Oversee financial aspects of payroll delivery, including billing inputs, cost management, and margin optimization
• Ensure alignment with BDOs financial goals and operational efficiency targets
• Support commercial discussions, RFPs, and solutioning for global payroll engagements

Strategic & Critical Projects

• Lead global, high-impact payroll projects and transformation initiatives
• Manage cross-regional dependencies, timelines, risks, and stakeholder expectations
• Ensure successful execution of business-critical and strategic programs

Qualifications & Experience

• Graduate/Postgraduate in Finance, HR, Business Administration, or related field
• 12–18 years of experience in global payroll operations within a professional services or global delivery environment
• 5–8 years of leadership experience managing Managers and large, multi-region teams
• Proven experience managing payroll across Europe, APAC, US, and LATAM regions
• Strong experience in transitions, migrations, and global payroll transformations

Key Skills

• Deep expertise in global payroll, tax, and compliance across multiple regions
• Strong leadership and team-building capabilities in a matrix organization
• Excellent stakeholder and client management skills
• Strategic thinking with strong execution focus
• Strong program/project management and transition management expertise
• High attention to detail with strong governance orientation

Success Metrics

• SLA/KPI adherence across all regions
• Payroll accuracy, timeliness, and compliance outcomes
• Successful transition execution and go-live achievement
• Reduction in escalations and operational risks
• Client satisfaction and retention
• Team engagement, retention, and leadership development

Process efficiency, standardization, and automation impact