Payroll Analytics & Optimization Lead – Africa & Expat

Red Ember Recruitment; Durban; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Unilever is seeking a Payroll Manager for Africa & Expats, based in Durban, to lead end-to-end payroll delivery across multiple African markets and expatriate payroll operations. The role partners with HR, Finance, and Global Mobility to ensure compliant, timely payroll with excellent employee experience.

The ideal candidate has extensive payroll operations experience, global payroll knowledge, and strong governance, risk, and stakeholder management capabilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or a related field.
• Extensive payroll operations experience, including SA payroll.
• Experience supporting payroll across multiple African countries.
• Minimum two years' people management experience.
• Proven experience managing end-to-end, in-house payroll operations.
• Strong experience managing multi-country payroll environments, payroll vendors, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• In-depth understanding of payroll compliance, SOX controls, governance, and audit requirements.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end payroll operations across multiple African markets.
• Ensure payroll activities comply with local legislative requirements and SLAs.
• Drive governance and payroll service quality through robust delivery processes.
• Monitor payroll performance and drive improvements in employee experience.
• Oversee expatriate payroll activities and tax equalization calculations.
• Partner with Global Mobility and external providers for expatriate payroll delivery.
• Support audits and implement risk mitigation plans across supported countries.
• Standardize and optimize payroll processes with HR and Payroll Centers of Expertise.

Skills

Payroll processing

Stakeholder management

SOX controls

Analytics

Expatriate payroll

Leadership

Governance

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Finance/Accounting/Business Admin

Job description

Unilever is seeking a Payroll Manager for Africa & Expats, based in Durban, to lead end-to-end payroll delivery across multiple African markets and expatriate payroll operations. The role partners with HR, Finance, and Global Mobility to ensure compliant, timely payroll with excellent employee experience.

The ideal candidate has extensive payroll operations experience, global payroll knowledge, and strong governance, risk, and stakeholder management capabilities.