Regional Payroll Specialist - Americas

Oxford University Press; Cary (NC); On-site; USD 57,000 - 81,000; Full time

Job summary

Oxford University Press in Cary, NC is seeking a Regional Payroll Specialist - Americas with responsibility for US and Canadian payroll delivery and supporting the wider Americas region across 10 countries and 800+ employees.

You will oversee end-to-end payroll processes, ensure compliance and timely payments, and collaborate with Payroll Manager and vendors to drive improvements and standardize practices. Experience with multi-state US payroll and data integrity is required.

Qualifications

• Ability to work independently with ownership of multi-state US payrolls.
• Experience with payroll systems and third-party suppliers.
• Understanding of US payroll legislation and processes.
• Excel proficiency including Pivot Tables and VLOOKUP.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end outsourced payroll delivery for US and Canada.
• Prepare, validate, and submit data for twice-monthly payroll cycles.
• Ensure accurate processing of benefits, deductions, leave, and employee lifecycle events.
• Manage payroll compliance, reporting, year-end activities, audits, and regulatory obligations.
• Act as escalation point for payroll queries and complex matters.
• Build relationships with payroll vendors and service providers.
• Support payroll processes across the wider Americas region.
• Identify opportunities to improve, standardise, and document payroll practices.
• Lead and contribute to payroll projects, change initiatives, and continuous improvement.

Skills

End-to-end payroll

US multi-state payroll

Excel advanced

Vendor coordination

Tools

SAP SuccessFactors

UKG

Job description

Job Title: Regional Payroll Specialist - Americas

Location: Cary, NC, US, 27513

Salary: 56,700-81,000

Division: Group Human Resources

Department: Group HR - Academic

Job Description

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced Regional Payroll Specialist - Americas to join our global People Services team. In this role, you'll take ownership of payroll delivery for our US and Canadian employees while supporting payroll operations across the wider Americas region, which spans 10 countries and more than 800 employees. You will be responsible for ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll delivery by overseeing the end-to-end process.

Working closely with the Payroll Manager, UK & Americas, you'll play a key role in maintaining payroll compliance, driving process improvements, supporting business continuity, and helping shape a successful and compliant payroll service.

Key responsibilities

• Managing end-to-end outsourced payroll delivery for the US and Canada.
• Preparing, validating, and submitting data for twice-monthly payroll cycles.
• Ensuring accurate processing of benefits, deductions, leave arrangements, and employee lifecycle events.
• Managing payroll compliance, reporting, year-end activities, audits, and regulatory obligations.
• Acting as a key escalation point for payroll queries and complex payroll matters.
• Building strong relationships with payroll vendors and service providers.
• Supporting payroll processes across the wider Americas region.
• Identifying opportunities to improve, standardise, and document payroll practices.
• Leading and contributing to payroll projects, change initiatives, and continuous improvement activities.

About You

You'll be an organised and detail-oriented payroll professional with strong technical expertise and a commitment to delivering exceptional service.

Essential

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and demonstrate strong ownership of assigned tasks for accurate, timely delivery of multi-state US payrolls.
• Experience of working with payroll systems and third-party suppliers.

• Solid understanding of the types of legislation relating to US payroll processing, and detailed knowledge of regular and annual payroll processes.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to manage priorities and deliver accurate results in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to understand processes and deliver continual review and improvement.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Higher level user of Microsoft Excel, including advanced functions such as Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, data analysis, reporting, and reconciliation.

Desirable

• Experience of non-US payroll delivery
• Knowledge of SAP SuccessFactors and UKG would be a distinct advantage
• Knowledge of legislation relating to LATAM and Canadian payroll processing
• Spanish language skills

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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