Global Payroll Manager - Operations

Overview

Lead payroll operations across multiple countries for Diageo Global Business Operations, partnering with HR, Finance, Tax, Technology and external providers to deliver accurate, compliant and employee-centric payroll services.

What you'll do

• Own end-to-end payroll operations for assigned markets, ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time.
• Oversee payroll inputs, processing, output validation, reconciliations and reporting against agreed calendars and service standards.
• Monitor service KPIs, investigate exceptions and recurring failures, and implement actions that improve accuracy, timeliness and employee experience.
• Coordinate upstream and downstream dependencies with HR, Finance and providers, maintaining clear ownership at each hand-off.
• Maintain compliance with applicable statutory, tax, labour and data privacy requirements, working with specialist functions where interpretation is required.
• Maintain an effective payroll control environment, with documented procedures, evidence of control execution and timely closure of audit actions.
• Identify and assess operational risks, implement mitigation plans and escalate material issues with clear impact and recommended action.
• Lead the resolution of critical payroll incidents and maintain business continuity arrangements for assigned markets.
• Manage operational relationships with payroll providers and hold them accountable for agreed SLAs, KPIs and improvement commitments.
• Lead service reviews, track corrective actions and resolve complex vendor, stakeholder and employee escalations.
• Simplify and standardise payroll processes, leveraging payroll platforms, HRIS, time and attendance systems and workflow tools.
• Deliver automation and approved AI initiatives with Technology and relevant partners, maintaining controls and employee data protection.
• Use data and analytics to strengthen reporting, exception management and decision-making.
• Track operational outcomes and realised benefits from improvements and transformation initiatives.
• Set clear objectives, coach colleagues and manage performance to build a high-performing payroll team.
• Build succession and backup coverage for critical activities to sustain delivery through staffing and operational changes.
• Own operational payroll delivery and budget performance across assigned markets, providing clear visibility of costs, variances and improvement opportunities.
• Deliver cost optimisation through process simplification, automation and effective vendor management.
• Manage multi-country payroll across diverse statutory, tax, labour and data privacy requirements, including applicable SOX environments.
• Oversee complex payroll activities, including year-end processing, audits, statutory payments, cross-border payroll and employee escalations.

What you'll need

• 10–12 years of progressive payroll experience, including multi-country payroll operations.
• A minimum of 5–7 years of experience leading regional or global payroll teams.
• Experience managing outsourced payroll providers and complex cross-functional stakeholder relationships.
• Strong knowledge of payroll legislation, controls, audit and compliance frameworks, including SOX requirements where applicable and the use of SOC reports in provider assurance.
• Experience in a Global Business Services or shared services environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Accounting, Finance or a related discipline.
• Strong analytical and data management capability, with proficiency in Microsoft Office, HR systems and payroll technology.
• Proven ability to interpret regulatory changes with specialist support, translate requirements into operational controls and simplify complex payroll processes.
• Strong working knowledge of payroll processing platforms, calculation validation, statutory deductions and operational controls.
• Manage and reconcile payroll data and understand interfaces with HR, reward, mobility and finance systems.
• Validate attendance and leave inputs and manage their integration with payroll.
• Use Power Automate or comparable tools to simplify repetitive activities and improve workflow visibility.
• Translate applicable payroll, tax and data privacy requirements into operational procedures and controls.
• Understand process dependencies and support structured payroll data and reporting frameworks.
• Apply root-cause and trend analysis, exception management, data visualisation, statistical reasoning and financial impact assessment; use predictive techniques where appropriate.
• Business acumen and enterprise awareness.
• Communication and storytelling.
• Stakeholder management.
• Change management.
• Problem-solving.
• Collaboration and interpersonal effectiveness.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Ethical decision-making.
• Resilience and adaptability.

Nice to have

• Experience leading payroll transformation, operating model design and process standardisation.
• Practical application of Lean, process excellence and continuous improvement methods.
• Experience implementing HRIS, payroll or ERP programmes and working across global mobility, reward and HR technology processes.
• Demonstrated use of automation, AI and digital technologies to improve payroll outcomes.

Details

• Worker type: Regular.
• Primary location: Bangalore Karle Town SEZ, Bangalore, India.
• Flexible working is supported, with flexibility discussed from day one.