Senior Payroll Specialist

September 20, 2024

EY

Durban

Assistant Manager Payroll

Our National Tax practice is made up of teams of professionals providing specific tax technical services to African and global clients. The Payroll Operate team operates in a technical environment with deep process and service delivery experience that distinguishes EY in the marketplace.

The opportunity
Our market-leading approach combines extensive local payroll service experience with a standard global payroll compliance and implementation methodology. With engagements involving a few countries or many, you will have the opportunity to provide clients an integrated, consistent, quality service that unlocks the potential of the payroll function across the entire process.

Your key responsibilities:

Provide timely and high-quality payroll support, project management, governance and service management services and work products that exceed client expectations, including regular contact with EY global payroll teams to verify that payroll services are delivered on time and accurately.
Support on the review and resolution of client requests and queries on portfolio, including technical queries.
Liase with the offshore and Africa teams as relevant to deliver on client payrolls.
Be responsible for accurate and timely service delivery of payroll for our clients.
Respond to payroll and governance payroll queries from clients and internal global stakeholders.
Develop the client payroll calendar detailing all payroll delivery activities and dates; support the collection of client data and work with global EY teams to confirm receipt and set up OGM.
Manage the creation and updates of payroll processes/procedure documentation for all clients and audit annually.
Work with teams to correct as relevant, including working with and training offshore teams on payroll processes.
Support in all activities within Payroll Operate that include sales and service opportunities under the direction of a senior manager or manager in the group.

As an Assistant Manager in Payroll Operate you will help supervise the design, implementation and operation of global multi-country payroll operate services for our small clients. Capabilities include:

Implementation of centrally managed global outsourcing model, leveraging the global payroll tools to provide clients with greater control, visibility and compliance for their global payroll;
Governance of payroll operations with ability to lead the global country teams utilizing one global methodology to track the end-to-end process, and provide governance throughout our client life cycle to mitigate risk, increase corporate transparency, increase compliance, ensure leveraging of key data insights and provide clients with additional product offerings;
Working, directing and resolving questions, identifying service opportunities with internal EY serving Africa and global teams;
Build on technical competence by keeping up to date on global trends, developments and regulations and applying them to moderately complex situations and undertaking non-routine, complex project-type work as requested by clients;
Exhibit competency in technology by maintaining complex sets of data, reviewing data analytics and analyzing trends, including the collection of data per agreed-upon payroll calendars and other requirements;
Ensure the payroll processes and procedures documentation is relevant, up to date and used at all times;
Manage payroll projects as assigned (including new client transitions) which will require ownership, project management, recommendations, solutions, root cause analysis, SLAs and metrics, decisions and resolution including the escalation of client and internal country issues;
Identifying potential opportunities to expand client services (within payroll and in other SLs) based on current offerings and client feedback;
Should be a subject matter expert in understanding the payroll rules and legislations in a multi-country environment and being up to date with current payroll knowledge and legislation.
Good understanding of the Technology enablers within EY to support on innovation and continuous improvement within the practice;
Responsible for ISAE3402, billings and payments, BRET and third party contractor management, pipeline management, debtors responsibility;
Initiation and completion of the ASQs and QRM process with support from senior manager group as relevant.

Skills and attributes for success:

Strong payroll processing background;
Experience with South African/African payroll processing;
Managing a wide variety of team members per client engagement;
Be involved in identifying team structure for complex projects/engagements;
Act as coach for team members as requested;
Strong analytical skills, interpersonal, and written/verbal communication skills; problem-solving ability and attention to detail;
Project management skills;
Up to date with current payroll knowledge and legislation; and
Excellent communication, presentation and client service skills.

To qualify for the role, you should have:

Bachelor’s degree/equivalent diploma preferably with an emphasis in accounting, business or finance (This is preferable, not a mandatory requirement)
7+ years of relevant payroll and/or tax experience or equivalent experience in business or industry preferable.
Strong numbers acumen, including analytical abilities and knowledge of Excel, Word and Power Point.
Excellent organizational and verbal/written communication skills with a proactive approach to problem solving and attention to detail.
Create components on existing payroll systems and configure the formulas and tax & related statutory deductions correctly, aligned to specific country legislature
Ability to manually calculate taxes and other statutory deductions outside the payroll system applying the tax tables for African countries
Client-facing exposure in a payroll role.
Project management experience with global or multi-national payroll.