APAC Payroll Lead - Governance & Compliance

Currie & Brown; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Currie & Brown is seeking a senior APAC payroll leader to oversee governance, processing oversight, quality control, compliance, vendor coordination and continuous improvement of payroll operations across our Asia Pacific businesses.

The role requires strong multi-country payroll experience, stakeholder management, and attention to detail to ensure accurate, on-time payroll processing in a complex in-house environment. Collaboration with finance, HR, and external advisors is essential.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive payroll experience, including regional or multi-country leadership.
• Strong knowledge of payroll controls, tax, statutory deductions, and reporting obligations.
• Experience reviewing outputs, reconciliations, audits, and vendor submissions.
• Experience managing payroll vendors and in-country providers.
• Advanced Excel, data reconciliation, and payroll analytics skills.
• Experience with HRIS implementations or system enhancements is advantageous.
• Excellent written and spoken English; additional regional language skills are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end payroll operations across APAC, including regular, off-cycle, bonus and statutory payrolls.
• Review outputs, reconciliations, journals, and vendor deliverables for accuracy and compliance.
• Maintain APAC payroll governance, SOPs, approvals, audit trails, and documentation standards.
• Improve payroll quality, control disciplines, and data confidentiality across the region.
• Ensure country-specific payroll, tax, social security, and reporting requirements are met.
• Collaborate with finance, HR, and external advisors on payroll matters.
• Manage payroll vendors and technology partners, overseeing service levels and improvements.
• Lead payroll-related projects including system implementations and country setups.
• Partner with HRIS/IT and vendors to ensure data integrity and reporting capabilities.

Skills

Payroll leadership

Stakeholder management

Excel

Payroll analytics

Vendor management

HRIS implementations

Data reconciliation

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/Finance/Accounting/Business Administration

Job description

Currie & Brown is seeking a senior APAC payroll leader to oversee governance, processing oversight, quality control, compliance, vendor coordination and continuous improvement of payroll operations across our Asia Pacific businesses.

The role requires strong multi-country payroll experience, stakeholder management, and attention to detail to ensure accurate, on-time payroll processing in a complex in-house environment. Collaboration with finance, HR, and external advisors is essential.