Payroll & HR Ops (Lead), Regional

Role Summary We're looking for a Senior Executive to lead payroll and HR operations across our Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and Indonesia entities. This is a builder-leader role, you'll design and standardize payroll structures across multiple countries, implement/administer a unified HRIS, and lead compliance across diverse regulatory environments, while managing relationships with local vendors and in-country stakeholders. Key Responsibilities Payroll (Multi-Country) Design and implement payroll structures across Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and Indonesia CTC/salary breakups, pay components, bonus/incentive frameworks, and reimbursement policies tailored to each country's norms Lead end-to-end monthly payroll processing across all five countries salary computation, deductions, full & final settlements, arrears, and reconciliations Ensure statutory compliance across jurisdictions: India: PF, ESI, PT, TDS, gratuity, labour welfare fund Malaysia: EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB (income tax), HRDF Singapore: CPF, IRAS (income tax filing), Skills Development Levy UAE: WPS (Wage Protection System), gratuity/end-of-service benefits, GPSSA (for UAE nationals) Indonesia: BPJS Ketenagakerjaan & Kesehatan, PPh 21 tax, THR (religious holiday allowance) Manage relationships with in-country payroll vendors/consultants where local processing is outsourced Coordinate with Finance for payroll funding, GL mapping, forex considerations, and multi-entity audits Monitor changing labour/tax laws across all five countries and update policies accordingly HRIS Lead selection, implementation, and configuration of a unified HRIS across all countries Set up localized workflows for onboarding, attendance, leave, performance, and exit processes per country requirements Maintain data integrity across entities, manage system upgrades, and troubleshoot issues Build HR dashboards and reports (headcount, attrition, cost-to-company by country) for leadership Train regional HR teams and employees on system usage HR Operations & Leadership Own employee lifecycle documentation across jurisdictions (offer letters, contracts, statutory forms, exit formalities) ensuring local legal compliance in each Build and maintain HR policies, SOPs, and compliance registers per country Lead statutory and internal audits across all entities Act as the go-to person for country-specific HR/payroll queries from leadership and employees Mentor/guide junior HR or payroll executives as the team scales Partner with regional HRBPs and leadership on process standardization and automation Requirements 5–7 years of experience in payroll and HR operations, with proven exposure to multi-country payroll (Southeast Asia and/or Middle East experience strongly preferred) At least 1–2 full-cycle HRIS implementations, ideally across multiple entities/countries Working knowledge of statutory/labour compliance in Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and/or Indonesia (don't need deep expertise in all five, but demonstrated ability to learn and manage new jurisdictions) Experience managing local payroll vendors/consultants in countries where processing is outsourced Hands-on experience with payroll software and global/regional HRIS platforms Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills; strong reconciliation and reporting ability Excellent stakeholder management comfortable liaising with leadership, finance, and in-country partners High attention to detail and discretion with confidential, cross-border data Good to Have Experience in a startup or scaling company building payroll/HR systems from scratch across new markets Exposure to compensation benchmarking across APAC/MEA Certification in HR Analytics, Global Payroll, or related field