Regional Payroll Manager

Kerry Consulting; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kerry Consulting represents a leading global organisation seeking a Manager/Senior Manager, Regional Payroll based in Singapore to lead payroll operations across Asia.

You will drive governance, compliance, vendor management, and transformation initiatives, balancing strategic oversight with hands-on support during peak payroll cycles.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years regional payroll experience, including leadership, with strong knowledge of regional regulations and SOX.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
• 10+ years of progressive regional payroll experience.
• 3–4 years in a managerial or team-lead role.
• Experience across multiple Asian markets, ideally in an MNC/Shared Services.
• Strong knowledge of regional payroll regulations, SOX, and data privacy.
• Proven track record delivering payroll transformation, automation, or system improvements.
• Demonstrated leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end payroll operations across Asia with accuracy and compliance.
• Act as regional Payroll SME, partnering with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and stakeholders.
• Oversee outsourced payroll vendors with governance and risk management.
• Drive payroll transformation, standardisation, automation, and system enhancements.
• Own governance and controls framework for payroll across markets.
• Lead internal and external payroll audits and remediation efforts.
• Develop and mentor the regional payroll team while handling escalations.

Skills

Payroll governance

Vendor management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Automation

Process improvement

SOX/compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Our client is a leading global organisation with a significant presence across Asia. As part of its continued focus on strengthening its regional HR operations, they are looking to appoint a Manager / Senior Manager, Regional Payroll to lead payroll operations across the region.

Based in Singapore, this is a regional leadership role with responsibility for payroll governance, compliance, vendor management, operational excellence and transformation across multiple Asian markets.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end payroll operations across Asia, ensuring accurate, timely and compliant payroll delivery across multiple markets.
• Act as the regional Payroll Subject Matter Expert, partnering closely with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compensation & Benefits and business stakeholders.
• Oversee outsourced payroll providers, including vendor governance, service performance, risk management and issue resolution.
• Drive payroll transformation and continuous improvement initiatives, including process standardisation, automation, system enhancements and vendor transitions.
• Own the regional payroll governance and controls framework, ensuring compliance with statutory, tax, labour, SOX, internal control and data privacy requirements.
• Lead internal and external payroll audits, remediation efforts and ongoing enhancements to the control environment.
• Provide leadership and development to the regional payroll team, while remaining hands‑on with complex payroll matters, escalations and critical payroll cycles.

Requirements

• Degree qualified with at least 10 years of progressive regional payroll experience, including 3-4 years in a managerial or team leadership capacity.
• Strong experience managing payroll across multiple Asian markets, ideally within an MNC or Shared Services Centre environment.
• Strong knowledge of regional payroll regulations, statutory requirements, SOX, internal controls and payroll governance.
• Proven experience managing outsourced payroll vendors and complex stakeholder relationships.
• Track record of driving payroll transformation, process improvement, automation or system enhancement initiatives.
• Strong leadership, communication and stakeholder management capabilities, with the ability to balance strategic oversight with hands‑on operational execution.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced regional payroll professional looking to take ownership of a sizeable Asia payroll function and play a key role in strengthening its governance, capabilities and operating model.