Regional HR & Payroll Specialist

About the Role

The Regional HR & Payroll Specialist is a key member of the APAC and Middle East People & Culture Shared Services team. The role is responsible for regional HR and payroll operations across assigned countries, focusing primarily on Saudi Arabia. This position manages end-to-end payroll activities, ensuring statutory compliance and payroll governance, while providing designated Employee Services and Data Management support across the region. The specialist collaborates closely with stakeholders, HR Business Partners, Centers of Excellence, GBS teams, Finance, and external vendors to deliver accurate, timely, and compliant services, strengthen governance, and support HR & payroll-related projects, system changes, and process improvements within the Shared Services organization. The expected role allocation is approximately 70% Payroll and 30% Employee Services and Data Management.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end payroll processing for Saudi Arabia and other assigned APAC & Middle East countries via internal payroll systems or external vendors.
• Ensure payroll operations comply with statutory requirements, including local labour laws, tax regulations, social security, company policies, and internal controls.
• Complete monthly, quarterly, and annual statutory filings accurately and on time according to each country’s legislation.
• Partner with the Mobility team and external tax agencies on expatriate/inpatriate tax computations and filings.
• Prepare payroll reports for accounting/GL, finance payment requests, and all mandatory statutory requirements.
• Coordinate with GBS Employee Services and Data Management teams on standardized employee lifecycle transactions, system updates, and document administration, ensuring effective handoffs and timely resolution of country-specific requirements.
• Ensure employee data accuracy, integrity, and timeliness in HR systems, maintaining and upkeeping employee files.
• Support onboarding, employee changes, leave, benefits, and exit activities where local or regional HR Operations involvement is required.
• Provide country-specific HR Operations support across assigned countries, including Arabic correspondence, bank letters, GOSI coordination, and other statutory or regulatory activities for Saudi Arabia, along with equivalent local requirements for other assigned countries.
• Support internal and external audits by preparing documentation and responding to audit queries.
• Maintain strict confidentiality and protect sensitive payroll data at all times.
• Collaborate closely with external payroll vendors to ensure service quality, accuracy, and compliance.
• Provide payroll and HR shared service operations expertise to Centers of Excellence (CoEs), HR Business Partners (HRBPs), and internal stakeholders.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships with stakeholders as a trusted HR Ops & payroll partner.
• Support process improvement initiatives to streamline HR and payroll operations, enhance efficiency, and standardize best practices.
• Address HR and payroll-related queries or discrepancies via the ticketing system promptly and professionally, ensuring resolution within defined SLAs.
• Maintain accurate employee and payroll records, statutory documentation, SOPs, and Work Instructions; ensure all documentation is accurate, current, and audit-ready.

Project & Change Management

• Support HR and payroll transformation initiatives by providing country-specific payroll and HR process expertise.
• Lead or participate in system migrations and implementations, including UAT, testing, documentation, and Go-Live support.
• Communicate HR and payroll-related changes clearly to stakeholders and employees.

You are meant for this job if:

• You hold a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Finance, Business Administration, or related fields.
• You have a minimum of 2 years of Payroll management experience (multi-countries in APAC & ME), with strong Saudi Arabia payroll expertise.
• You have experience working in a shared services environment and managing external payroll vendors.
• You possess strong attention to detail, process discipline, and analytical/numerical skills.
• You have a customer-focused, collaborative nature and can work independently with a high sense of ownership.
• You exhibit effective time management skills and can manage multiple tasks under tight deadlines.
• You have strong communication skills in English.
• Experience with SAP SuccessFactors or ADP Workforce Time system is a plus.