Description
Our Purpose
Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we're helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.
Title and Summary
Manager, Payroll Governance OverviewWe are seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to join our Payroll Governance team. This role will be responsible for the strategic oversight of global payroll vendors, end to end vendor invoice management, and people leadership within the payroll governance function.
The successful candidate will lead a team responsible for vendor service delivery, compliance, and continuous improvement across a multi vendor, multi country payroll environment. This role requires a strong people leader with deep payroll operations knowledge, exceptional vendor management skills, and the ability to drive accountability through data, controls, and partnership.
Role
1. People Leadership & Team Management
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of payroll governance and vendor management professionals.
• Set clear performance expectations, provide regular feedback, and support employee growth and engagement.
• Allocate work across the team to ensure effective coverage of vendor oversight, invoice management, compliance activities, and escalations.
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and strong cross functional collaboration.
2. Vendor Governance & Relationship Management
• Serve as the owner for operational relationships with global and regional payroll vendors
• Establish and maintain vendor governance frameworks, including operating models, escalation paths, and recurring service governance meetings.
• Ensure vendors remain aligned with company standards for service quality, compliance, data security, and employee experience.
3. Service Delivery & Performance Management
• Define and monitor SLAs, KPIs, and performance metrics across the payroll vendor landscape.
• Use performance data to drive accountability, enforce contractual commitments, and improve vendor quality and efficiency.
• Ensure vendor execution of operational and SOX payroll controls, including documentation, evidence retention, and issue remediation.
4. Invoice Management & Financial Oversight
• Own the end to end payroll vendor invoice management process, ensuring timely, accurate review, approval and payment of all invoices.
• Validate vendor invoices against contracts, SLAs, headcount, transaction volumes, and agreed pricing structures.
• Analyze vendor spend, identify cost trends, and recommend opportunities for cost optimization in partnership with regional payroll teams
5. Issue Management & Escalations
• Oversee Tier 2 and Tier 3 payroll issues requiring vendor involvement, ensuring clear ownership, prioritization, and resolution.
• Facilitate collaboration between vendors and regional payroll teams for complex or high risk issues.
• Track trends in vendor related issues and drive corrective actions to reduce repeat escalations.
All About You
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in global payroll operations, vendor management, or payroll governance, including people leadership.
• Demonstrated success leading teams in a complex, multinational environment.
• Strong experience managing payroll vendors, SLAs, escalations, and financial accountability.
• Proven expertise in vendor invoice management, cost validation, and expense control.
• Experience supporting SOX controls, audits, and compliance processes in an outsourced payroll model.
• Advanced Excel and analytical skills with the ability to translate data into insights and action.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills across functions and time zones.
Corporate Security Responsibility
All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:
Abide by Mastercard's security policies and practices;
Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard's guidelines.
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