Payroll Lead EMEA (9 Months FTC) at Wise

We’re currently hiring for a Regional Payroll Lead EMEA based in London to lead our EMEA Payroll Team. This role reports to the Global Head of Payroll overseeing payroll operations, vendor management, compliance and transformation across all the EMEA region.

You will lead a team of payroll specialists, support the vendor landscape (including CloudPay and Deel), and work closely with People Operations, Reward, Finance and People Technology to ensure payroll is accurate, compliant, efficient and scalable.

You’ll be accountable for transforming the function further — leveraging technology, streamlining processes & driving process improvements, strengthening controls, and preparing Wise’s payroll model for future growth and increasing complexity.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Transformation:

- Support and implement Wise’s global payroll strategy and organisation structure operating model, ensuring it remains fit for purpose as the business grows and evolves

- Lead transformation and automation initiatives to increase efficiency, reduce manual work and enhance data integrity across EMEA

- Partner with People Tech to leverage existing systems and identify new solutions that support scale and colleague experience

Team Leadership and Capability Building:

- Develop a team of Payroll Specialists across EMEA and own projects within the team to offer growth & development opportunities

- Embed a “one team” philosophy, fostering collaboration and consistency while respecting regional requirements

- Drive knowledge sharing and up-skilling across the team to increase capability, resilience and strategic impact

Vendor and Stakeholder Management:

- Vendor management, including performance management, ensuring Service Level Agreements are being met.

- Manage key vendor relationships (CloudPay and Deel) to ensure services meet Wise’s evolving needs and continuously evaluate the landscape to ensure Wise gets value for money

- Work closely with Reward, Finance, Legal, People Operations and regional leadership to align payroll delivery with business priorities.

Operational Excellence and Risk Management:

- Oversee EMEA payroll operations, ensuring accurate, timely and compliant processing across all countries

- Support the strengthening of the control environment, including reconciliations, statutory filings, tax remittance and audit readiness

- Act as escalation point for regional complex and sensitive issues, balancing compliance with colleague-centric outcomes.

Requirements

- Proven regional payroll leader with experience managing large-scale, complex payroll operations

- Track record of enhancing payroll operations through automation, process redesign and team capability building

- Expertise in payroll compliance and controls within regulated environments

- Strong vendor management skills, with experience optimising external partnerships and driving performance to SLAs

- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence at executive level

- Passionate about developing people, embedding better ways of working and creating inclusive, high-performing team

- Pragmatic and solutions-focused, with the ability to balance compliance, efficiency and colleague experience

- Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth and ambiguous environment is essential