Payroll Manager 1UL Africa & Expat Payroll

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

We are looking for an experienced and dynamic Payroll Manager to oversees our payroll operations. This role is multifaceted, combining expertise in payroll management, compliance, process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration across Africa region and global expat payroll.

The role will be a dual role between leading the regional operations and to support the transformation and continuous improvement agenda.  

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• Manage end-to-end payroll processes, ensuring timely and accurate payroll processing for all employees in compliance with the local markets and in internal policies.

• Proven experience in managing expatriate payroll activities, including those associated with shadow payroll, tax equalization, reconcile local payroll files and finance reconciliation.

• Stakeholder Management: Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to address payroll-related inquiries and issues. Build strong relationships with HR, Finance, Global Mobility, Equity and other departments.

• Working in conjunction with the key COE members (Center of Expertise team) in term of key activities such as Vendor Management, continuous improvement, development and implementation of policies, procedures and maintain payroll policies.

• Ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

• Ensures (through relevant audits and reporting) that the payroll systems, processes, policies and tools are compliant with Unilever's internal-process standards and external regulatory requirements.

• Generate and analyze payroll reports to provide insights and support decision-making. Identify trends and areas for improvement.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of payroll professionals to achieve operational excellence and career growth.

• Develop and oversee activities/plans required to mitigate/prevent country exposure to both internal and external risk.

• Shares internal and external knowledge and best practices amongst the members of the PEX Leadership and Payroll expertise team

Key requirements & experiences

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in payroll operations specially in South Africa and Global Expat payroll operations (e.g. Payroll shadow).

• Additional Africa countries experience is desirable, with at least 2 years in a management role.

• Experience in “in-house” E2E operations.

• Proven experience in managing multi-countries and cross-functional stakeholders and payroll vendors.

• In-depth understanding of SOX controls and compliance requirements.

Skills:

• Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail.

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to handle confidential information with integrity.

• Ability to work under pressure and in a complex global environment.

• Able to create and drive adoption and execution of a shared vision and strategy for change.

• Speaking English fluent professional. Strong verbal and written communication skills, including creation and delivery of effective presentations. Speaking local language or French will be a “plus”

• High financial and business acumen.

• Strong in selling ideas and concepts.

• Inspiring, motivational, and accountable people leader, able to lead remote and cross-cultural teams and connect people and ideas.

• Flexibility and agile mindset.

Leadership

• You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team deliver with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.

• You are still responsible for your own results and as a manager, you also need to motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate around you. You can balance challenge with support and coaching. You understand the wider business context and you are emotionally intelligent enough to motivate people to deliver what is needed.

• Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors

  • PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.

  • PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.

  • TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.

  • PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.

  • CONSUMER LOVE: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.

  • BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

Unilever es una organización comprometida con la equidad, la inclusión y la diversidad para impulsar los resultados de nuestro negocio y crear un futuro mejor, cada día, para nuestros diversos empleados, consumidores globales, socios y comunidades. Creemos que una fuerza laboral diversa nos permite igualar nuestras ambiciones de crecimiento e impulsar la inclusión en todo el negocio. ¡En Unilever estamos interesados en que cada individuo traiga su 'Whole Self' al trabajo y esto te incluye a ti! Por lo tanto, si necesita algún requisito de soporte o acceso, le recomendamos que nos avise en el momento de su solicitud para que podamos apoyarle a través de su viaje de reclutamiento.