Senior Payroll Specialist, EMEA

Clio; Leinster; Hybrid; EUR 65,000 - 88,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Health benefits

Pension contribution

Flexible time off

Job summary

Clio in Ireland seeks a senior payroll professional to own EMEA payroll delivery, ensuring compliance with country-specific rules and statutory reporting. You will collaborate with HR, Finance and external providers while harmonising processes globally.

You will mentor junior staff, resolve escalated issues, and contribute to Workday-driven reporting and governance across regions in a fast-growing SaaS environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of payroll experience with EMEA exposure.
• Senior SME for cross-jurisdictional payroll matters.
• Strong knowledge of UK, Ireland, Spain tax and social security.
• Experience with HRIS/payroll platforms (Workday) and coordinating with in-country providers.
• Vendor and contract management experience.

Responsibilities

• Own accurate payroll processing across EMEA and ensure compliance.
• Escalation point for complex cross-jurisdictional issues.
• Lead governance and harmonisation across regions.
• Mentor junior team members and support day-to-day queries.
• Partner with HR, Finance, auditors, and vendors.
• Support reporting and analytics via Workday.

Skills

EMEA payroll

Cross-jurisdiction

Stakeholder mgmt

Attention to detail

Mentoring

Tools

Workday

Job description

Clio is the global leader in legal AI technology, empowering legal professionals and law firms of every size to work smarter, faster, and more securely.We are transforming the legal experience for all by bettering the lives of legal professionals while increasing access to justice .Summary:About ClioClio is a global leader in legal technology, trusted by tens of thousands of law firms and legal professionals worldwide. Our cloud-based platform transforms the way legal services are delivered — making law firms more efficient, more profitable, and better able to serve their clients. We are a high-growth, mission-driven technology company, and as our global footprint expands, so does the complexity and scale of our People and Payroll operations.Following a period of significant expansion — including the acquisition of vLex, a leading global legal research platform — our Payroll team is growing. We are looking for an experienced, detail-driven payroll professional who is ready to take ownership of EMEA payroll delivery while contributing to the broader global payroll strategy.About the RoleReporting to the Payroll Manager, you will own the accurate and timely delivery of payroll processing across the EMEA region, ensuring compliance with country-specific legislation, statutory reporting requirements, and local social security and taxation frameworks — for example, HMRC in the UK, Revenue in Ireland, Social Security and income tax reporting in Spain, and pension/benefits regulations in other jurisdictions.This is a role for a payroll professional who is comfortable operating as the senior point of expertise across multiple, often complex jurisdictions. You will take ownership of resolving escalated payroll issues, exercising sound judgment about when to act independently and when to bring in stakeholders such as Finance, tax authorities, or pension providers. You will also play a key role in mentoring junior team members and shaping the processes that support a growing, multi-region payroll function.This role will appeal if you are seeking a position with genuine scope to influence payroll governance and harmonisation at a global level, while remaining close to the operational detail of EMEA payroll delivery.Key ResponsibilitiesPayroll Delivery & ComplianceOwn accurate and timely payroll processing across the EMEA region, ensuring compliance with country-specific legislation and statutory reporting requirements.Serve as the senior subject matter expert for EMEA payroll, acting as the escalation point for complex, cross-jurisdictional issues.Lead global payroll governance, harmonisation, and process improvement initiatives, contributing to consistency across EMEA, APAC, LATAM, and North America.Support global payroll delivery by coordinating with in-country providers and ensuring compliance across multiple jurisdictions.Mentor junior payroll team members, supporting their development and day-to-day queries.Stakeholder & Business PartnershipPartner closely with senior stakeholders — HR, Finance, auditors, tax authorities, pension providers, and global payroll vendors — to ensure accurate reporting, strong governance, and audit readiness.Build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships across the People team and broader business stakeholders (OCEO, Legal, Total Rewards, ERGs, Social Impact, etc.), representing payroll in strategic conversations.Champion a human and high-performing culture, contributing to processes and experiences across the employee life cycle.Employee Lifecycle SupportTake full ownership of payroll queries for your assigned countries, handling the day-to-day volume submitted via the People team's ticketing platform as well as the complex cases.Act as the final SME point of escalation for the most complex or cross-jurisdictional payroll matters, including those raised by colleagues elsewhere in the team.Vendor & Process ManagementOversee invoice tracking and vendor contract management, including vendor performance and renewal considerations.Establish and maintain process, document, and information management hygiene and compliance standards across the People function.Lead initiatives to enhance and streamline People information, improving accessibility and driving employee and manager self-service adoption.Projects & ReportingLead or contribute significantly to cross-functional projects including payroll technology upgrades, vendor management, compliance reviews, global reporting, and broader People team initiatives.Monitor, interpret, and communicate people trends — both qualitative and quantitative (via Workday) — to inform decision-making at a leadership level.Your Profile5+ years of payroll experience, with significant exposure to EMEA multi-country payroll processing and compliance.Demonstrated experience acting as a senior point of expertise on complex, cross-jurisdictional payroll matters.Strong working knowledge of country-specific statutory, tax, and social security requirements across key EMEA markets (e.g., UK, Ireland, Spain).Experience with HRIS and payroll platforms (e.g., Workday) and coordinating with in-country payroll providers.Proven ability to manage vendor relationships and contracts.Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and credibly with senior stakeholders across HR, Finance, and external parties.Comfortable operating with autonomy in a fast-paced, evolving environment, mentoring others while managing your own complex caseload.Excellent organisational skills and strong attention to detail, particularly around data integrity and compliance.Experience within a SaaS, technology, or high-growth environment is desirable but not essential.What You'll BringSound judgment and a practical, risk-aware approach to payroll compliance.A genuine interest in mentoring and developing more junior colleagues.Confidence working directly with senior stakeholders across multiple levels of the organisation.Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities without losing quality or pace.Curiosity and a continuous improvement mindset — an interest in making the payroll function better, not just running it.A positive, collaborative working style, and resilience in a high-growth, multi-jurisdictional environment.Lead offboarding management for complex or sensitive cases, partnering with People Business Partners, IT, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth and compliant offboarding experience.Maintain and oversee employment records and changes through the HRIS platform, ensuring data integrity in partnership with Payroll and the PSA team.What you will find here:Compensation is one of the main components of Clio’s Total Rewards Program. We have developed a series of programs and processes to ensure we are creating fair and competitive pay practices that form the foundation of our human and high-performing culture.Some highlights of our Total Rewards program include:Competitive, equitable salary with top-tier health benefits and dental coverageHybrid work environment, with expectation for local Clions (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Dublin and Sydney) to be in office minimum twice per week.Flexible time off policyPension contributionClioversary recognition program with special acknowledgement at 3, 5, 7, and 10 yearsThe expected salary range for this role is €65,400 to €88,400 EUR. Initial placement within the range is informed by geographic region, experience, and skillset, with room to progress as impact and tenure grow. Final offer amounts will vary based on candidate profile.Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity (DIBE) & AccessibilityOur team shows up as their authentic selves, and are united by our mission. We are dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion . We pride ourselves in building and fostering an environment where our teams feel included, valued, and enabled to do the best work of their careers, wherever they choose to log in from. We believe that different perspectives, skills, backgrounds, and experiences result in higher-performing teams and better innovation. We are committed to equal employment and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.Clio provides accessibility accommodations during the recruitment process. Should you require any accommodation, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.Learn more about our culture at clio.com/careersWe're a Human and High Performing AI company, meaning we use artificial intelligence to improve all of our operations. In recruitment, AI helps us streamline the process for greater efficiency. However, we've built our systems to ensure that a human always reviews AI-generated output, and we never make automated hiring decisions.Disclaimer: We only communicate with candidates through official @clio.com email addresses.