Global Jobs in Berkeley, CA

Job Title: Leader of Global Payroll

The Leader of Global Payroll provides leadership for global compliance for payroll and time, payroll and time transformation, vendor governance, employee experience, and leveraging AI/automation to improve efficiency and control effectiveness.

This role ensures accurate, compliant, and efficient payroll processing across multiple regions while driving payroll transformation, automation, system modernization, risk management, and employee experience initiatives.

The leader partners closely with Human Resources, Finance, Accounting, Tax, Legal, Treasury, Internal Audit, IT, Global Mobility, Business, and third-party payroll providers to ensure payroll operations support Qualcomm's business objectives and regulatory obligations worldwide. This position is accountable for payroll governance, statutory compliance, internal controls, payroll technology strategy, vendor management, employee payment accuracy, and global reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Global Payroll Operations

Responsible for strategic and operational leadership of global payroll operations supporting a multi-billion-dollar annual payroll program, including governance of payroll processes supporting 50K+ employees across more than 30 countries and multiple legal entities

Organizational Leadership

• Provide leadership for global payroll teams located in the United States, India, China, Germany, and additional EMEA and APAC regional locations.
• Develop organizational capability, resource planning, and leadership development within payroll.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, innovation, collaboration, and customer service excellence across global payroll operations.

Systems and Technology Governance

• Provide strategy, implementation, governance, and optimization of global payroll and workforce management technologies, including ADP GlobalView and Celergo payroll platforms, Qtime (Infor) time and attendance platform, and related interfaces.
• Lead Global Payroll automation initiatives, system integration, digital and organization transformation projects
• Development of AI-driven solutions, intelligent automation, and advanced analytics to enhance payroll accuracy, efficiency, compliance, and employee experience
• Partner with HR, HRIS, IT, business leaders, and external vendors to optimize payroll and workforce systems, strengthen controls, improve data quality, ensure compliance with labor regulations and policy changes, and deliver technology enhancements that improve operational efficiency and employee experience

Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure operational compliance with federal, state, provincial, local, and international payroll regulations.
• Manage compliance with SOX requirements and key financial controls.
• Direct and support global payroll team with audits, reporting and risk assessments.

Vendor and Stakeholder Management

• Manage relationships with ADP and other payroll service providers, including negotiation of contracts, service-level agreements, and pricing structures.
• Oversee vendor performance, governance reviews, global payroll scorecards and operational escalations.
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, IT, and business leaders to drive business-critical initiatives, resolve complex operational escalations, and support enterprise-wide transformation programs.

Transformation and Continuous Improvement

• Direct payroll workstreams for mergers, acquisitions, and global expansions.
• Lead global payroll modernization initiatives, including ADP GlobalView and Celergo deployments.
• Drive process standardization, simplification, and automation across regions.

Payroll Accounting and Financial Reporting

• Partner with Finance and Accounting to ensure accurate payroll-related financial reporting.
• Support cost forecasting, budgeting, and payroll expense analysis.

Job Requirements

Education

• Bachelor's degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resources, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Global Payroll Management Institute (GPMI), or other relevant payroll certifications preferred.

Experience

• 12+ years of progressive experience in payroll operations, including extensive multinational payroll leadership responsibilities for 25,000+ employees
• 7+ years of leadership experience managing global payroll teams, managers, and outsourced payroll providers.
• Demonstrated experience leading payroll operations in complex multinational organizations supporting multiple countries, legal entities, and regulatory environments.
• Proven experience managing large-scale payroll transformation, system implementation, and process optimization initiatives.
• Experience overseeing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and organizational integrations from a payroll perspective preferred.

Technical Expertise

• Deep knowledge of global payroll operations, payroll accounting, statutory reporting, payroll taxation, labor regulations, equity, time and attendance and compliance requirements.
• Advanced experience with enterprise payroll platforms, including ADP GlobalView, ADP Celergo, and Workday/ERP integrations.
• Strong understanding of SOX controls, audit requirements, risk management, and internal control frameworks.
• Experience leveraging automation, AI, analytics, and digital technologies to improve operational effectiveness and scalability.
• Strong financial acumen with experience supporting payroll accounting, reconciliations, budgeting, and compliance reporting.

Leadership Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to influence and deliver outcomes across a complex matrix organization through strong collaboration, communication, and stakeholder management.
• Exceptional leadership, organizational, and people-development capabilities.
• Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across executive leadership, business stakeholders, vendors, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex operational issues, business-critical escalations, and competing priorities in a fast-paced global environment.
• Excellent executive communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and change leadership skills.
• Demonstrated ability to support and collaborate with stakeholders across the Americas, EMEA, APAC and India providing responsive leadership and operational support across multiple time zones to meet critical business objectives.

Travel

• Ability to travel up to ~20% (domestic/international) as required to support strategic initiatives, vendor governance, and global payroll operations.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree. 9+ years of Finance, Accounting, or related work experience.*Completed advanced degrees in a relevant field may be substituted for up to two years (Master's = one year, Doctorate = two years) of work experience.