Payroll Specialist

Senior Manager - Continental Europe Payroll

About the Opportunity

Job Type: PermanentApplication Deadline: 08 June 2026

Job Description

                                                                                                

Title                 Senior Manager - Continental Europe Payroll

Department      Enterprise Platforms - HR Shared Service & Governance

Location          India

Reports To       Director - Global HR Shared Services

Level                6

We’re proud to have been helping our clients build better financial futures for over 50 years. We achieve this through collaboration, innovation, and a relentless focus on excellence across our global teams. Join our Global HR Shared Services & Governance team and be part of a function that is transforming how people services are delivered—leveraging technology, data, and operational excellence at scale.

About your team

Global HR Shared Services & Governance is part of the Enterprise Platforms team and is a centralised, globally distributed function delivering Payroll, HR Administration, Benefits Admin, Background Vetting, and Governance services across FIL & Eight Roads.

The function operates across India, China, the UK, and Luxembourg, delivering consistent, efficient, and compliant HR services globally. The team is focused on:

• Driving operational excellence and standardisation
• Leveraging HRP technology and automation
• Delivering high-quality employee experience
• Ensuring regulatory compliance and risk mitigation

The Payroll team is responsible for managing multi-country payroll operations, vendor partnerships, and ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across all jurisdictions.

About your role

As Senior Manager – CE Payroll, you will lead end-to-end payroll operations across Continental Europe and select international locations (15+ countries). You will be accountable for service delivery, governance, transformation, and continuous improvement of payroll operations in a complex, multi-country environment.  You will act as a strategic leader and subject matter expert, driving payroll excellence through global alignment, standardisation, digital enablement, vendor governance, and data-driven decision-making. You will also play a key leadership role in global payroll projects and change initiatives, including system implementations, process harmonisation, and operating model evolution.  You will work closely with the HR Support Services, Benefits Administration and other HR teams and wider stakeholders (finance, tax etc.) to ensure the smooth running of services across all European offices. You will lead a team of Payroll specialists, providing thought leadership and innovative solutions to ensure effective and efficient running of the services.  Your responsibilities will include:

1. Payroll Service Delivery & Operations

• Accountable for accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across CE countries, ensuring adherence to all statutory, tax, and regulatory requirements
• Monitor performance through SLAs, KPIs, and control frameworks, including payroll calendar governance, sign-offs, and audit readiness
• Act as the final escalation point for complex payroll issues, ensuring effective resolution and service continuity

2. Leadership & People Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of multilingual payroll specialists and managers, fostering a high-performance environment
• Build a customer-centric culture focused on quality, accountability, and service excellence
• Drive capability building, succession planning, and talent development, with clear objective setting aligned to HR Shared Services strategy

3. Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Manage relationships with external payroll vendors and partners, ensuring delivery excellence through robust contracts, SLAs, and performance governance
• Collaborate cross-functionally with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and Technology teams to ensure seamless operations
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, providing expert guidance on payroll-related matters

4. Technology & Data Enablement

• Partner with HR Technology teams to optimise Workday and payroll integrations, enabling efficient and scalable solutions
• Drive system adoption, automation, and process optimisation to streamline operations
• Ensure strong data governance, analytics, and reporting, delivering actionable insights through dashboards to support decision-making

5. Risk, Compliance & Controls

• Ensure robust internal controls, compliance, and risk mitigation processes across all CE payroll operations
• Maintain oversight of regulatory and legislative changes, ensuring ongoing compliance
• Lead audit activities (internal/external), including remediation, and govern documentation (SOPs, process maps, control frameworks)

6. Projects, Change Management & Continuous Improvement

• Lead delivery of global and local payroll projects, migrations, and transitions, including post-implementation stabilisation and benefits realisation
• Drive change management, stakeholder engagement, and process standardisation, harmonisation, and simplification
• Identify and implement automation, digitisation, and best practices (e.g., RPA, AI) to deliver measurable improvements in cost, cycle time, accuracy, and employee experience

About you

• 15+ years of experience in Payroll with deep expertise in multi-country (Europe) payroll operations
• Proven leadership experience within HR Shared Services / Global Business Services (GBS) environments
• Strong track record in leading global or regional payroll change initiatives
• Deep knowledge of payroll compliance, regulatory frameworks, and vendor-managed payroll models
• Experience with Workday, TMF Horizon or similar cloud-based HCM/payroll systems
• Strong strategic thinking combined with operational execution excellence
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, including senior leadership engagement
• Proven ability to manage complex vendor ecosystems and drive performance governance
• Data-driven mindset with experience in analytics, reporting, and insight generation
• Strong understanding of risk management, internal controls, and audit frameworks
• Exceptional people leadership capability, with a focus on coaching, mentoring, and building high-performing teams
• High levels of integrity, resilience, and adaptability, with strong problem-solving ability and a continuous improvement mindset

Feel rewarded

For starters, we’ll offer you a comprehensive benefits package. We’ll value your wellbeing and support your development. And we’ll be as flexible as we can about where and when you work – finding a balance that works for all of us. It’s all part of our commitment to making you feel motivated by the work you do and happy to be part of our team. For more about our work, our approach to dynamic working and how you could build your future here, visit careers.fidelityinternational.com.

For more about our work, our approach to dynamic working and how you could build your future here, visit careers.fidelityinternational.com.

Experience Level

Senior Level