Senior Payroll Specialist

Intuitive; Freiburg im Breisgau; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive is seeking a Senior Payroll Analyst to ensure timely, accurate payroll delivery across multiple countries in the region. The role emphasizes collaboration with HR, Finance, and external providers in a fast-paced, international environment.

The ideal candidate will have deep German payroll knowledge, a track record of process improvement, and strong analytical skills to support compliance, reporting, and employee guidance across countries.

Qualifications

• 5 years of payroll experience in a multinational environment.
• Experience managing complex multi-country payroll.
• Advanced knowledge of German payroll.
• Experience with external payroll providers.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Fluent in English and German.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end payroll for multiple countries.
• Partner with HR, Total Rewards, Benefits, Finance, Accounting, Tax, Mobility and external payroll providers.
• Act as liaison between internal stakeholders and outsourced payroll providers.
• Review payroll inputs, calculations, and outputs for accuracy.
• Prepare payroll month-end entries, accruals, and reconciliations.
• Ensure filings and compliance obligations are met on time.
• Provide employee and manager payroll support.
• Conduct root cause analyses and drive process improvements.
• Document payroll processes and ensure business continuity.
• Provide backup coverage for other countries as needed.
• Contribute to a positive team culture focused on excellence.

Skills

Payroll experience

German payroll

External partners

Detail oriented

Collaborative mindset

Influence without authority

Adaptability

Continuous improvement

Communication skills

English fluent

Tools

Payroll systems

Job description

• Ways of Working: Set Schedule - This job will be onsite weekly, the percentage of onsite work will be defined by the leader.
• Employee Type: Employee
• Global Job Level (HCM): Professional 3 (9)

Company Description

It started with a simple idea: what if surgery could be less invasive and recovery less painful? Nearly 30 years later, that question still fuels everything we do at Intuitive. As a global leader in robotic-assisted surgery and minimally invasive care, our technologies-like the da Vinci surgical system and Ion-have transformed how care is delivered for millions of patients worldwide.

We're a team of engineers, clinicians, and innovators united by one purpose: to make surgery smarter, safer, and more human. Every day, our work helps care teams perform with greater precision and patients recover faster, improving outcomes around the world.

The problems we solve demand creativity, rigor, and collaboration. The work is challenging, but deeply meaningful—because every improvement we make has the potential to change a life.

If you're ready to contribute to something bigger than yourself and help transform the future of healthcare, you'll find your purpose here.

Job Description

Primary Function of Position:

Ensure the timely, accurate, and compliant delivery of payroll across multiple countries within the region through effective partnership with HR, Finance, external payroll providers, and other key stakeholders.

The Senior Payroll Analyst serves as a subject matter expert and trusted partner, driving operational excellence across the entire payroll lifecycle. This role requires a holistic view of payroll processes, strong analytical capabilities, and a continuous improvement mindset to identify root causes, enhance efficiency, strengthen controls, and improve the overall employee experience.

Operating in a fast-paced international environment with tight payroll deadlines, the Senior Payroll Analyst must demonstrate agility, adaptability, and a collaborative approach while supporting multiple countries and providing backup coverage across the wider payroll team as needed.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Manage the end-to-end payroll process for multiple countries, ensuring payroll is processed accurately, compliantly, and within strict deadlines.
• Partner closely with HR, Total Rewards, Benefits, Finance, Accounting, Tax, Mobility, and external payroll providers to ensure seamless payroll operations and consistent employee support.
• Act as a key liaison between internal stakeholders and outsourced payroll providers, ensuring quality service delivery, timely issue resolution, and adherence to service level expectations.
• Review and validate payroll inputs, calculations, and outputs, ensuring accuracy of employee transactions including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, benefits, taxes, and statutory deductions.
• Prepare payroll-related month-end accounting entries, accruals, reconciliations, and support audit requirements.
• Ensure all payroll filings, statutory submissions, year-end declarations, and compliance obligations are completed accurately and on time.
• Serve as a trusted point of contact for employees and managers on payroll-related matters, providing clear, professional, and customer-focused support.
• Conduct thorough root cause analysis of payroll issues, identifying underlying drivers and implementing sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
• Proactively identify process improvement opportunities and drive initiatives to simplify, standardize, automate, and strengthen payroll processes and controls.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive process documentation, ensuring knowledge sharing and business continuity.
• Provide support and backup coverage for other countries and payroll team members as business needs require, demonstrating flexibility and teamwork across the function.
• Contribute to fostering a positive, collaborative, and solution-oriented team culture focused on delivering excellence.
• Primary point of contact for employees' questions related to payroll including social insurance, tax, and Company car;
• Participate to payroll/Finance projects upon request.

Qualifications

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• 5 years' experience in a payroll function within multinational work environment
• Understanding and experience in managing complex payroll process in a multi country environment or in a company providing service to multiple customers
• Advanced knowledge of German payroll
• Experience working with / managing external partners, e.g. payroll provider would be an asset
• Figures oriented, exceptional attention to details
• A collaborative and partnership-oriented mindset.
• The ability to influence without authority and build strong relationships across functions.
• Courage to challenge existing processes while maintaining a constructive and respectful approach.
• Curiosity and creativity to identify better ways of working.
• Resilience and adaptability in a dynamic, international environment.
• A commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Professionalism, diplomacy, and the ability to communicate difficult messages with clarity, empathy and firmness when needed.
• Fluent in English and German, French would be a plus
• Accounting knowledge would be a plus

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