Senior Payroll Manager

Kindly Note this requirement is for one of our client located in Mumbai, Goregaon (East)

Role Purpose:

The Senior Manager – India Payroll and Compliance will lead end-to-end payroll operations, statutory compliance, and background verification coordination for India, ensuring accurate and timely payroll delivery while maintaining full adherence to applicable central and state labour laws, standing orders, wage regulations, social security obligations, taxation requirements, and evolving requirements under India's new labour codes, including the Code on Wages, 2019. The role will serve as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor to HR, Finance, Legal, business leaders, and employees on payroll, employment compliance, employee taxation, wage restructuring, labour code readiness, stakeholder-specificpay structure advisory, and background verification process governance. The person must bring a strong service mindset and the ability to evaluate and modify tax and pay structures, within legal and policy boundaries, to make compensation outcomes more practical, compliant, and conducive for stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage end-to-end India payroll operations, including payroll inputs, validations, salary processing, reimbursements, incentives, final settlements, statutory deductions, and payroll accounting support.
• Ensure timely and accurate processing of salaries, statutory contributions, tax deductions, employee recoveries, benefits, and other payroll-related payments.
• Establish strong payroll governance through maker-checker controls, reconciliations, audit trails, exception reporting, and periodic processreviews.
• Partner with HR Operations, Finance, Legal, Treasury, Benefits, and external vendors to ensure seamless payroll delivery and resolution of employee queries.
• Drive continuous improvement, automation, standardization, and simplification of payroll and compliance processes.
• Ensure timely initiation, tracking, escalation, and closure of background verification cases in line with agreed timelines, internal policies, candidate experience expectations, and business hiring needs.
• Maintain strong working relationships and active networks with background verification vendors to ensure responsiveness, service quality, timely case movement, exception resolution, and effective escalation management.
• Support client audits by coordinating payroll, compliance, background verification, and statutory documentation requirements; ensuring timely evidence collation, accurate responses, and effective closure of audit observations.

Labour Law and Statutory Compliance

• Maintain a thorough and current understanding of Indian labour laws, standing orders, wage codes, social security requirements, state-specific rules, and regulatory changes, including India's new labour codes and their impact on payroll, salary structures, statutory contributions, and compliance processes.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws including Provident Fund, Employee State Insurance, Professional Tax, Labour Welfare Fund, gratuity, bonus, minimum wages, payment of wages, maternity benefits, shops and establishments requirements, contract labour regulations, and other employment-relatedstatutes.
• Lead organizational readiness for the Code on Wages, 2019 and related labour code requirements, including assessment of wage definitions, basic pay and allowance structures, Provident Fund and gratuity implications, payroll system changes, employee communications, and transition risks.
• Provide expert guidance on standing orders, service rules, employment conditions, disciplinary procedures, wage administration, and regulatory obligations across Indian locations.

Taxation Advisory and Employee Consultation

• Consult with employees, HR, Finance, and leadership on payroll taxation, income tax deductions, exemptions, perquisites, reimbursements, tax declarations, investment proofs, and year-end tax processes.
• Oversee accurate Tax Deducted at Source calculations, monthly and quarterly TDS compliance, Form 16 issuance, tax reconciliations, and related reporting.
• Advise on tax-efficient salary structures, benefits, allowances, retirals, reimbursements, and mobility-related payroll implications while ensuring compliance with applicable tax laws.

Stakeholder Management and Leadership

• Act as the primary point of contact for senior stakeholders on India payroll, compliance, taxation, and labour law matters.
• Lead payroll and compliance teams or service partners, ensuring clear accountability, service quality, capability building, and timelyissue resolution.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Commerce, Finance, Human Resources, Law, Business Administration, or a related discipline; a postgraduate qualification or professional certification in payroll, taxation, labour law, or HR compliance will be preferred.
• 10–15 years of relevant experience in India payroll, statutory compliance, HR operations, labour law compliance, or payroll taxation, with at least 3–5 years in a managerial or senior specialist capacity.
• Strong working knowledge of Indian payroll regulations, central and state labour laws, standing orders, new labour codes, the Code on Wages, 2019, wage and social security laws, statutory filings, and payroll tax requirements.
• Experience managing payroll for multi-location organizations and working with payroll systems, HRMS platforms, attendance systems, and statutory compliance tools.
• Hands-on experience initiating and monitoring background verification cases within defined timelines, including vendor coordination, escalation handling, exception tracking, and reporting.
• Demonstrated experience handling audits, inspections, employee tax queries, statutory notices, vendor governance, and compliance risk remediation.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Deep expertise in India payroll, labour law compliance, standing orders, statutory benefits, and employee taxation.
• Strong analytical ability, attention to detail, numerical accuracy, and comfort with high-volume payroll data.
• Excellent interpretation skills for legal, tax, and compliance requirements, with the ability to translate regulations into practical business processes.
• Strong stakeholder management, consulting, communication, and advisory skills.
• Strong customer service mindset with the ability to listen to stakeholder requirements, explain options clearly, and recommend compliant pay structure solutions that improve employee experience and stakeholdersatisfaction.
• Ability to manage ambiguity, regulatory change, audits, escalations, and time-sensitive payroll cycles.
• Strong background verification process knowledge, vendor network, follow-up discipline, and ability to drive timely case initiation and completion without compromising quality or candidate experience.
• Ability to manage client audit requirements with strong documentation discipline, evidence readiness, stakeholder coordination, confidentiality, and timely closure of findings or observations.
• High integrity, confidentiality, ownership mindset, and commitment to employee experience.
• Proficiency in payroll systems, HRMS tools, spreadsheets, reconciliations, reporting, and process documentation.

Key Performance Indicators

• Payroll accuracy: Percentage of payroll processed without errors, rework, duplicate payments, or post-payroll corrections.
• Payroll timeliness: Percentage of payroll cycles completed within agreed cut-off dates and salary credit timelines.
• Statutory compliance adherence: On-time completion of statutory filings, challans, registers, returns, and paymentsacross applicable centraland state requirements.
• Compliance risk reduction: Number and severity of audit findings, statutory notices, repeat observations, or compliance gaps reduced throughpreventive controls.
• Tax advisory effectiveness: Timely and accurate resolution of employee and stakeholder tax queries, including TDS, Form 16, investment proofs, exemptions, reimbursements, and pay structure advisory.