Lead Payroll

Evolent Health; Pune District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Evolent Health in Pune, India is seeking a Lead Payroll to manage end-to-end payroll operations, ensure accuracy, and maintain statutory compliance. You will act as the primary payroll contact, oversee vendor relationships, drive process improvements, and provide insights to leadership.

The role requires 5-7 years in payroll, strong knowledge of Indian regulations, and experience leading payroll projects. Collaboration with HR, Finance, Tax, and Legal is essential, with a focus on accuracy and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce, or related discipline.
• 5-7 years of progressive experience in payroll operations, payroll accounting, and statutory compliance.
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience leading payroll processes, projects, or teams.
• Strong understanding of Indian payroll regulations, taxation, labor laws, and statutory compliance requirements.
• Experience working with payroll vendors; hands-on payroll accounting, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
• Strong proficiency in ERP systems and Microsoft Excel.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage end-to-end payroll processing, ensuring 100% payroll accuracy and timely salary disbursement.
• Review payroll calculations including earnings, deductions, reimbursements, statutory withholdings, bonuses, and final settlements.
• Validate payroll outputs and perform reconciliation of payroll registers prior to payroll release.
• Manage payroll calendar and ensure all payroll-related activities are completed within established timelines.
• Oversee payroll accounting activities, including preparation and review of journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and payroll-related balance sheet accounts.
• Maintain payroll master data and ensure data integrity within payroll systems.
• Manage relationships with payroll vendors and ensure adherence to service level agreements (SLAs).
• Drive issue resolution and continuous improvement initiatives with payroll service providers.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and external consultants to ensure smooth payroll operations.
• Provide payroll guidance and support to employees and business stakeholders.
• Prepare and review payroll-related reports, reconciliations, and management dashboards.
• Analyze payroll costs, headcount trends, overtime expenses, and variance reports, providing actionable insights to leadership.
• Support month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing activities related to payroll accounting.
• Ensure payroll costs are accurately reflected in financial statements and management reports.
• Liaise with external actuaries and auditors to ensure timely completion of valuation reports and disclosures.
• Review and validate data submitted for actuarial valuations.
• Identify opportunities to automate, standardize, and improve payroll processes and controls.
• Develop and maintain payroll policies, SOPs, and process documentation.
• Lead payroll-related projects including system implementations, process transitions, and regulatory changes.
• Mentor and guide junior payroll team members and support capability development across the payroll function.

Skills

Payroll operations

Payroll accounting

Statutory compliance

Vendor management

Process improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Commerce

Tools

ERP systems

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Your Future Evolves Here

Evolent Health has a bold mission to change the health of the nation by changing the way health care is delivered. Our pursuit of this mission is the driving force that brings us to work each day. We believe in embracing new ideas, challenging ourselves and failing forward. We respect and celebrate individual talents and team wins. We have fun while working hard and Evolenteers often make a difference working in everything from scrubs to jeans.

Are we growing Absolutely and Globally. In 2021 we grew our teams by almost 50% and continue to grow even more in 2022. Are we recognized as a company you are supported by for your career and growth, and a great place to work Definitely. Evolent Health International (Pune, India) has been certified as Great Places to Work in 2021. In 2020 and 2021 Evolent in the U.S. was both named Best Company for Women to Advance list by Parity.org and earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation s Corporate Equality Index (CEI). This index is the nations foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.

We recognize employees that live our values, give back to our communities each year, and are champions for bringing our whole selves to work each day. If you re looking for a place where your work can be personally and professionally rewarding, don t just join a company with a mission. Join a mission with a company behind it.

What You ll Be Doing:

Lead Payroll

Role Summary

The Lead Payroll will be responsible for managing end-to-end payroll operations, ensuring payroll accuracy, statutory compliance, employee satisfaction, and timely reporting. The role will serve as the primary point of contact for payroll matters, lead vendor relationships, drive process improvements, and provide payroll-related insights to management while ensuring compliance with all applicable labor laws, tax regulations, and company policies.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead and manage end-to-end payroll processing, ensuring 100% payroll accuracy and timely salary disbursement.
• Review payroll calculations including earnings, deductions, reimbursements, statutory withholdings, bonuses, and final settlements.
• Validate payroll outputs and perform reconciliation of payroll registers prior to payroll release.
• Manage payroll calendar and ensure all payroll-related activities are completed within established timelines.
• Oversee payroll accounting activities, including preparation and review of journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and payroll-related balance sheet accounts.
• Maintain payroll master data and ensure data integrity within payroll systems.
• Manage relationships with payroll vendors and ensure adherence to service level agreements (SLAs).
• Drive issue resolution and continuous improvement initiatives with payroll service providers.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and external consultants to ensure smooth payroll operations.
• Provide payroll guidance and support to employees and business stakeholders.
• Prepare and review payroll-related reports, reconciliations, and management dashboards.
• Analyze payroll costs, headcount trends, overtime expenses, and variance reports, providing actionable insights to leadership.
• Support month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing activities related to payroll accounting.
• Ensure payroll costs are accurately reflected in financial statements and management reports.
• Liaise with external actuaries and auditors to ensure timely completion of valuation reports and disclosures.
• Review and validate data submitted for actuarial valuations.
• Identify opportunities to automate, standardize, and improve payroll processes and controls.
• Develop and maintain payroll policies, SOPs, and process documentation.
• Lead payroll-related projects including system implementations, process transitions, and regulatory changes.
• Mentor and guide junior payroll team members and support capability development across the payroll function.

Compliance & Controls

• Ensure compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including but not limited to PF, PT, ESI, TDS, LWF, Gratuity, and other labor law compliances.
• Lead payroll compliance reviews and implement effective internal controls to mitigate payroll risks.
• Ensure accurate and timely filing of all statutory returns and remittances.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory changes impacting payroll and proactively implement required updates.
• Act as the primary point of contact for payroll-related audits, statutory inspections, and government inquiries.

Mandatory Requirements

• Bachelors Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce, or related discipline. Professional qualifications will be an added advantage.
• 5-7 years of progressive experience in payroll operations, payroll accounting, and statutory compliance.
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience leading payroll processes, projects, or teams.
• Strong understanding of Indian payroll regulations, taxation, labor laws, and statutory compliance requirements.
• Experience working with payroll vendors;
• Hands-on experience with payroll accounting, payroll reconciliations, ledger postings, accruals, and financial reporting.
• Experience handling payroll audits, statutory inspections, and compliance reviews.
• Strong proficiency in ERP systems and Microsoft Excel.
• Demonstrated experience in process improvement, automation, and payroll governance.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work with senior leadership and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• High level of integrity, confidentiality, and attention to detail.

To ensure a secure hiring process we have implemented several identity verification steps, including submission of a government issued photo ID. We conduct identity verification during interviews, and final interviews may require onsite attendance. All candidates must complete a comprehensive background check, in-person I-9 verification, and may be subject to drug screening prior to employment. The use of artificial intelligence tools during interviews is prohibited and monitored. Misrepresentation will result in immediate disqualification from consideration.

Mandatory Requirements:

Employees must have a high-speed broadband internet connection with a minimum speed of 50 Mbps and the ability to set up a wired connection to their home network to ensure effective remote work. These requirements may be updated as needed by the business.

Evolent Health is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants equally without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status.