Global Payroll Lead

Job Description

At abrdn, our purpose is to enable our clients to be better investors. Clients across the globe trust us to identify future-fit investment opportunities that deliver the outcomes they seek. We empower them with cutting-edge technology and insights, and through our powerful partnerships, we enhance the expertise we provide. By helping clients invest responsibly, we contribute to building a better world.

About the HR Department

abrdn’s Human Resources function, globally led by Tracey Hahn, our Chief People Officer (CPO), positions our culture and talent as a market differentiator. Our HR team plays a key role in creating a meaningful brand experience for colleagues, fostering the right culture, and offering opportunities to attract, retain, and reward a diverse, high-calibre workforce.

About the Role

As the Global Payroll Lead, you will report to the Head of Global Payroll and play a strategic, hands-on role in ensuring the successful planning, execution, and delivery of our global payroll. You will oversee payroll operations across multiple regions, managing compliance, risk, and continuous improvement activities. You will also contribute to maintaining high standards in payroll performance, enhancing controls, and ensuring timely and accurate payments for all colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure business-as-usual payroll operations, meeting regional pay dates for colleagues.
• Engage with stakeholders across geographies to ensure processes, governance, and designs are effective and fit for purpose.
• Monitor payroll data standards, KPIs, and SLAs, driving improvements globally and locally.
• Contribute to developing and enhancing the controls and risk management framework for global payroll processes.
• Ensure compliance with payroll laws and reporting requirements in each deployment country.
• Undertake quality assurance processes to maintain the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of payroll data.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to payroll deployments, escalating issues when necessary.
• Develop and maintain payroll metrics and analytics to provide insights on performance, costs, and trends.
• Authorise payroll-related payments and balance sheet funding movements as per approval matrices.
• Operate in line with service governance requirements, ensuring adequate documentation for continuous payroll delivery.
• Ensure full compliance with regulatory requirements, internal policies, and risk management frameworks.

About the Candidate

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

• Experience working in a global organisation, with financial services experience preferred.
• Proven experience in global payroll, managing payroll across multiple countries and regions.
• Expertise with HR tools and technology such as Workday and HR analytics tools.
• Proven experience with Workday Payroll, particularly for UK payroll operations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with high attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders at all levels.
• Subject matter expertise in global payroll processing and best practices.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone. If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.