Payroll Project Manager

We are looking for an experienced Payroll Project Manager to lead and oversee the full lifecycle of payroll projects. This role involves planning, coordinating, and delivering payroll implementations while working closely with both business and technical teams. The successful candidate will ensure payroll requirements are accurately met, manage system integrations, testing phases, compliance adherence, and support go-live activities. A strong background in payroll operations, HRIS, project management, and stakeholder collaboration is essential for success in this position.

Key Responsibilities

Lead payroll projects from initial planning and requirements gathering through implementation, go-live, and post-implementation support. Develop and maintain detailed project plans, including milestones, timelines, dependencies, and deliverables. Coordinate payroll process design, system configuration, testing, and deployment activities.

Manage integrations between payroll systems and other platforms such as HRIS, time and attendance, finance, banking, benefits, and third-party applications. Oversee data migration, employee data validation, payroll configuration, and reconciliation tasks to ensure accuracy.

Drive System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), parallel payroll runs, payroll validation, and confirm production readiness. Ensure all payroll components—calculations, earnings, deductions, benefits, taxes, leave, and overtime—are correctly configured and validated.

Collaborate effectively with Payroll, HR, Finance, IT teams, vendors, and implementation partners to guarantee successful project delivery. Identify and manage project risks, issues, dependencies, and change requests proactively.

Monitor project progress, track key milestones, and provide regular status updates and reports to senior management. Ensure compliance with payroll regulations, statutory requirements, and data privacy standards throughout the project lifecycle.

Maintain comprehensive project documentation, including RAID logs, action trackers, requirements documents, test results, status reports, and implementation decisions. Manage stakeholder expectations and resolve project-related challenges promptly.

Coordinate knowledge transfer and facilitate a smooth transition to payroll and HR operations teams after project completion.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, or a related discipline. Minimum of 5 years’ experience in payroll, HRIS, payroll transformation, or payroll implementation projects.

Proven track record managing payroll system implementations, upgrades, or transformation initiatives. Strong understanding of end-to-end payroll processes, including calculation, validation, reconciliation, and reporting.

Experience working with payroll systems, HRIS platforms, and payroll-related integrations. Familiarity with integrating payroll systems with HRIS, Finance/ERP, time management, benefits, banking, and third-party applications.

Demonstrated ability to manage payroll projects spanning multiple countries, legal entities, or business units. Solid knowledge of payroll compliance, statutory requirements, and data privacy considerations.

Experience leading cross-functional teams, managing external vendors, project timelines, and stakeholder expectations. Excellent skills in project planning, risk management, problem-solving, communication, and organization.

Proficiency in project management tools and documentation best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

Project management certification such as PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, or an equivalent credential is preferred.

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This role offers the opportunity to lead critical payroll initiatives within a dynamic environment, working closely with diverse teams and stakeholders to deliver impactful results.