Director of Payroll - Global

Director of Payroll - Global Role Summary: The Director of Payroll – Global Shared Services provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for multi-country payroll delivery within a centralized, global shared services model. This role is responsible for driving consistent, compliant, and scalable payroll operations across regions, while ensuring strong governance, internal controls, and financial rigor in a public company / SOX-regulated environment. The role serves as a key partner to Finance, HR, Internal Audit, and Technology and acts as a global payroll subject-matter expert, with deep experience leveraging ADP, CloudPay, and Workday, and owning payroll accruals, controls, and audit readiness at scale. Key Responsibilities: Global Payroll Oversight & Shared Services Leadership • Provide strategic oversight for end-to-end global payroll operations delivered through a shared services model. • Lead and develop global payroll teams supporting multiple regions and countries. • Serve as the primary global escalation point for complex payroll issues, controls, and risk events. • Drive alignment between in-country payroll execution and global payroll standards. Governance, Risk & SOX Controls • Own and maintain global payroll governance frameworks, including SOPs, segregation of duties, and approval workflows. • Ensure payroll processes comply with SOX and internal control requirements. • Partner with Internal Audit and External Audit to support walkthroughs, testing, and remediation. • Identify and mitigate payroll-related risks across regions, vendors, and systems. Financial Management, Accruals & Close • Own global payroll accrual processes including wages, bonuses, commissions, leave, severance, and statutory costs. • Partner with Finance on month-end and year-end close, GL postings, and reconciliations. • Ensure payroll data is audit-ready and supports public company reporting standards. Payroll Systems & Technology Enablement • Provide leadership and oversight for ADP, CloudPay, and Workday payroll ecosystems. • Partner with HRIS, Finance Systems, and IT to optimize integrations and controls. • Support global payroll implementations, vendor transitio ns, and system upgrades. Vendor & Stakeholder Management • Manage relationships with global payroll vendors and advisors. • Monitor SLAs and performance metrics. • Act as a trusted partner to HR, Total Rewards, Finance, and Audit stakeholders. Process Excellence & Continuous Improvement • Drive standardization and scalability across payroll operations. • Identify automation and risk-reduction opportunities.