Role Summary
We're looking for a Senior Executive to lead payroll and HR operations across our Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and Indonesia entities. This is a builder-leader role, you'll design and standardize payroll structures across multiple countries, implement/administer a unified HRIS, and lead compliance across diverse regulatory environments, while managing relationships with local vendors and in-country stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Payroll (Multi-Country)
- Design and implement payroll structures across Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and Indonesia CTC/salary breakups, pay components, bonus/incentive frameworks, and reimbursement policies tailored to each country's norms
- Lead end-to-end monthly payroll processing across all five countries salary computation, deductions, full & final settlements, arrears, and reconciliations
- Ensure statutory compliance across jurisdictions:India: PF, ESI, PT, TDS, gratuity, labour welfare fundMalaysia: EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB (income tax), HRDFSingapore: CPF, IRAS (income tax filing), Skills Development LevyUAE: WPS (Wage Protection System), gratuity/end-of-service benefits, GPSSA (for UAE nationals)Indonesia: BPJS Ketenagakerjaan & Kesehatan, PPh 21 tax, THR (religious holiday allowance)
- Manage relationships with in-country payroll vendors/consultants where local processing is outsourced
- Coordinate with Finance for payroll funding, GL mapping, forex considerations, and multi-entity audits
- Monitor changing labour/tax laws across all five countries and update policies accordingly
HRIS
- Lead selection, implementation, and configuration of a unified HRIS across all countries
- Set up localized workflows for onboarding, attendance, leave, performance, and exit processes per country requirements
- Maintain data integrity across entities, manage system upgrades, and troubleshoot issues
- Build HR dashboards and reports (headcount, attrition, cost-to-company by country) for leadership
- Train regional HR teams and employees on system usage
HR Operations & Leadership
- Own employee lifecycle documentation across jurisdictions (offer letters, contracts, statutory forms, exit formalities) ensuring local legal compliance in each
- Build and maintain HR policies, SOPs, and compliance registers per country
- Lead statutory and internal audits across all entities
- Act as the go-to person for country-specific HR/payroll queries from leadership and employees
- Mentor/guide junior HR or payroll executives as the team scales
- Partner with regional HRBPs and leadership on process standardization and automation
Requirements
- 5-7 years of experience in payroll and HR operations, with proven exposure to multi-country payroll (Southeast Asia and/or Middle East experience strongly preferred)
- At least 1-2 full-cycle HRIS implementations, ideally across multiple entities/countries
- Working knowledge of statutory/labour compliance in Malaysia, Singapore, India, UAE, and/or Indonesia (don't need deep expertise in all five, but demonstrated ability to learn and manage new jurisdictions)
- Experience managing local payroll vendors/consultants in countries where processing is outsourced
- Hands-on experience with payroll software and global/regional HRIS platforms
- Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills strong reconciliation and reporting ability
- Excellent stakeholder management comfortable liaising with leadership, finance, and in-country partners
- High attention to detail and discretion with confidential, cross-border data
Good to Have
- Experience in a startup or scaling company building payroll/HR systems from scratch across new markets
- Exposure to compensation benchmarking across APAC/MEA
- Certification in HR Analytics, Global Payroll, or related field
