Payroll Specialist

Highberg; Enschede; Hybrid; EUR 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid leave

Travel and accommodation reimbursement

Work from home allowance

Hybrid working

Job summary

Highberg is seeking a Payroll Specialist – Managed Payroll & Transition to join the Dutch payroll team. You will ensure monthly Dutch payroll is accurate, embed changes smoothly in processes and systems, and support go-live, year-end, and transitions while working mostly remotely from Spain with about one client visit per month to the Netherlands.

You will handle input files, CAOs checks, payslips, tax returns, and audit preparations; draft requirements, design tests, and support conversions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree, or equivalent level, with PDL or VPS diploma.
• Extensive experience processing Dutch payroll end-to-end.
• Knowledge of CAOs, pension schemes, Dutch payroll tax and employment law.
• Experience with payroll implementations, system conversions, or transitions of HR/payroll activities; testing, impact analyses and functional specifications.
• Experience with SAP HCM, AFAS, Oracle HCM, Workday or similar platforms.
• Willing to travel to the Netherlands about once per month (more as needed).
• Excellent verbal and written communication in Dutch and English.

Responsibilities

• Processing input files, calculating variable pay and running payrolls monthly.
• Performing gross-to-net checks and verifying CAOs and pension schemes; conducting four-eyes checks.
• Delivering payslips, journal entries and payroll tax returns; performing reconciliations and audits.
• Ensuring compliance with Dutch payroll tax regulations and legislative changes.
• Drafting business requirements and functional specifications; impact analyses across processes, integrations and reports.
• Designing and executing test scenarios, regression tests and validation plans.
• Supporting system conversions and transitions; providing extra capacity during go-live and hypercare.
• Preparing for year-end: translating changes into a payroll roadmap with 1 January changes.
• Documenting work instructions, checklists, FAQs and training materials to improve efficiency and audit readiness.

Skills

Accuracy

Deadline management

Improvement mindset

AI literacy

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree

PDL or VPS diploma

Tools

SAP HCM

AFAS

Oracle HCM

Workday

Job description

About the role

In this role, working from Spain, Granada, you ensure that our clients’ Dutch payroll is processed on time, accurately and completely every month, including at times of significant change. Your work remote from Grenada, with an average of one client visit per month in the NetherlandsThrough Managed Payroll, we take over a client’s entire monthly payroll processing, either temporarily or on a structural basis. During a system implementation, go-live or year-end transition, you relieve the pressure on the organisation and bring preparations forward. In this way, you combine the reliability of a stable operation with the dynamism of change projects. Does this sound like your next challenge?

Your role as Payroll Specialist – Managed Payroll & Transition

As Payroll Specialist – Managed Payroll & Transition at Highberg, you are responsible for a payroll that is correct every month, and for making sure that changes are embedded smoothly in processes, systems and work instructions. You work independently within a dedicated team led by a lead payroll consultant, as part of Payroll Services: the Dutch-speaking payroll team of Highberg | Consultday.

Your responsibilities include:

• Processing input files, calculating variable pay and running payrolls in line with the payroll calendar, including four-weekly pay cycles.
• Performing gross-to-net checks, verifying compliance with collective labour agreements (CAOs) and pension schemes, and carrying out the four-eyes check before the final run.
• Delivering payslips, journal entries and the payroll tax- wage return, performing reconciliations and preparing for audits.
• Ensuring compliance with Dutch payroll tax regulations and keeping up to date with legislative changes.
• Drafting business requirements and functional specifications, and conducting impact analyses on processes, integrations and reports.
• Designing and executing test scenarios, regression tests and validation plans.
• Supporting system conversions and transitions and providing additional capacity during go-live and hypercare.
• Preparing for year-end: translating legislative and CAO changes taking effect on 1 January into a payroll change roadmap, including special runs, tax changes and reports.
• Documenting work instructions, checklists, FAQs and training materials, making processes more efficient, more predictable and audit ready

Who are you?

• You are accurate and reliable in meeting deadlines, and you keep track of multiple clients or payroll runs at the same time.
• You have an improvement mindset: you look beyond today’s processing and think about how processes can be improved.
• You have a pragmatic, flexible and independent attitude, even when working mostly remotely.You are AI-literate and able to apply AI in a conscious, critical and responsible way to enhance your work.

We strongly encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to apply, even if you do not meet all of the criteria listed above.

What are we asking?

• You have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, or an equivalent level of thinking and working, and have a PDL or VPS diploma
• You have extensive experience in independently processing Dutch payroll end to end.
• You have knowledge of CAOs, pension schemes, Dutch payroll tax and Dutch employment law.
• You have proven experience with payroll implementations, system conversions or the transition of HR and payroll activities, as well as with testing, impact analyses and functional specifications.
• You have experience with systems such as SAP HCM, AFAS, Oracle HCM, Workday or another platform.
• ou are willing to travel to the Netherlands for client visits about once a month and are flexible enough to travel more often when an assignment requires it.
• You have excellent verbal and written communication skills in both Dutch and English.

What are we offering?

• Attractive and comprehensive employment conditions: a gross monthly salary of € 3.400 to € 4.084 (depending on experience), complemented by paid leave, reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs for client visits in the Netherlands, work at home allowance.
• The best of two worlds: the intellectual sharpness and quality of a high end consultancy firm, combined with the agility and engagement of an entrepreneurial organization.
• Responsibility, autonomy, and entrepreneurship: from the very start, you take ownership in projects and client work, with plenty of room to take initiative, supported by experienced colleagues. A structured development cycle with coaching from partners and development coaches, offering strong growth and career opportunities
• Collaborating in an accessible environment: you work in a setting where decision making is close to the action and ideas quickly gain traction.
• Flexible working with strong connection: hybrid working is possible, combined with regular moments where we come together for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and team activities such as inspiring sessions and the Highberg Festival.

About the culture

Highberg is a European transformation consultancy. We support organizations in realizing their strategic ambitions by combining clear direction with execution.

We believe sustainable change happens when deep expertise and human dynamics are in balance. That is why we work closely with our clients, not only as advisors, but as partners in realization.

Our teams combine analytical depth with pragmatism and build solutions that not only work on paper, but above all in practice.