Remote Regional Payroll Director, Americas

NielsenIQ; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 132,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working environment

Volunteer time off

Health insurance

Parental leave

Life insurance

Education support

Job summary

NIQ is seeking a Regional Payroll Director for the Americas. This role oversees end-to-end payroll across 32 countries for ~8,000 employees, including U.S. payroll, with in-house, outsourced, and global platform solutions.

You will lead a dispersed team of regional managers, country teams, and external providers, ensuring compliance and timely delivery. Requires 10+ years of payroll leadership, deep U.S. and LATAM knowledge, and full fluency in English and Spanish.

Qualifications

• University degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Human Resources, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience
• At least 10 years of progressive payroll experience, including leadership over multi-country payroll operations
• Deep knowledge of U.S. payroll operations, taxation, controls, and year-end requirements, plus practical Latin American payroll experience
• Experience managing in-house, outsourced, or co-sourced payroll models and geographically dispersed teams
• Experience transitioning countries to new payroll providers, systems, or global payroll solutions
• Strong leadership, communication, influencing, stakeholder-management, and problem-solving skills
• Full professional fluency in English and Spanish

Responsibilities

• Own accurate, complete, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across the Americas
• Lead regional managers, cluster leaders, country teams, offshore resources, and external providers
• Oversee the payroll lifecycle, including inputs, calculations, approvals, funding, payments, statutory remittances, accounting, and reconciliations
• Maintain governance, controls, procedures, calendars, escalation routes, business-continuity plans, and role coverage
• Identify and resolve payroll issues, compliance risks, and control gaps through root-cause analysis
• Apply regional service standards while meeting country-specific statutory requirements
• Provide leadership for U.S. headquarters and executive payroll
• Oversee payroll tax compliance, year-end reporting, and statutory filings
• Ensure confidentiality, system access, segregation of duties, reviews, and approvals
• Lead resolution of tax notices and government inquiries with providers and Corporate Tax
• Oversee payroll requirements related to leaves, workers’ comp, unemployment, benefits, deductions
• Partner with Accounting and Financial Close to ensure timely close
• Oversee payroll journals, accruals, reconciliations, and statutory liabilities
• Coordinate resolutions across Payroll, Finance, Technology, offshore teams, and providers
• Lead, coach, and develop payroll leaders and teams
• Foster inclusive culture and vendor governance
• Monitor regional performance and provide updates to senior stakeholders
• Lead readiness for SOX reviews and audits
• Oversee country transitions to NIQ’s global payroll solution
• Protect pay, compliance, and business continuity during transitions
• Simplify and strengthen payroll processes, systems, and controls
• Measures: deliver accurate, timely payroll and meet KPIs/SLAs

Skills

Leadership

Payroll operations

Regulatory compliance

Vendor management

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

SOX controls

Education

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

Job description

NIQ is seeking a Regional Payroll Director for the Americas. This role oversees end-to-end payroll across 32 countries for ~8,000 employees, including U.S. payroll, with in-house, outsourced, and global platform solutions.

You will lead a dispersed team of regional managers, country teams, and external providers, ensuring compliance and timely delivery. Requires 10+ years of payroll leadership, deep U.S. and LATAM knowledge, and full fluency in English and Spanish.