Senior Global Payroll Specialist

At Pleo, we’re on a mission to revolutionise the way businesses manage company spending. No more outdated processes, clunky spreadsheets, or frustrating delays - we believe spend management should be seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike. We’re creating tools that promote autonomy, foster trust, and let businesses focus on what truly matters.

Our culture is built on transparency, collaboration, and a deep commitment to innovation – which is reflected in our spending solution. At Pleo, you’ll join a passionate team shaping the future of work, all while having some fun along the way.

About the role

We're looking for a Senior Payroll Specialist who thrives in a fast-paced, multi-country environment.

Picture this: It's the 25th of the month, and you're juggling payroll runs across five different countries. France needs RTT calculations verified, Spain has a last-minute leaver to process, and Germany just flagged a social security question. Your Papaya dashboard is open in one tab, you're going back and forth with an In-Country Partner in another, and HiBob is refreshing in the background.

If your immediate reaction is "bring it on," this could be the role for you.

We believe in being genuine and transparent, so we'll be direct: Pleo's payroll function is in a high-growth phase. We operate across multiple global markets with strong emphasis within Europe, recently migrated to a new HRIS (HiBob), and are managing the complexity that comes with scaling.

This means you'll be working in an evolving environment where resourcefulness is a core skill and every month can bring new edge cases. The ability to stay grounded and focused is just as important as knowing the difference between gross and net pay.

What you’ll be doing

• Processing multi-country payroll runs with accuracy and on time.
• Managing relationships with In-Country Partners (ICPs) across Pleo's markets, acting as the key point of contact.
• Partnering with our payroll vendor (Papaya) to troubleshoot issues and find practical, creative solutions.
• Navigating local payroll compliance across different countries—think tax codes, social security, and statutory payments.
• Collaborating with People Advisors/Operations, Finance, Mobility, and TechOps to ensure payroll data flows smoothly.
• Ensuring data integrity by auditing, fixing errors, and proactively identifying anomalies before they become payment issues.
• Supporting employees with payroll queries in an empathetic way (because payroll matters, and mistakes impact real people).
• Contributing to process improvements and helping us build a more resilient, scalable payroll operation.

What you bring

You'll thrive in this role if you have:

• Proven multi-country payroll experience, understanding that every market has its own rules and working in a global payroll setup.
• Experience managing relationships with In-Country Partners (ICPs) and external payroll providers.
• Comfort with ambiguity: You can adapt, prioritise, and keep moving forward when plans change.
• Technical aptitude: You're comfortable learning new systems quickly. Experience with Papaya Global and HiBob is a strong advantage.
• A pragmatic approach to detail: You value accuracy (because a decimal point matters in payroll) but also know how to prioritise effectively.
• A problem-solving mindset: You're resourceful and find another way when the system says "no."
• Strong communication skills: You can explain payroll concepts to non-payroll people and collaborate across teams.
• Resilience: You understand that payroll has natural peaks and troughs and can take challenging months in your stride.

Nice to have

• Direct experience with Papaya Global.
• Knowledge of Pleo's key markets: Denmark, UK, Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Portugal.
• Experience working through a payroll system migration or HRIS implementation.
• Exposure to international mobility or working-abroad scenarios.
• Fluency in languages beyond English (Spanish, French, German, Danish, Swedish, or Portuguese).

What you'll get

• A role where you genuinely make an impact—payroll is critical, and you'll feel that.
• A team that values your expertise and treats payroll as a strategic function.
• The opportunity to shape processes and influence how we do payroll at Pleo.
• Collaboration with smart, committed people across the People function.
• Exposure to the full employee lifecycle and how payroll connects to everything.
• The chance to become a true multi-country payroll expert.

Show me the benefits!