Head of Payroll - Africa Zone

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The Head of Payroll – Africa Zone is accountable for the strategic leadership, governance, risk management and end-to-end execution of payroll operations across 12 African markets.

This role ensures full compliance with corporate governance frameworks, local statutory and tax legislation, internal controls, and service level agreements, while driving operational excellence, standardization, automation, and enhanced employee experience across the Zone.

The role serves as the owner of payroll strategy, controls, systems, vendor partnerships and capability development, ensuring accurate, compliant and timely remuneration for all employees across the Africa Zone.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Governance
• Define and implement the Africa Zone Payroll strategy aligned to Global People Services and Finance frameworks
• Act as the accountable executive for payroll governance, risk, controls and compliance across 12 countries
• Ensure adherence to internal control frameworks, corporate governance policies, SABOX, and audit requirements
• Drive standardization of payroll processes across markets while accommodating local legislative nuances
• Serve as payroll escalation point for senior leadership and regional stakeholders
• Payroll Operations Oversight
• Provide executive oversight of end-to-end payroll execution including salaries, incentives, bonuses, benefits and statutory payments
• Ensure accurate and timely monthly payroll sign-off across all markets
• Approve payroll calendars and ensure delivery against SLA commitments
• Oversee year-end processes including tax reconciliations and statutory submissions
• Ensure accuracy of recharge mechanisms between Zone and countries
• Compliance, Tax & Regulatory Oversight
• Ensure full compliance with all country-specific payroll, tax, and employment legislation (e.g. PAYE, social security, pension, benefits regulations across Africa)
• Oversee statutory reporting and filings across all jurisdictions
• Lead resolution of regulatory escalations with revenue authorities and statutory bodies (e.g. SARS and equivalents across Africa)
• Accountable for payroll audit readiness and remediation of findings (internal & external)
• Financial Control & Risk Management
• Oversight of payroll-related General Ledger postings and reconciliations
• Ensure integrity of payroll financial reporting and month-end close processes
• Sign off on monthly payroll packs, bonus calculations and payroll-related financial reporting
• Drive risk mitigation and control enhancements across payroll processes
• Ensure strong reconciliation discipline and root cause analysis for discrepancies
• Systems, Transformation & Continuous Improvement
• Own payroll systems strategy (e.g. SAP HR, Payspace or equivalent)
• Lead payroll transformation initiatives including automation, digitization and harmonization across markets
• Drive continuous improvement, efficiency and cost optimization
• Manage system upgrades, statutory configuration changes and vendor performance
• Enhance reporting capabilities and payroll analytics across the Zone
• Employee Experience & Stakeholder Management
• Champion a customer-centric payroll service model
• Drive improvements in payroll service delivery and query resolution
• Engage regularly with Zone and Country People Directors, Finance leaders and external vendors
• Provide monthly payroll statistics and insights to senior leadership
• Ensure payroll supports broader People Services transformation initiatives
• Leadership & Capability Development
• Lead and develop a multi-country payroll team (Direct: 6 | Indirect: 14+)
• Set clear performance objectives, KPIs and service standards
• Build capability and succession within the payroll function
• Drive a culture of accountability, compliance and continuous improvement
• Maintain and evolve SOPs and governance documentation
  
  

Profile & Experience

Education

• BCom Finance, Accounting or related degree (essential)
• Postgraduate qualification or professional certification in Payroll/Tax (advantageous)
  
  

Experience

• 8–12+ years progressive payroll experience, including multi-country payroll management
• Proven experience leading payroll operations across multiple African markets
• Minimum 5+ years senior leadership / people management experience
• Strong exposure to payroll governance, audits and statutory compliance
• Experience operating at executive stakeholder level
  
  

Technical Expertise

• Deep knowledge of payroll legislation across South Africa and Rest of Africa
• Strong understanding of payroll accounting, reconciliations and financial controls
• SAP HR, Payspace or large-scale payroll system experience
• Experience managing payroll vendors in a shared services or regional model
  
  

Key Competencies

• Executive leadership and decision-making
• Strong governance and risk orientation
• Strategic thinking with operational discipline
• High attention to detail and control mindset
• Strong analytical and financial acumen
• Ability to operate in complexity across multiple jurisdictions
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• High integrity and confidentiality