Senior Payroll Process Specialist

Process Specialist, Payroll Operations

Job Description :

Job Title: Process Specialist, Payroll Operations

About the Function:  

Our Global Business Operations (GBO) team are facilitators, providing strategic, financial, and business services that are critical to the day-to-day performance of our business. With a team of over 2,000 dedicated and passionate people supporting 21 markets across the world, we have offices in Bangalore, Budapest, Bogota, and Manila.

Our global remit offers huge learning opportunities. We encourage learning and development in skills needed now and in the future across digital, industry, professional, and domain. Wherever you start, you’ll be rewarded with a world view and the recognition you deserve in our inclusive and supportive culture.

Diageo Global Business Operations (GBO) is a multi-functional global shared services platform designed to enable countries to deliver the Performance Ambition. This is achieved through:

• Extraordinary end-to-end payroll process execution
• Performance-driving insights from payroll data
• Demonstrating technology and automation for efficiency and compliance

The Payroll Operations Team, as part of the Employee Experience Tower, is responsible for ensuring accurate and timely payroll delivery across Diageo’s European markets.

Within this structure, the Payroll Experience team is responsible for designing, owning, and completing extraordinary payroll processes that ensure our people are paid accurately, on time, and in compliance.

Dimensions

• Ensure payroll accuracy and timely payments across European markets, directly impacting employee satisfaction and cost control.
• Support payroll cost reconciliations, variance analysis, and journal entries.
• Give to transformation initiatives that reduce costs through process simplification, automation, and improved vendor performance.
• Provide financial inputs to vendor contracts, SLA reviews, and governance.

• Manage multi-country payrolls across diverse European geographies with varying legislation, taxation, and compliance requirements.
• Balance BAU payroll execution with transformation project responsibilities.
• Ensure timely delivery of payroll during legislative changes, vendor transitions, and system upgrades.
• Navigate complexity of vendor onboarding and data migration, ensuring employee pay is uninterrupted.
• Support testing and implementation of new payroll models, ensuring risk controls and segregation of duties are defined.

Key Stakeholder Interactions

• Partner with outsourced payroll vendors for both BAU delivery and transformation project activities.
• Collaborate with in-market HR, Finance, and Reward teams to ensure high-quality payroll input and alignment on process changes.
• Work with Project Teams, HR Systems, and Transformation Office on payroll redesign initiatives.
• Engage with internal/external auditors and government authorities to ensure statutory compliance.
• Provide employees with payroll support, while driving communication around payroll transformation changes.

Role Overview

The Senior Payroll Specialist will ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across European markets. The role will validate payroll inputs and outputs, manage vendor relationships, resolve queries, and support audits while safeguarding employee experience and maintaining strong control standards.

In parallel, the role will give to payroll transformation initiatives by assessing current (“As-Is”) processes, supporting the design of future (“To-Be”) models, defining segregation of duties, and performing UAT for system or vendor changes. This dual focus ensures both day-to-day payroll excellence and the successful transition to future-ready payroll operations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Payroll Validation & Processing
• Validate payroll inputs from HR, Finance, and business teams (hires, exits, compensation changes, allowances, leave data, overtime, etc.).
• Review and reconcile vendor-provided payroll outputs to ensure accuracy before final sign-off.
• Administer payroll calendars, variance reports, and checklists to meet strict payroll timelines.

2. Compliance & Controls
• Ensure all payroll activities align with statutory regulations, Diageo’s internal policies, and CARM controls.
• Support internal and external audits by preparing accurate reconciliations, reports, and documentation.
• Maintain data privacy standards across payroll activities.

3. Employee Experience & Query Resolution
• Respond to payroll-related employee queries promptly via ticketing systems or email.
• Partner with vendors to provide accurate resolutions for called out payroll issues.
• Safeguard employee experience by ensuring clarity and accuracy in communication.

4. Reporting & Analytics
• Prepare and analyse payroll variance reports, headcount reconciliations, and financial journals.
• Provide insights to HR and Finance for better payroll cost visibility and decision-making.

5. Process Assessment & Design
• Document current (“As-Is”) payroll processes, highlighting inefficiencies, risks, and dependencies.
• Support creation of future (“To-Be”) processes focused on simplification, standardization, and segregation of duties.
• Collaborate with project teams and vendors to define roles, responsibilities, and control points.

6. Testing & Implementation
• Support and perform User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for new payroll systems, automation tools, and vendor solutions.
• Validate payroll outputs during transition to new systems/vendors, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Monitor and call out issues during testing phases, working with IT, HR Systems, and vendors to resolve them.

7. Vendor Transition & Governance
• Support onboarding of new payroll vendors and transition activities, including data migration and parallel runs.
• Track and report on vendor SLAs during transformation, calling out deviations when necessary.
• Partner with global and regional teams to align payroll transformation outcomes with Diageo’s broader strategy.

8. Continuous Improvement
• Identify and propose automation opportunities to reduce manual effort.
• Give to payroll playbook updates and documentation of new processes.
• Champion guidelines and knowledge-sharing across the payroll team.

Experience & Qualifications

• 5–7 years of payroll experience across multiple European markets
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, HR, Business Administration, or related field
• Strong knowledge of statutory payroll legislation across Europe
• Exposure to US and UK payroll is an added advantage
• Hands-on experience with payroll transformation initiatives (system changes, vendor transitions, or automation projects)
• Proficiency with HRIS systems (Workday) and ticketing tools (ServiceNow)
• Advanced Excel skills for reconciliations and payroll reporting
• Experience in handling payroll audits and compliance requirements

Technical Skills:
• Multi-country payroll execution & validation
• Payroll reporting, reconciliations, and variance analysis
• Transformation project participation (process mapping, UAT, vendor transitions)
• Knowledge of statutory compliance across Europe

Process & Compliance Skills:
• Strong understanding of payroll controls, segregation of duties, and audit frameworks
• Ability to document processes and drive improvements
• Vendor governance and SLA monitoring

Behavioural Skills:
• Strong customer management across HR, Finance, and vendors
• High attention to detail and problem-solving attitude
• Ability to balance BAU delivery with transformation priorities
• Cross-cultural communication and adaptability
• Resilience in fast-paced, dynamic environments

Flexible Working Statement: Flexibility is key to our success. From part-time and compressed hours to different locations, our people work flexibly in ways to suit them. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you’re supported from day one.

Diversity statement: Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this.

We adopt diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you’ll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You’ll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, attitudes and more.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to the next level and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you. 

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you gain this information when you submit your application.

Worker Type :

Regular

Primary Location:

Bangalore Karle Town SEZ

Additional Locations :

Job Posting Start Date :

2026-04-23

Experience Level

Senior Level