Senior Payroll Specialist

Job description

We’re currently hiring for a Senior Payroll Specialist based in São Paulo to join our global Payroll Team. As Wise continues to expand its global footprint—both by entering new regional locations and rapidly increasing headcount within existing entities—our payroll complexity is growing. To safeguard compliance, protect employee experience, and scale efficiently, we are looking for a payroll superstar with a keen eye for accuracy, attention to detail, and a desire to share your expertise.

In this role, you will act as a critical operational anchor, helping to manage increased vendor complexity and mitigate heightened audit and legislative risks. By owning these foundational components, you will allow our leadership team to focus on macro-level expansion strategy. Reporting to the AMER Payroll Lead, you’ll bring a strong understanding of North American and Latin American Payroll alongside international payroll experience, ensuring the accurate, effective, and timely processing of multiple countries each pay period.

Wise has already pioneered new ways for people to transfer money across borders and currencies. Our customers can also manage their hard-earned money with the world’s first platform to offer true multi-currency banking. We’re 5000+ Wisers strong, with over 90 nationalities working in 25+ locations around the globe! We’re looking for a professional who lives our values, will help grow our culture, and drive our mission forward.

Your Mission This exciting role joins a team responsible for overall global payroll, including process, compliance, audit, and reconciliation across multiple countries. To safeguard our scaling operations, you will manage increased vendor complexity, mitigate heightened audit and legislative risks, and act as an operational anchor to allow the Payroll Lead to focus on macro-level expansion strategy.

The Specifics Team Governance & Operations Operational Oversight

Help manage the regional payroll team, enforce strict payroll cutoffs, and serve as the final approval authority for standard pay runs.

Leadership Back-up

Serve as the designated regional lead and approval authority when the Payroll Lead is out of office.

Cross-Functional Gatekeeping

Act as the primary point of contact for Tax, Finance, and People Operations (POps), ensuring clear boundaries and deflecting out-of-scope work to protect team capacity.

Vendor & SLA Management Partner Accountability

Track Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and monitor the operational performance of key regional payroll partners (including Deel, CloudPay, RSM, and OSV).

Vendor Execution

Partner to develop robust and detailed processes to ensure execution of payroll in an accurate, effective, efficient, and timely manner. Audit, Risk, & Quality Assurance Audit Ownership: Lead and manage comprehensive audit walkthroughs with both internal and external audit teams.

Risk Mitigation

Proactively monitor and manage logged risk items to ensure swift resolution and compliance.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Apply advanced problem-solving skills to identify, analyze, and resolve payroll discrepancies or process bottlenecks at their root. Core Processing & Stakeholder Collaboration Prepare, double-check, cross-check, review, and analyze payrolls according to established deadlines. Manage first- and second-line queries from employees, other teams, and external providers, ensuring that SLAs are met and issues are resolved efficiently.

Build strong, trust-based relationships with internal and external stakeholders through clear, transparent, and timely communication. Contribute to and lead payroll-related projects, such as system implementations, process automation, and regional expansions.

Compliance, Financials, & Reporting Legislative Tracking

Monitor and track regional legislation updates impacting Wise, ensuring all changes are successfully implemented through to production.

Regulatory Alignment

Ensure compliance across all locations globally, including International, Federal, State, and local payroll tax laws while meeting applicable timelines and responding to regulatory agency inquiries.

Financial Outputs

Maintain responsibility for outputs of your payrolls, such as payroll journals, GL files, historical payroll documentation, and ad-hoc reporting. Your Challenges We’re evolving our payroll model – you’ll have the chance to bring your brainpower and prior experience to help us build an outstanding payroll team as we continue to grow and scale. You’ll assist in creating efficiencies in our current ways of working and/or develop new ways while we implement payroll processing using our new global system.

Qualifications

Experience

Prior in-house payroll processing experience of at least 3+ years in a high-growth, product or tech-led company (helping you navigate ambiguity, shifting priorities, and innovative problem-solving).

System Expertise

3 to 5 years of hands-on experience with global payroll systeml, including running payroll cycles, handling payroll audits/reconciliations, troubleshooting system issues, and supporting Workday payroll implementations/upgrades.

Scope

Experience with Latam and North America payrolls Skills: Advanced tech skills—particularly with Excel (pivot tables, charts, formulas, etc.)—and high proficiency in using modern payroll software.

Communication

Fluent in English, both written and verbal.

Nice to Haves

Ideally, a professional payroll certification to demonstrate your expertise within the field. Additional education such as a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent years of experience. Have worked with Workday Payroll.