Payroll Specialist

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Payroll Specialist to take ownership of the accurate, timely and fully compliant delivery of payroll in India, and to act as a second pair of hands across our Asia-Pacific and Middle East payrolls. Reporting to the UK-based Head of Payroll and working day to day alongside the Senior Payroll Specialist in the UK, you will be the resident subject-matter expert on Indian payroll legislation and statutory obligations within a global, follow-the-sun payroll team.

India payroll is delivered through a managed-service provider. Your role is not to key transactions into a system: it is to own the inputs, interrogate the outputs, hold the vendor to account, evidence the controls and stand behind every number that reaches employees, the regulator and the general ledger. This is a regulated financial services environment where confidentiality, accuracy and a demonstrable audit trail are non-negotiable.

Key responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end monthly India payroll cycle — calendar, cut-offs, inputs, validation, approval, funding, disbursement and post-payroll reconciliation.
• Prepare, validate and submit payroll inputs covering new hires, leavers, transfers, promotions, salary revisions, variable pay, bonuses, allowances, reimbursements, loans, advances and recoveries.
• Review the vendor’s gross-to-net output in detail; investigate and resolve every variance against prior period before sign-off, rather than relying on vendor assurance.
• Manage full and final settlements for leavers, including notice pay, leave encashment, gratuity, recovery of advances and correct tax treatment.
• Own the annual cycle: investment declarations and proof verification, Form 16 issuance, Form 24Q filings, perquisite valuation, and the transition between the old and new tax regimes.
• Maintain the payroll calendar and ensure all statutory and internal deadlines are met without exception.
• You will be expected to operate independently on all of the following, and to be the person the wider team turns to when a question of Indian payroll law arises:
• Provident Fund (EPF/EPS/EDLI): contribution calculation, wage-ceiling application, international worker rules, UAN management, monthly ECR filing,
• National Pension System (NPS): corporate NPS administration, employer and employee contribution handling, PRAN management and the associated tax deductions and exemptions.
• Income tax and state-level taxes: TDS computation and deposit, quarterly eTDS returns, Labour Welfare Fund, and state-specific obligations across every state in which the entity employs staff.
• Professional Tax: registration, slab application and remittance across multiple states, with awareness that rates, slabs and due dates differ by state and change frequently.
• ESI and Gratuity: eligibility assessment, contribution and accrual, and coordination with Finance on provisioning.
• Labour Codes: tracking the phased implementation of the four Labour Codes and associated central and state rules, modelling the impact of the wage-definition changes on statutory costs, and preparing the payroll for each change.
• Administer maternity benefit in line with the Maternity Benefit Act — eligibility, 26-week paid entitlement, adoption and commissioning-mother provisions, ESI interaction and correct payroll treatment throughout the leave period.
• Administer paternity, sickness, casual, earned and other statutory and company leave, including accrual, carry-forward, encashment and unpaid-leave recoveries.
• Process sickness absence and long-term absence cases, including any ESI cash-benefit interaction, and ensure returns to work are reflected accurately and promptly in pay.
• Act as a sensitive and discreet point of contact for employees on leave-related pay queries, working closely with HR Business Partners on complex or confidential cases.
• Provide preparation, checking and review support for the Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and UAE payrolls, working to the standards set by the Head of Payroll and the UK Senior Payroll Specialist.
• Build working knowledge of the local statutory frameworks in Singapore;  Hong Kong; Japan; and in the UAE.
• Provide holiday, peak-period and absence cover for regional payrolls, offering genuine resilience rather than nominal back-up.
• Support in-country vendors and advisers with input preparation, query resolution and validation of statutory outputs.
• Manage the day-to-day relationship with the India payroll provider: service levels, issue escalation, root-cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Operate and evidence the payroll control framework — maker-checker, reconciliations, approval thresholds, segregation of duties and change control — to a standard that withstands internal audit and regulator

India payroll delivery

India statutory compliance

Sickness, maternity and absence

Regional support — Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and the UAE

Vendor, controls and governance