Senior Director Global Payroll Operations

Job Summary

The Senior Director, Global Payroll & Time is responsible for the strategy, operating model, transformation, and end-to-end delivery of payroll and time services across the global enterprise. This leader will establish and execute a multi-year strategy that delivers accurate, timely, compliant, and scalable services while creating a consistent experience for associates and leaders across countries. This role requires more than deep payroll knowledge or implementation experience. The Senior Director must be an enterprise leader who can translate business strategy into a global payroll and time roadmap, influence senior executives, lead through organizational complexity, and create accountability across internal teams, business stakeholders, technology partners, and third-party providers. The role requires practical knowledge of artificial intelligence and the ability to apply AI, automation, and emerging technologies to simplify processes, improve efficiency, strengthen controls, and enhance the payroll experience. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience leading payroll and time operations within a large, complex multinational organization. This individual will bring a proven record of scaling services, simplifying fragmented processes, strengthening compliance and controls, improving vendor performance, and establishing a globally consistent operating model while appropriately addressing country-specific requirements.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

Skills and Minimum Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field. Masters Degree preferred.
• PMP Certification
• 15+ years of progressive global payroll and time-management experiences, including the past 7 years leading muli-country operations, transformation, compliance and senior level teams
• Experience leading payroll and time operations in a large, complex multinational organizations, including global transformation, multi-country vendor mangaement, acquistions or divestiures, and highly regulated environments. Experience with shared-services or outsourced delivery models preferred.
• Global Payroll Leadership: Proven ability to lead complex, multi-country payroll and time operations, set enterprise direction, and create accountability across global, regional, and local teams.
• Strategic and Operating-Model Design: Ability to translate business and workforce strategies into a scalable global payroll roadmap, service-delivery model, governance structure, and clearly defined decision rights
• Executive Communication and Influence: Ability to explain complex payroll, tax, compliance, technology, and vendor issues in clear business terms and influence senior leaders across HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, Technology, Audit, and Procurement.
• Transformation and Change Leadership: Demonstrated success leading global operating-model redesign, process standardization, platform implementations, vendor transitions, country deployments, adoption, and sustainable change.
• Vendor and Commercial Management: Ability to establish service levels and performance measures, lead executive escalations and contract negotiations, evaluate sourcing models, and hold third-party providers accountable for outcomes.
• Global Talent and Stakeholder Leadership: Ability to build high-performing, culturally diverse teams, develop leaders, manage through influence, and align stakeholders around shared standards, decisions, and service outcomes.
• Operational Resilience and Crisis Leadership: Ability to manage high-risk payroll disruptions with sound judgment and composure and to maintain effective business-continuity, disaster-recovery, escalation, and recovery plans.
• Ability to travel up to 20% for business.