Payroll Lead North America

Join Our Ice Cream Team!

Position Title: Ice Cream Payroll Lead – North America
Terms & Conditions: Full time 
Location: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA (Hybrid)

The Ice Cream division at Unilever is preparing to stand on its own, aiming to become an independent, EUR 8.3 billion publicly listed company by the end of 2025. We’re on a mission to create the ultimate snacking company. A place where growth, innovation, founder and ownership mentality, and performance are cultivated and rewarded. And where we craft extraordinary ice cream experiences - transforming ordinary moments into lasting memories. Because we know, life tastes better with ice cream. 

ABOUT THE MAGNUM ICE CREAM COMPANY: 

The Magnum Ice Cream Company is all about growth. Growing our business. Growing our customers’ businesses. Growing our people’s careers. Growth begins with empowerment. So we free our people to be innovative, responsible entrepreneurs, driven and equipped to give our consumers more amazing products and unforgettable moments – and having fun doing it.   

With 19.000 expert ice cream colleagues and iconic brands like Wall’s, Cornetto and Ben & Jerry’s, loved in 76 countries, we are the world’s largest Ice Cream company leading the industry.  We have been taking pleasure seriously for more than 100 years, serving happiness with every lick or scoop of ice cream for generations.   

We are investing to unlock the full growth potential of The Magnum Ice Cream Company as a standalone entity, once we separate from Unilever, which is planned to happen before the end of 2025.   

We dream big but keep things simple to act fast.  

If you want to grow with us, make an impact, and shape the future of Ice Cream, this is the place for you! 

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Payroll Lead to join our Ice Cream division in North America. This role will be instrumental in designing and executing a payroll strategy that supports our transition to becoming a standalone Ice Cream company by November 2025.

As part of this exciting transformation, you’ll lead payroll operations across the USA and Canada, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and seamless integration with our evolving organizational structure. You’ll collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders, including Unilever Payroll, our vendor partners, and the Ice Cream HR team.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll Operations: Lead payroll strategy and execution for North America, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and vendor management.
• Project Leadership: Drive payroll separation projects, ensuring smooth transitions and timely delivery.
• Team Management: Lead and mentor a team of payroll specialists across North America.
• Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure adherence to local tax and labor laws, and proactively mitigate risks.
• Process Optimization: Identify and implement improvements to enhance payroll efficiency and reliability.
• Reporting: Deliver regular updates on payroll performance and project milestones to senior leadership.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with Finance, Legal, Supply Chain, and other workstreams to align payroll plans with broader organizational goals.

What You’ll Bring

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, HR, or related field.
• Experience: 7–10 years in payroll management, preferably within North America.
• Skills:
  • Deep knowledge of North American payroll regulations
  • Strong project and vendor management capabilities
  • Proficiency in payroll systems and Microsoft Office
  • Analytical mindset and attention to detail
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Payroll certification preferred

Leadership Attributes

• Founders’ Mindset: Embrace the opportunity to build something new with creativity and ownership.
• Agile Thinking: Apply design thinking and iterative problem-solving.
• Personal Mastery: Demonstrate emotional intelligence, resilience, and empathy.
• Performance-Driven: Inspire and deliver results with speed and accountability.

Pay: The pay range for this position is $115,680 to $173,520. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.

Bonus: T