Director, Global Payroll

With millions of diners, 60,000 restaurant partners and 25+ years of experience, OpenTable, part of Booking Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), is an industry leader with a passion for helping restaurants thrive. Our world-class technology empowers restaurants to focus on what matters most – their team, their guests, and their bottom line – while enabling diners to discover and book the perfect restaurant for every occasion. 

Every employee at OpenTable has a tangible impact on what we do and how we do it. You’ll also be part of a global team that includes our sister brand, KAYAK and its portfolio of global metasearch brands. Hospitality is all about taking care of others, and it defines our culture.

About this role:

Reporting to the VP, Controllership, the Director of Global Payroll is a pivotal leadership role, accountable for the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of global payroll operations across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions for OpenTable. You champion payroll business processes, ensure unwavering compliance, forge strong partnerships with stakeholders, and demonstrate the latest payroll technology to optimize efficiency and accuracy. Your exceptional leadership skills will guide a distributed team of payroll professionals, ensuring they consistently deliver outstanding results. 

In this role, you will:

• Strategic Leadership and Governance: Design, deploy, and govern the global payroll operating model, setting a vision, driving alignment and prioritization across regions, and establishing service standards and a robust key control environment.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee the end-to-end execution of compliant global payroll operations, both in-house and outsourced, aligning with established People & Culture standards. Drive the development and reporting of global payroll critical metrics. Serve as subject matter expert for global mobility arrangements. 
• Distributed Team Development: Coach, develop and mentor a globally distributed team of payroll professionals. Build a culture of growth  and continuous professional development.
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal partners (Corporate Equity, Accounting, FP&A, Tax, People & Culture, Benefits, Risk and Controls, etc.), external vendors, and global payroll teams. Serve as the primary global point of contact for the end-to-end payroll process.
• Process Optimization and Continuous Improvement: Identify, recommend, and implement enhancements to payroll processes, systems, and analytical capabilities, streamlining operations for greater efficiency.
• Compliance: Maintain in-depth knowledge of global regulations, benefits changes, and labor laws impacting payroll across the travel and hospitality sectors. Ensure local, state, federal, and international payroll tax jurisdictions are adhered to.
• System Leadership and Change Management: Serve as subject matter expert for payroll software (ADP and CloudPay) and HRIS (Workday); lead system implementations and optimisation projects. Translate systems and business needs into functional plans. 
• Internal Control: Develop, maintain, and rigorously assess internal controls for payroll processes and payroll software systems. Ensure adherence to SOX narratives, controls, and SOC-1 audit objectives.

Please apply if: 

• Minimum 15+ years of progressive payroll management experience in a public, global corporation.
• Proven experience managing a large, multi-country payroll provider.
• At least 5+ years of management experience, leading and developing impactful teams.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Business, Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise with payroll platforms, ideally including ADP, CloudPay and Workday.
• Experience navigating payroll complexities within fast-paced, consumer-oriented tech environments.
• A strong collaborative approach and proven ability to build effective cross-functional relationships.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, with the ability to present findings to management in an accurate, clear and concise manner.

Benefits and Perks

• Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year

• Focus on mental health and well-being:

  • Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth

  • Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace

  • Annual company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!)

• Paid parental le