Payroll Partner, EMEA

The role

You will own EMEA payroll operations including processing, compliance, and reconciliations. You will also lead payroll implementations, provide strategic direction, and partner with Legal and HR on new entity setups.

What you will do

• Own accurate, efficient EMEA payroll operations.
• Provide strategic direction across payroll operations, service delivery, and control frameworks.
• Lead payroll implementations and improvements including global payroll solution rollouts.
• Analyse global payroll data to provide insights for Finance and HR.
• Partner with Legal and HR on new entity setup and Employment of Record services.
• Advise employees and stakeholders on pay issues, award changes, and new policies.
• Build a practical payroll knowledge repository including process documentation and FAQs.

Required qualifications

• At least 5 years’ regional experience managing end-to-end payroll processing, with strong EMEA payroll exposure.
• Experience providing strategic direction across payroll operations, service delivery, controls, advisory, system improvements, and stakeholder management.
• Experience leading or contributing to payroll implementation, HRIS/payroll integration, system optimisation, or workflow automation projects.
• Strong understanding of payroll compliance, employment tax requirements, reconciliations, and month-end and year-end close procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve payroll discrepancies and issues with accuracy and sound judgement.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organisational and time-management skills.
• Careful handling of confidential and sensitive information.
• Familiarity with payroll vendor management and payroll-related HRIS integrations.

Nice to have

• A bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field.
• Experience with private equity, RSU, ESOP schemes, and related reporting requirements.
• Experience supporting entity setup and Employment of Record services.
• Experience leading a team or coordinating work across payroll operations and implementation projects.
• Experience working with JIRA, Slack, or similar tools to manage employee and stakeholder queries.

About the company

Airwallex is an AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. It provides financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.