Manager, Payroll Operations - Sub Saharan

Remote; Johannesburg; Remote; ZAR 1,652,000 - 2,313,000; Full time

Job summary

Remote is seeking a Manager, Payroll Operations to lead a team delivering accurate, compliant payroll across multiple regions. You will drive performance, resolve escalations, and partner with cross-functional stakeholders to scale payroll operations globally.

In a remote-first environment, you will implement country-specific payroll requirements, manage vendor relationships, and contribute to critical implementations. Fluent English is essential; additional languages are a plus.

Qualifications

• Experience owning payroll outcomes for a team in regional or multi-country environments.
• Proven people leadership with coaching, feedback, and performance input.
• Ability to lead investigations and drive operational resolution.
• Ability to clarify and apply policies and controls consistently.
• Experience proposing hiring profiles, team changes, and performance actions.
• Strong operational judgment balancing speed, accuracy and customer impact.
• Clear written and verbal communication, effective in async environments.
• Experience working in remote-first or globally distributed teams is a plus.
• Fluent in English; additional languages are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead a payroll operations team and own accuracy, timeliness, and compliance within scope.
• Provide coaching, feedback, and day-to-day leadership to payroll specialists.
• Lead investigations into payroll issues and drive timely resolution.
• Contribute to performance ratings and recommend actions when needed.
• Foster a psychologically safe, high-accountability team environment.
• Own end-to-end payroll delivery for defined country groups and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Maintain knowledge of country-specific payroll requirements within scope.
• Manage relationships with external payroll vendors relevant to portfolio.
• Support global payroll implementation initiatives, including new country launches or transitions.
• Identify risks early and work with cross-functional teams to mitigate them.
• Post-launch, ensure payroll outcomes remain stable and compliant.
• Drive process improvements, automation, and standardized workflows.
• Track KPIs, SLAs, and quality metrics; support Zendesk-based service operations.

Skills

Payroll leadership

People management

Investigations

Policy compliance

Hiring input

Operational judgment

Async communication

Remote teamwork

English fluency

Tools

Zendesk

Job description

Job Description

About Remote

Remote is building the infrastructure that makes global payroll and employment possible for everyone, everywhere. Our team is made up of people who want to own a piece of that work, not just contribute to it. That work happens across six continents, only Antarctica left to go, entirely remote. It also requires real fluency with AI in every role, not just familiarity with it.

Our standards are high, and the ownership is total. You'll have the trust and space to find your own way to the best answer, and the support to see it through, because that's how we build things that actually work at this scale. In return, your career grows faster, because at Remote, growth is tied to results. We're founded on the principle that where someone lives should never limit what they can achieve, and we operate exactly that way.

What this job can offer you

The Manager, Payroll Operations is responsible for ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely payroll delivery across a defined portfolio of countries or regions. This role combines people leadership with operational ownership, enabling your team to consistently meet or exceed payroll expectations while developing their skills and capabilities.

As part of the Global Payroll Operations leadership group, you will lead a team of payroll specialists, supporting them through complex operational challenges and helping them prioritize work to maximize impact. You are accountable for translating strategic guidance into clear operational expectations, ensuring the team is aligned to processes, knowledge, and support needed to execute at a high level.

This role requires balancing oversight and autonomy: you drive resolution of escalated payroll issues, apply policies consistently, recommend hiring and performance decisions, and partner with cross-functional stakeholders. At the same time, you foster a high-performing, engaged team capable of delivering results reliably and scaling their impact as the business grows.

You will also contribute to critical global payroll implementation initiatives, providing market-specific expertise and operational input to ensure new country launches, vendor transitions, or process in-housing efforts succeed and maintain operational excellence.

What you bring

• Proven experience owning payroll outcomes for a team in regional or multi-country environments.
• Demonstrated people leadership capability, including coaching, feedback, and performance input.
• Comfortable leading investigations and driving operational resolution.
• Able to clarify and consistently apply policies and controls.
• Experience recommending hiring profiles, team changes, and performance actions.
• Strong operational judgment with the ability to balance speed, accuracy, and customer impact.
• Clear, structured written and verbal communicator, particularly effective in async environments.
• Experience working in remote-first or globally distributed teams is a strong advantage.
• Fluent in English; additional languages are a plus.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Performance
• Own payroll outcomes for your team, holding accountability for accuracy, timeliness, and compliance within your scope.
• Provide coaching, feedback, and day-to-day leadership to your assigned team of payroll specialists
• Lead operational investigations into payroll issues and drive resolution within defined authority.
• Provide input into performance ratings and recommend performance actions when required.
• Foster a psychologically safe, high-accountability team environment.
• Payroll Operations Ownership
• Own end-to-end payroll delivery for a defined group of countries, ensuring regulatory compliance and operational consistency.
• Sustain operational working knowledge of country-specific payroll requirements within your scope.
• Ensure payroll processes are followed, documented, and auditable.
• Manage relationships with external payroll vendors relevant to your portfolio.
• Global Payroll Implementations
• Actively support critical global payroll implementation initiatives, including new country launches, vendor transitions, or in-housing efforts.
• Contribute market- and country-specific payroll expertise to ensure implementations are operationally sound and sustainable.
• Identify execution risks early and partner with implementation and cross-functional teams to mitigate them.
• Own payroll outcomes for your scope post-launch, ensuring stability after go-live.
• Operational Excellence & Improvement
• Identify operational risks, recurring issues, and process gaps within your payroll scope.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that increase efficiency, reduce errors, and improve team capacity.
• Support the rollout of new tools, automation, and standardized workflows.
• Track and contribute to KPIs, service levels, and quality metrics.
• Manage operational support for service arm of the business - including team performance and engagement in Zendesk
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner with People Operations, Finance, Legal, Product, and Service Operations to support effective payroll delivery.
• Translate payroll complexity into clear, actionable guidance for stakeholders.
• Communicate proactively on risks, delays, or changes that may impact payroll outcomes.

Practicals

• Reports to: Senior Manager, or Manager, Payroll Operations
• Team: Payroll Operations
• Location: Anywhere in the world
• Start date: As soon as possible