Payroll Specialist - US

Keka HR; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 1,400,000 - 2,600,000; Full time

Job summary

Keka HR is expanding its Managed Services for India, and we seek a seasoned US payroll expert to serve as the India market specialist. You will own payroll, statutory, and time & attendance depth for MS prospects, joining calls, shaping scope, and driving deals to closure.

Collaborating with GTM, Product, and Delivery, you will ensure the solution stays coherent across functions, while leveraging your experience in HR tech and client-facing sales to win and sustain engagements.

Qualifications

• Deep payroll expertise for US with statutory framework knowledge
• Experience in HR tech, payroll, or global employer-of-record roles
• Ability to lead prospect calls and close deals with clarity on scope

Responsibilities

• Own Payroll/Statutory/Time & Attendance depth for India MS market.
• Walk prospects through pain points and create need for Managed Services.
• Defend and shape scope during sales calls and RFP responses.
• Coordinate with GTM, Product and Delivery to keep deals coherent and healthy.
• Track and debrief after close to inform delivery and future opportunities.

Skills

US payroll knowledge

Sales-call fluency

Strong communication

Numeracy

Client-facing experience

Job description

Keka is a SaaS HRMS platform, helping companies manage the entire employee lifecycle efficiently– hiring, onboarding, time & attendance, payroll, performance, and learning in one integrated system.

We have been in the market for 10+ years and currently serve around ten thousand clients in India, US and GCC.

Context

Keka is standing up its Managed Services (MS) business. MS is not a BPO — it is Keka running the customer’s payroll, statutory, and HR operations on the Keka HRMS platform they already have (or would move to). Same platform, same data, same employee experience, new operating model.

This role is focused on the India market — ENT + MM segments. You will be the country expert in every MS prospect call for India logos, from IND ENT Farming (large existing base) to Regular ENT and MNC/GCC merged Hunting motions.

About the Role

Solutioning is your primary responsibility. You are the US country expert who owns Payroll / Statutory / Time & Attendance depth for the market. You sit in prospect calls, create need for MS, defend and shape scope, and push deals through to closure. You are not a passive expert — you carry the deal.

Beyond Solutioning, you partner across three functions to make sure the motion holds together: GTM (support and enable Sales), Product (bridge to R&D on functional gaps), and Delivery (track project health post-signature). You do not execute delivery or own partnerships — those live elsewhere. Your job is to close deals and make sure closed deals stay healthy.

Primary Responsibility - Solutioning

Country Expertise

• Statutory framework depth. Federal (FIT, FICA, FUTA), multi-state (SIT + SUI across 50 states + DC, reciprocity), CheckHQ-supported local taxes (NYC, Philadelphia, SF), state-specific payroll taxes (CA SDI, NY MTA, OR TriMet, WA WBF). Filing calendars: Form 941 quarterly, Form 940 annual, W-2 / W-3, 1099-NEC / MISC by Jan 31, EFTPS deposits.
• Payroll components. Gross-to-net mechanics, salary structures, reimbursements, garnishments, F&F settlements, prior-vendor cleanup patterns.
• Time & Attendance. Attendance-to-payroll pipelines, overtime rules, PTO / leave policy design, statutory paid leave.
• Compliance rhythm. Notice triage cadence, audit prep, peak-load moments (year-end, statutory season) that customers panic about.

Sales-Call presence

• Create need. Walk a prospect through their own pain in ways they had not articulated. Turn "we already do payroll" into "we already lose Ops leaders to payroll."
• Defend and shape scope. Hold the SKU line where it matters; concede where it wins the deal. Know the difference cold.
• Carry the technical narrative from first-call to signed MSA. RFP responses, security questionnaires, statutory Q&A, delivery walk-throughs.
• Competitive positioning. Displacement plays against ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Rippling, Justworks, Deel, Papaya, Trinet, Paylocity, Paycom, Paycor — know each competitor's weak spots cold.

Secondary Responsibilities

GTM - Support and enable

• Enable Sales (Farming + Hunting) with talk tracks, objection handling, and country-specific scope walkthroughs — delivered via the Enablement team.
• Contribute to MS content the Marketing team produces: pitch decks, scope-by-SKU 2-pagers, displacement battlecards, case studies. Ensure the content is factually correct and prospect-tested.
• Feed back what is landing and what is not from prospect calls, so content and positioning evolve on a fast cadence.

Product - bridge, not build

• Translate recurring prospect and delivery pain into structured Product requirements (not anecdotes).
• Track those requirements through Product's roadmap. When a Product gap blocks an MS deal, pull it forward with a data-backed case.
• When Product ships something useful, get it into pitch decks and battlecards within a week.

Delivery - track, not execute

• Monitor delivery health on the accounts you closed — cycle accuracy, SLA adherence, escalations, renewal signals.
• Flag risks to Delivery leads early; hand off cleanly and stay available as escalation backup.
• Own the debrief when a deal closes — what did we sell, what does Delivery need to deliver, where are the known risks.

What you bring

• Deep payroll expertise for US. You can walk any prospect through statutory framework, filing calendars, and edge cases without notes.
• 6+ years in HR Tech, payroll, or global employer-of-record. Ideally split between hands‑on delivery and client‑facing / commercial roles. Companies like Gusto, Rippling, Justworks, Deel, Papaya Global, Trinet, Paylocity, Paycom, Paycor, ADP (SBS or NAS side) are the right shape of pedigree.
• Sales-call fluency. You have sat in front of CHROs, CFOs, and Heads of People and closed. You know when to push and when to concede scope.
• Strong communication — written and verbal. Comfortable running executive‑level prospect calls.
• Numeracy and structured thinking. Comfortable with pricing math and SKU logic; can build your own analysis when the ask is ambiguous.

Nice to have

• Multi-country payroll implementation exposure.
• Formal certifications — CPP / FPC (US), Certified Payroll Manager (India), or geo equivalents.
• Experience contributing to battlecards, competitive positioning, or sales playbooks.
• Bonus depth in multi-country deals with US-HQ anchors or exposure to Ceridian / Dayforce, Workday Payroll.