Payroll Partner, EMEA

Airwallex; München; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex, a leading AI-native financial operating system, is seeking an experienced payroll leader to own EMEA payroll operations and contribute to global payroll initiatives. The role offers hybrid work and opportunities to influence the payroll platform across entities.

You will collaborate with Legal and HR on new entity setups and Employment of Record services, ensure compliance with regional tax rules, and drive data-driven insights to optimize costs.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of end-to-end payroll experience with strong EMEA exposure.
• Strategic guidance across payroll operations, controls, and system improvements.
• Experience leading payroll implementations and HRIS integrations.
• Solid knowledge of payroll compliance and tax requirements.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Own accurate EMEA payroll operations and month-end close.
• Lead payroll implementations and global rollout of payroll solution.
• Analyse payroll data to forecast and improve cost efficiency.
• Collaborate with Legal and HR on entity setup and Employment of Record services.
• Provide guidance on pay policies and respond to payroll enquiries.

Skills

EMEA payroll

Payroll governance

HRIS integration

Data analytics

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

Communication skills

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Business Administration, or HR

Tools

JIRA

Slack

Job description

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

How you'll make impact

Payroll is central to a reliable employee experience and to the financial controls that support Airwallex’s global growth. In this role, you’ll focus on EMEA payroll while contributing to selected global projects and helping shape longer-term payroll capabilities.

• Own accurate, efficient EMEA payroll operations, including payroll processing, region-specific securities regulations and employment tax requirements, reconciliations, and month-end and year-end close procedures.
• Provide strategic direction across payroll operations, service delivery, control frameworks, advisory, cost reduction, and system improvements.
• Lead payroll implementations and improvements, including the rollout of a unified global payroll solution for each entity and the optimisation of system integrations, workflows, and data automation.
• Analyse global payroll data and provide insights that help Finance and HR understand employee-cost trends and improve forecasting, while supporting global payroll projects where needed.
• Partner with Legal and HR on new entity setup and Employment of Record services as part of Airwallex’s international expansion, and support the evolution of payroll systems and tools.
• Advise employees and stakeholders on pay issues, award changes, new policies, and payroll enquiries, resolving queries raised through JIRA and Slack professionally.
• Build a practical payroll knowledge repository, including process documentation, FAQs, and response templates, while driving improvements that strengthen efficiency, accuracy, and the employee experience.

The role is flexible depending on location, but ideally you’ll work from the Airwallex office in the location you applied for three times a week.

What we're looking for

Essentials

• At least 5 years’ regional experience managing end-to-end payroll processing, with strong EMEA payroll exposure.
• Experience providing strategic direction across payroll operations, service delivery, controls, advisory, system improvements, and stakeholder management.
• Experience leading or contributing to payroll implementation, HRIS/payroll integration, system optimisation, or workflow automation projects.
• Strong understanding of payroll compliance, employment tax requirements, reconciliations, and month-end and year-end close procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve payroll discrepancies and issues with accuracy and sound judgement.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, with the ability to analyse payroll data and produce meaningful reports for Finance and HR.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team in a high-growth environment.
• Careful handling of confidential and sensitive information.
• Familiarity with payroll vendor management and payroll-related HRIS integrations.

Preferred

• A bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field.
• Experience with private equity, RSU, ESOP schemes, and related reporting requirements.
• Experience supporting entity setup and Employment of Record services.
• Experience leading a team or coordinating work across payroll operations and implementation projects.
• Experience working with JIRA, Slack, or similar tools to manage employee and stakeholder queries.

You’ll thrive here if

• You’re consistently looking to take on new and diverse challenges, expand your knowledge beyond your current areas of expertise, and are comfortable stepping outside your comfort zone to do it.
• You’re comfortable operating across time zones with a globally distributed team, including colleagues based in APAC and EMEA.
• You hold yourself to a high standard even when no one is watching. Quality and accountability aren't external expectations, they're internal ones.
• You connect dots across functions and hold the big picture without losing grip on the details.
• You simplify complexity rather than hiding behind it.

Learn more about your team

Finance & Corporate Development helps Airwallex grow with control. We’re a trusted partner to the business, providing actionable insights on performance, supporting market and product expansion and helping to shape the future of our product. We ensure that Airwallex meets its financial reporting, tax and safeguarding obligations globally. We work with existing and prospective investors to raise capital and ensure it is deployed effectively.

This is a team for people who want to reimagine how the CFO office works. We’re looking for founder-like energy, high integrity and a passion for technology. You’ll thrive here if you enjoy working cross-functionally, think from first principles and can balance speed of execution with analytical precision.

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.