Job Description
The Senior Global Payroll Specialist plays a key role in the delivery of high‑quality global payroll services to multinational clients. The role combines advanced payroll operations, Payzaar platform expertise, client coordination, and team leadership responsibilities.
The Senior acts as the primary operational owner for assigned client engagements, overseeing end‑to‑end payrun delivery across multiple jurisdictions, managing complex issues, and ensuring payroll accuracy, compliance, and service excellence. While remaining hands‑on, the Senior also provides technical guidance, review, and support to Analysts, and acts as a key escalation point prior to Manager involvement.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Global Payroll Delivery & Payzaar Platform Leadership
- Take end‑to‑end ownership of global payroll delivery for assigned clients, coordinating weekly, fortnightly, and monthly payruns across multiple countries.
- Act as a subject‑matter expert on the Global Payroll Platform (Payzaar), overseeing complex configurations, mappings, and workflows.
- Review and validate payroll outputs, journals, statutory tasks, and reconciliations prepared by Analysts.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues, including GL imbalances, FX application, statutory filings, and cross‑border payroll challenges.
- Lead entity onboarding activities, including pay group setup, calendar creation, GL mapping, and integration support.
- Maintain accurate payroll calendars, workflow status, and dashboard visibility within the platform.
- Oversee statutory filing updates in coordination with local offices and monitor regulatory changes impacting supported countries.
2. Client & Local Team Coordination
- Act as the primary operational point of contact for assigned clients, managing day‑to‑day communication with minimal supervision.
- Lead client operational calls, prepare agendas, and present payroll updates, risks, and action items.
- Coordinate closely with local payroll providers and internal global teams to ensure timely and accurate payroll delivery.
- Manage issue escalation, applying judgement to resolve matters independently or escalate appropriately to the Manager.
- Provide clear guidance to clients on payroll processes, timelines, deliverables, and system functionality.
- Monitor shared mailboxes and ensure high‑quality, professional responses to client and internal queries.
3. Review, Quality & Risk Management
- Perform detailed reviews of payroll outputs, journals, statutory deliverables, billing inputs, and payment files prepared by Analysts.
- Ensure payroll results are accurate, compliant, and delivered in line with agreed SLAs and internal controls.
- Identify risks, control gaps, and process inefficiencies, and propose practical mitigation or improvement actions.
- Act as an escalation point for payment data validation and support resolution of exceptions before Manager approval.
4. Team Support & Development
- Provide day‑to‑day guidance, mentoring, and technical support to Analysts and trainees.
- Review work prepared by junior team members and provide structured feedback to support development.
- Support onboarding and training of new joiners, including documentation of processes and best practices.
- Promote consistent standards, ways of working, and quality across engagements.
- Act as a role model for professionalism, client service, and operational excellence.
5. Financial & Administrative Responsibilities
A) Billing & Commercial Support
- Maintain billing trackers, including headcount changes and additional fee items.
- Support billing reviews and provide inputs to Managers where scope or pricing changes are identified.
- Assist with creation and annual review of PO templates and billing structures.
B) Payments
- Collate and review payment data, including bank details, FX rates, and backup documentation.
- Validate payment files and ensure readiness for Manager approval.
- Support payment platform uploads and internal approval workflows in line with controls.
Required Skills & Competencies
- Strong expertise in global payroll operations and multi‑country compliance.
- Advanced knowledge of payroll journals, GL logic, FX application, and statutory reporting.
- Proven ability to manage client relationships and coordinate complex payroll engagements.
- Strong review, problem‑solving, and risk awareness skills.
- Experience supporting and mentoring junior team members.
- Advanced Excel skills (data validation, comparison tools, reconciliations).
- Highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple clients and deadlines.
- Clear, professional communicator with a client‑focused mindset.
We are Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton Ireland is rapidly approaching 3,000 people, in 9 offices across Ireland, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Bermuda. With a presence in over 149 countries around the world and a global network of 73,000 people, we bring our clients the local knowledge, national expertise and global presence to help them succeed – wherever they’re located.
At GT, we work as trusted advisors, bringing local knowledge and national expertise, with a global presence, to help businesses succeed – wherever they are located. We make business more personal by investing in building relationships and empowering our clients to make the right decisions for their organisation now and for the future. Whether that is working with the public sector to build thriving communities, with regulators and financial institutions to build trust, or with a diverse range of businesses to help them achieve their goals, Grant Thornton Ireland work hard to support clients to act on the issues that matter.
At GT Ireland we don’t just predict your future, we build it
A Career at GT
Looking for a more fulfilling role in professional services? One where fresh thinking, collaboration and diversity are valued? At Grant Thornton we do things differently.
What does this mean for you?
A career in a more inclusive working environment, a more collaborative work culture, a more supported, flexible working role, more possibilities to grow and more opportunities to help shape the future for your clients. We respect and value your experience. And we want you to bring your authentic self to work and be at your best. It is how it should be.
Grow with us
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Our Benefits
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