Senior Adviser - Payroll Advisory

Rio Tinto; Western Australia; Hybrid; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Comprehensive medical benefits

Career development

Exclusive employee discounts

Salary packaging options

Career development support

Family-friendly health/wellbeing

Job summary

A leading global mining and materials company is seeking a Payroll Senior Adviser for their Perth CBD Hub. The role involves providing expert payroll advice, driving improvements, and leading audits within a hybrid working environment. Ideal candidates should possess extensive knowledge of Australian payroll legislation and SAP systems, alongside strong analytical and stakeholder engagement skills. Benefits include competitive salary, medical benefits, and career development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Australian payroll legislation and compliance.
• Advanced experience using SAP payroll or similar enterprise systems.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.
• Workday/HRIS knowledge highly regarded.
• Strong understanding of HR policies and practices to enable effective collaboration.
• Experience leading remediation, audits and complex escalations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills; ability to manage competing priorities.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving capability with a continuous improvement mindset.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert technical payroll advice to payroll teams.
• Act as the trusted escalation point for complex payroll matters.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Oversee compliance frameworks, internal controls and regulatory requirements; proactively mitigate risk.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to resolve high-impact payroll issues.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, including process optimisation and automation.
• Conduct and oversee payroll audits; identify systemic issues and improvements.
• Lead remediation programmes, including root-cause analysis and preventative controls.
• Support business needs across multiple locations with travel as required.

Skills

Expert technical payroll advice

Stakeholder engagement

Advanced analytical skills

Knowledge of Australian payroll legislation

Experience with SAP or HRIS

Problem-solving

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel

Tools

SAP payroll

Workday

Excel

SharePoint

HRIS

Job description

Payroll Senior Adviser – Payroll Advisory Services (Perth)

Permanent | Full-time | Perth CBD Hub | Hybrid (minimum two days/week in office)

About The Role

We are seeking a Payroll Senior Adviser to join our Payroll Advisory Services team on a permanent basis in our Perth Hub. You will support high-volume employee data maintenance and payroll operations across the APAC region, predominantly aligned to Rio Tinto Iron Ore. This is a senior advisory role operating beyond transactional processing, acting as a trusted escalation point, leading audits and remediation, and driving continuous improvement and automation across payroll and employee data processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide expert technical payroll advice and leadership to payroll teams, HR and business partners.
• Act as the trusted escalation point for complex payroll, compliance and employee data matters.
• Interpret and apply complex legislation, enterprise policies and procedures.
• Oversee compliance frameworks, internal controls and regulatory requirements; proactively mitigate risk.
• Lead cross‑functional collaboration to resolve high‑impact payroll and employee data issues.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, including process optimisation and automation.
• Conduct and oversee payroll audits; identify systemic issues and recommend improvements.
• Lead remediation programmes, including root‑cause analysis and preventative controls.
• Support business needs across multiple locations (travel as required).

What You’ll Bring

• Extensive experience in Australian payroll legislation and compliance (tax, leave, superannuation).
• Advanced experience using SAP payroll or similar enterprise systems (1,000+ employees); Workday/HRIS knowledge highly regarded.
• Strong understanding of HR policies and practices to enable effective collaboration with HR and the business.
• Demonstrated experience leading remediation, audits and complex escalations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills; ability to manage competing priorities.
• Advanced analytical and problem‑solving capability with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Proficiency in Microsoft tools including Excel, SharePoint and reporting applications.
• Capacity to operate effectively in large, complex organisations and diverse workforces.
• Willingness to travel as required.

Where You’ll Be Working

You will be part of the Group Services Payroll Advisory Service team – a global function with team members across our major hubs, partnering closely with People Services (HR advisory, global mobility, talent acquisition and recruitment, employee relations, remuneration and performance).

What We Offer

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority.
• Hybrid work model (minimum two days/week in the office).
• Competitive base salary with annual incentive program.
• Comprehensive medical benefits, including subsidised private health insurance for employees and immediate family.
• Attractive share ownership plan and company‑provided insurance cover.
• Salary sacrifice and packaging options.
• Career development and education assistance.
• Family‑friendly health and wellbeing support.
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (annual, paid parental, sick leave).
• Exclusive employee discounts (banking, accommodation, vehicles, retail and more).

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive. We have been mining for 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs – striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win‑win situations and meet opportunities.

Respect and Inclusion

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds. We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.