Senior Manager, Payroll Accounting

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Payroll Accounting is responsible for leading the execution and operational performance of global payroll accounting activities, helping ensure accurate and timely financial reporting, strong controls, and high-quality delivery across the end-to-end payroll accounting process.

Based in Hyderabad, this role will provide senior operational leadership across payroll accounting activities, including period-end close, journal entries, accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, issue resolution, and reporting. The Senior Manager will partner closely with the Payroll Accounting Global Process Owner (GPO), Controllership, Country Controllers, People Services, Treasury, external payroll providers, and business process outsourcing partners to deliver consistent, well-controlled, and scalable payroll accounting operations.

The role will also play an important part in strengthening the global payroll accounting operating model through process standardization, automation, continuous improvement, and development of team capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll Accounting Leadership Oversight

• Lead the operational execution of global payroll accounting activities in alignment with GPO-defined processes, accounting policies, and control requirements.
• Provide oversight across key payroll accounting activities, including compensation, benefits, journal entries, accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, and related financial reporting.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for payroll accounting issues, including ADP-to-SAP interface discrepancies, and coordinate resolution across appropriate stakeholders.
• Drive high standards of accuracy, timeliness, consistency, and accountability across payroll accounting operations.

Month-End and Quarter-End Close

• Lead payroll accounting period-end close activities and key financial reporting deliverables.
• Provide oversight of payroll-related journals, accruals, reconciliations, and other close activities.
• Monitor and escalate material issues that could affect close timelines, financial reporting, or control execution.

Business Partnership Operational Excellence

• Partner closely with the Payroll Accounting GPO, People Services, Controllership, Country Controllers, Treasury, payroll providers, and business process outsourcing partners to resolve issues and strengthen end-to-end execution.
• Identify and drive opportunities for process standardization, simplification, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Support implementation of global process improvements and ensure sustainable adoption within operations.
• Use operational insights and performance indicators to identify emerging issues and improvement opportunities.

Risk Management Controls

• Identify and communicate material operational, financial reporting, and control risks across payroll accounting.
• Coordinate appropriate remediation and contingency plans with relevant stakeholders.
• Maintain a strong control environment across payroll accounting activities and support compliance with applicable accounting policies, controls, and reporting requirements.
• Support internal and external audit requirements related to payroll accounting.

Leadership Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop team members, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous learning.
• Serve as a senior subject matter expert for payroll accounting, partnering with stakeholders across Finance and Controllership to address complex and escalated matters.
• Establish clear priorities and expectations and hold the team accountable for quality, accuracy, and timely execution.
• Identify development and upskilling opportunities to build sustainable payroll accounting capabilities within the team.

Key Stakeholders

The Senior Manager will work across a broad global stakeholder network, including:

• Record to Report Global Process Owner leadership
• Payroll Accounting Global Process Owner
• Hyderabad Controllership leadership
• Record to Report Operations
• Business Controls
• Country Controllers
• People Services
• Treasury and Tax
• Business Unit Finance
• External payroll providers
• Business process outsourcing partners
• Internal and external audit stakeholders

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required.
• Master s degree and/or professional accounting qualification such as Chartered Accountant (CA), CPA, or equivalent preferred.

Experience

• 8-10 years of progressive experience in accounting, financial reporting, payroll accounting, or related Finance operations.
• Demonstrated experience with Payroll Accounting, Record to Report, and/or Controllership processes.
• Experience with ADP strongly preferred.
• Experience with Workday or comparable HR platforms preferred.
• Pharmaceutical or life sciences Finance experience preferred.
• Experience operating in a global, matrixed environment and working with outsourced service providers preferred.

Knowledge, Skills Capabilities

• Payroll accounting
• Record to Report
• Controllership
• SAP s/4hana
• ADP
• Workday
• Analytical thinking
• Stakeholder management
• Continuous improvement

Working Conditions

• Travel: Less than 5%
• Overnight travel: Not typically required
• Flexibility in working hours: Required to support collaboration with global stakeholders