arrive - Head of Payroll & Payroll Transformation

Remote - Europe1w ago

Remote Director EMEA Payments Software Head of Human Resources Head of People Vendor Management Team Management Workday Risk Management Governance

Requirements

• Significant experience leading global or multi-country payroll. • Proven experience operating across Europe, USA and APAC. • Strong understanding of the different payroll, tax, regulatory and operational complexities across these markets. • Demonstrated experience leading payroll transformation programmes, including technology implementation, process redesign, operating model change and/or payroll provider transformation. • Experience managing payroll through periods of significant organisational growth, international expansion or M&A. • Experience managing global payroll vendors and holding providers accountable for delivery. • Strong understanding of payroll controls, governance, compliance and risk management. • Experience working with HRIS/payroll technology and integrations, ideally Workday and CloudPay or similar global payroll platforms. • Experience leading and developing geographically distributed teams. • Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively with Finance, IT, People and senior leadership. • WE WOULD PARTICULARLY VALUE • Experience consolidating multiple payroll providers into a global payroll model. • Experience implementing or transforming a global payroll platform. • Experience moving payroll from manual/local processes into a more automated operating model. • Experience designing payroll shared services or Centres of Excellence. • Experience supporting acquisitions and integrating acquired payrolls. • Experience with Workday payroll integrations and employee master data. • Experience defining payroll KPIs, controls and service-level frameworks. • Experience managing payroll transformation alongside business-as-usual payroll operations. • We are looking for someone who: • Thinks globally: You understand that payroll is not one-size-fits-all and can navigate different market complexities. • Thinks transformation first: You look for the root cause, simplify processes and build solutions that scale. • Owns outcomes: You take accountability for payroll accuracy and employee experience rather than relying solely on vendors. • Can operate at both strategic and operational levels: You can design the three-year roadmap and still understand what needs to happen before the next pay run. • Builds strong partnerships: You can influence Finance, IT, People and external providers without relying solely on formal authority. • Brings structure to complexity: You are comfortable managing multiple countries, entities, vendors, systems and competing priorities. • Uses data to drive decisions: You establish clear metrics and use them to improve payroll performance. • Leads through change: You can bring teams and stakeholders with you through significant operating model and technology transformation. • WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Responsibilities

• PAYROLL LEADERSHIP & OPERATIONS • Own the end-to-end payroll function across Arrive’s global employee population. • Ensure payroll is accurate, timely, compliant and well controlled across all countries and entities. • Establish clear payroll governance, processes, controls and accountability. • Define and monitor payroll KPIs, including payroll accuracy, on-time payments, payroll exceptions, compliance and employee experience. • Build strong relationships with Finance, People Operations, People Partners, IT and other key stakeholders. • Ensure payroll issues are identified, escalated and resolved quickly and effectively. • Establish robust processes for payroll reconciliations, approvals, audits and controls. • Act as the senior escalation point for complex payroll issues. • PAYROLL TRANSFORMATION • Lead Arrive’s global payroll transformation strategy and roadmap. • Drive the transition from fragmented and manual payroll processes towards a standardised, scalable and technology-enabled operating model. • Lead the implementation, optimisation and continuous improvement of payroll technology and providers, including CloudPay. • Own the transition of countries and entities onto the new payroll model, ensuring strong planning, testing, cutover and post-go-live support. • Identify opportunities to simplify, standardise and automate payroll processes. • Establish a clear global payroll process framework while accounting for legitimate local requirements. • Partner with Workday and IT teams to improve integrations, data flows and automation across the employee lifecycle. • Lead payroll process re-engineering, identifying root causes rather than simply resolving individual issues. • Build a long-term payroll operating model that can support continued M&A and international expansion. • Ensure lessons learned from each country implementation are incorporated into future rollouts. • Manage transformation risks, dependencies, timelines and stakeholder expectations. • GLOBAL PAYROLL & COUNTRY COMPLEXITY • Provide leadership across payroll operations in Europe, the USA and APAC. • Understand the different regulatory, tax, employment and payroll complexities across these regions. • Ensure global standards are balanced appropriately with local statutory requirements. • Support new country launches, acquisitions, entity changes and integrations from a payroll perspective. • Develop scalable approaches for countries with different payroll volumes, providers and levels of complexity. • Ensure payroll readiness is embedded into M&A and integration planning. • VENDOR & PARTNER MANAGEMENT • Own relationships with global and local payroll providers. • Establish clear SLAs, performance expectations and governance with payroll vendors. • Hold providers accountable for service quality, accuracy and delivery. • Lead vendor performance reviews and continuous improvement plans. • Evaluate the payroll vendor landscape and make recommendations on consolidation, technology and operating model changes. • Manage vendor transitions and exits where required. • PEOPLE LEADERSHIP • Build and lead a high-performing global payroll team with clear roles, accountability and expertise. • Create a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement and ownership. • Develop payroll capability and ensure appropriate country and regional expertise is maintained. • Build a scalable team structure aligned with Arrive’s broader People Platform operating model. • Partner closely with the Head of People Operations and other People Platform leaders to create seamless employee lifecycle processes. • Develop strong relationships with senior stakeholders and become the trusted payroll subject matter expert across Arrive. • Established clear global payroll ownership, governance and accountability. • Created and begun executing Arrive’s global payroll transformation roadmap. • Improved payroll accuracy, timeliness and control across our countries and entities. • Driven the successful implementation and optimisation of the new payroll technology and operating model. • Standardised key payroll processes and reduced manual and country-specific ways of working. • Established clear payroll KPIs and regular reporting to senior leadership. • Strengthened performance and accountability across payroll vendors. • Built a scalable payroll organisation and developed the capability needed to support Arrive’s continued growth. • Established payroll as a reliable and scalable People Platform capability that can support future international expansion and M&A.

Benefits

• Payroll is one of the most important employee experiences we deliver. When it works well, employees barely notice it. When it doesn't, the impact is immediate. • At Arrive, we have an opportunity to fundamentally transform how payroll operates globally, moving from complexity and manual intervention towards standardisation, automation, strong controls and scalable technology. • This role will be central to making that happen.