Global Payroll Strategy Director — Americas Leader

Merck & Co.; Rahway (NJ); On-site; USD 157,000 - 247,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision health and other insurance

401(k) retirement benefits

Paid holidays

Vacation

Compassionate and sick days

Job summary

Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ seeks a Director of Global Payroll Strategy and Americas Payroll Leader to deliver payroll for ~35,000 employees and lead a 20–25 person organization. This role balances operations, governance, and strategy, migrating payrolls from Finance to HR and managing external providers.

Responsibilities include developing a 3-year payroll roadmap, driving process automation, and partnering with HR, IT and Legal for seamless payroll delivery across regions.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of payroll experience with a large global company.
• Strong leadership and vendor management experience.
• Transformational mindset with process and services improvements.
• Service innovation mindset and strong analytical skills.
• Change management experience and cross-functional collaboration.
• Proven ability to lead large teams in on-site and virtual settings.
• Articulate communicator with broad client-facing skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute global payroll strategy and 3-year roadmap.
• Enhance governance with policies, audits and after-action reviews.
• Oversee external payroll vendors, contracts, SLAs and performance.
• Lead payroll transformation via standardization and automation.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, IT and Legal for seamless integration.
• Analyze payroll data and present senior management insights.
• Oversee US and LATAM payroll and tax operations for 20–25 team.

Skills

Change Management

Global Payroll

Leadership

Partnership Strategy

Payroll

Payroll Administration

Payroll Compliance

Payroll Management

Payroll Services

People Leadership

Supplier Management

Transformation Strategy

Vendor Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ seeks a Director of Global Payroll Strategy and Americas Payroll Leader to deliver payroll for ~35,000 employees and lead a 20–25 person organization. This role balances operations, governance, and strategy, migrating payrolls from Finance to HR and managing external providers.

Responsibilities include developing a 3-year payroll roadmap, driving process automation, and partnering with HR, IT and Legal for seamless payroll delivery across regions.