Payroll Operations Manager - Germany

activpayroll Ltd.; Deutschland; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

activpayroll Ltd. in Germany is seeking a Payroll Operations Manager to lead day-to-day payroll delivery, onboarding new clients, and overseeing live cycles while supporting transitions and improvements.

You will coach payroll professionals, ensure compliance with German payroll legislation, and partner with HR, Finance and Product to drive efficiency and customer satisfaction across the payroll function.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end payroll operations for the German entity.
• Manage onboarding of new payroll clients and live payroll cycles.
• Coach, mentor and supervise payroll professionals, fostering accountability and collaboration.
• Ensure compliance with German payroll legislation and high-quality payroll delivery.
• Collaborate with HR, Customer Success, Finance and Product to drive continuous improvement and scalable growth.

Job description

The Payroll Operations Manager is responsible for the day‑to‑day leadership and operational management of payroll delivery and payroll implementations for our German entity. This role leads and develops the local payroll teams, ensuring the consistent delivery of accurate, compliant, and high‑quality payroll services, while providing an exceptional customer experience.

You will oversee end‑to‑end payroll operations, including onboarding new payroll clients, managing live payroll cycles, and supporting process transitions and improvements. A key part of the role is coaching, mentoring and supervising payroll professionals, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous development within the team.

The Payroll Operations Manager acts as a trusted operational partner for customers, ensuring service levels are met or exceeded and that payroll delivery is seamless, reliable and responsive to client needs. You will proactively identify opportunities to enhance service quality, improve efficiency and streamline workflows, reducing turnaround times and operational friction while maintaining full compliance with German payroll legislation.

Working closely with internal stakeholders across HR, Customer Success, Finance and Product, you will drive continuous improvement initiatives that enable the payroll teams to move beyond transactional delivery and provide value‑adding support to customer accounts. This includes optimising processes, improving documentation, leveraging technology effectively, and supporting scalable growth within the German payroll function.

This role plays a critical part in shaping payroll operations in Germany and requires a leader who combines strong people management, deep payroll expertise and a customer‑centric mindset.