European Payroll Specialist-Associate Manager

Position Summary

The Associate Manager, Payroll Service Delivery of International Payroll plays a key role in ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll delivery across multiple countries within our Global Capability Center (GCC) at a Leading Fortune 500 pharmaceuticals company. This role supports end-to-end payroll operations, partners closely with regional HR and Finance teams, and helps drive process standardization, system optimization, and service excellence. The ideal candidate brings strong technical payroll expertise, a global mindset, and the ability to lead through complexity in a fast-moving, service-oriented environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Operations Governance: Oversee day-to-day international payroll operations across assigned countries, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with local regulations.
• Vendor Management: Assist with managing relationships with external payroll vendor(s), ensuring service-level adherence, issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Financial Controls: Support payroll processing activities including data validation, audit checks, reconciliations, and approval workflows.
• Strategic Alignment: Assist in implementing global payroll strategies, standard operating procedures, and process harmonization across the Shared Services Center (SSC).
• Regulatory Compliance: Monitor regulatory changes in assigned countries and coordinate updates with internal teams and vendors.
• Audit Readiness: Support internal and external audits by preparing documentation, responding to inquiries, and ensuring controls are followed.
• People Leadership: Provide guidance and support to payroll operations analysts, fostering a culture of accuracy, accountability, and customer service.

Required

• Education: Bachelors degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, HR, or a related field.
• Experience: 8+ years of core European payroll experience, including direct exposure to multi-country or international payroll environments.
• Compliance: Strong understanding of global payroll compliance, statutory requirements, and internal payroll controls.
• Systems: Experience working with global payroll vendors and enterprise HRIS/payroll architectures (e.g., Workday, SAP, ADP GlobalView, CloudPay).
• Analytics: Demonstrated ability to analyze complex data sets, isolate system discrepancies, and execute process improvements.
• Stakeholder Management: Excellent communication skills with comfort collaborating across diverse regions, cultures, and time zones.
• Organization: Strong organizational skills with the ability to navigate and prioritize multiple deliverables in a shared services framework.

Preferred

• Direct experience operating within a Shared Services Center (SSC) or Global Capability Center (GCC).
• Proven supervisory, team-lead, or formal mentoring experience.
• Professional industry credentials (e.g., CPP, FPC, or equivalent global payroll certifications).
• Region-specific payroll processing experience supporting EMEA, APAC, or LATAM jurisdictions.

Work Environment

• Location: Based in our Global Capability Center (GCC) with hybrid work flexibility (3 days in office).
• Schedule: May require occasional early morning or evening meetings to support global operational time zones.