Deloitte | India Offices of the US

Job Title: Lead Associate – Global Payroll Operations

Department: Global Payroll Operations
Location: Hyderabad

Position Overview

The Lead Associate – Global Payroll Operations is responsible for handling employee payroll inquiries and ensuring timely, accurate resolution across live channels (phone, email, chat) and non-live channels (ticketing tools, Human Resources Information System (HRIS) platforms). The role also supports accurate, compliant payroll processing for assigned countries by completing daily activities such as data entry, validations, reconciliations, exception management, and coordination with Human Resources (HR), Finance, and external payroll vendors. The Associate escalates complex issues as needed and contributes to process improvements and documentation to strengthen payroll controls and service quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Support regular (on-cycle) payroll processing for assigned countries/regions in line with the defined pay frequency, ensuring compliance with labor laws, tax withholding, and statutory contributions.
• Respond to employee and stakeholder inquiries via phone, email, chat, and ticketing systems, delivering timely resolution, clear communication, and thorough documentation.
• Validate pre-payroll inputs including new hires, terminations, transfers, salary changes, bonuses/incentives, overtime, leave impacts, deductions, and other pay-impacting items.
• Partner with Human Resources (HR), Finance, and external payroll vendors to support processing, approvals, reconciliations, reporting, and issue resolution.
• Review post-payroll outputs and reports for completeness and accuracy to enable correct salary payments and statutory remittances (e.g., taxes, social contributions).
• Assist with off-cycle payments, retroactive adjustments, and year-end payroll activities in accordance with country-specific requirements.
• Maintain payroll records and support accurate general ledger (GL) postings, reconciliations, and basic variance checks.
• Provide shift flexibility to support 24x7 operations, ensuring smooth handoffs through clear updates and well-documented status notes.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong customer service and case-management skills, with proven experience leading resolution of employee payroll queries via phone, chat, and email.
• Solid working knowledge of multi-jurisdiction payroll compliance (e.g., taxation, social insurance/social security, pensions, and statutory deductions) and the ability to flag risks early.
• Demonstrated ability to monitor regulatory and process changes, translate requirements into operational steps, and guide execution with support from subject matter experts (SMEs) and leads.
• Exceptional attention to detail and data quality rigor; experienced in operating within defined controls, checklists, and approval workflows.
• Experience supporting internal and external audits by providing timely, accurate documentation and evidence, and ensuring adherence to control requirements.
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills to partner effectively with Human Resources (HR), Finance, Compliance, and external vendors across time zones.
• Continuous improvement mindset with experience identifying root causes, recommending enhancements, and supporting process/system changes to improve service quality and controls.
• Hands-on experience supporting testing and validation for payroll system upgrades or process changes and maintaining standard operating procedures (SOPs) and knowledge articles.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 5–7 years of payroll experience; multi-country payroll operations or shared services exposure preferred.
• Hands-on experience with payroll and Human Resources Information System (HRIS) platforms (e.g., ADP, SAP, Workday, Oracle, UKG, or equivalent) and ticketing tools (e.g., ServiceNow or similar).
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
• Proven ability to interpret payroll-related updates and apply process changes accurately in line with defined procedures.

Shift Timings: Rotational shifts (day/night) with weekend coverage as required based on business needs.