Project Manager Payroll Domain

Job Description:

Role Summary
The Project Manager (Payroll Domain) is responsible for planning executing and delivering payroll-related projects - including payroll system implementations vendor transitions country/entity roll-outs statutory compliance changes and process improvement initiatives. The role ensures projects are delivered on time within budget and in compliance with statutory and audit requirements while coordinating across HR Finance IT vendors and operations teams.

Key Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end delivery of payroll projects - implementations migrations upgrades transitions and process transformations - from initiation through closure.
Define project scope objectives deliverables milestones and success criteria in alignment with stakeholders.
Develop and maintain detailed project plans schedules budgets RAID logs (Risks Assumptions Issues Dependencies) and resource plans.
Coordinate cross-functional teams across Payroll Operations HR Finance IT compliance and external vendors/system integrators.
Manage payroll system implementations and configurations (e.g. ADP Workday SAP SuccessFactors Ramco Keka or similar) including requirements gathering UAT parallel runs and go-live.
Ensure statutory and regulatory compliance is built into project deliverables (tax PF ESI social security multi-country labor laws).
Track project progress manage scope changes and proactively identify and mitigate risks and dependencies.
Plan and execute payroll parallel runs data migration validation and cutover activities with zero-error tolerance.
Manage stakeholder communication - status reports steering committee updates and escalation management.
Oversee change management training and knowledge transfer for impacted payroll teams and end users.
Manage vendor relationships SOWs deliverables and SLAs.
Conduct post-implementation reviews capture lessons learned and ensure smooth transition to BAU (Business as Usual).
Maintain project documentation and support internal/external audits.
Required Qualifications & Skills
Bachelors degree in Business Finance HR Information Technology or a related field.
5 8 years of project management experience with at least 2 3 years managing payroll HR or finance-domain projects.
Strong understanding of payroll processes statutory compliance and end-to-end payroll lifecycle.
Hands-on experience delivering payroll/HRIS implementation or transition projects.
Proficiency in project management tools (MS Project Jira Smartsheet Azure DevOps or similar) and MS Excel.
Solid grasp of project management methodologies (Waterfall Agile or Hybrid).
Excellent stakeholder management communication and risk-management skills.
High attention to detail with the ability to manage accuracy-critical deadline-driven deliverables.
Preferred / Good to Have
Project management certification (PMP PRINCE2 or PMI-ACP / CSM for Agile).
Experience with multi-country / multi-state payroll roll-outs and transitions.
Exposure to payroll automation shared services or managed payroll services.
Familiarity with data privacy and compliance frameworks (GDPR local tax/labor laws).
Vendor/SI management experience.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
On-time and on-budget project delivery
Payroll go-live accuracy (error-free parallel runs and cutover)
Statutory and audit compliance of delivered projects
Stakeholder satisfaction / CSAT
Scope and risk management effectiveness (minimal slippage / escalations)
Successful transition to BAU and adoption rates