Advanced Specialist, Payroll

Job Title: Advanced Specialist, Payroll.

Description: You'll be responsible for end-to-end India payroll operations, ensuring statutory compliance, accuracy, and seamless delivery in a complex multinational environment. This role aligns with Industry titles such as Senior Payroll Specialist, Payroll Subject Matter Expert, or Payroll Operations lead

Role Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Payroll Specialist (SME) to support India. This is a senior individual contributor role that operates in a complex, multinational environment and requires strong professional judgment, independence, and resilience. In addition to payroll delivery, the role serves as a trusted advisor and contributes to payroll optimization and AI-readiness initiatives that support the organization’s future-state strategy.

Why Join Our Team

Our payroll team is evolving into a modern, strategic capability, and that work has been recognized by the broader payroll community. We have received accolades from the Global Payroll Association and have been featured in industry podcasts and publications for our approach to payroll transformation, optimization, and future readiness.

You’ll join a collaborative, globally connected team that is investing in people, processes, and technology, with a clear focus on data quality, automation, and AI readiness. This is a great place to grow your career, expand your payroll expertise, and contribute to a payroll function that is respected both inside and outside the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Payroll Operations

• Own end-to-end payroll operations for India, ensuring compliance with all statutory requirements (e.g., TDS, Provident Fund, ESI, gratuity, professional tax)
• Serve as the primary SME for India payroll, providing guidance on complex regulatory and tax matters
• Lead payroll compliance activities including filings, reconciliations, audits, and year-end reporting (e.g., Form 16)
• Partner with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, and external vendors to resolve issues and interpret regulatory changes
• Proactively monitor and assess legislative updates, translating them into actionable payroll requirements
• Mentor and elevate junior team members, building sustainable SME capability

Trusted Advisor & Stakeholder Partnership

• Act as a trusted payroll advisor to HR, Finance, Tax, and People Operations stakeholders
• Provide clear, practical guidance on payroll impacts, risks, and trade-offs related to business decisions and employee lifecycle events
• Represent payroll confidently in audits, reviews, and cross-functional discussions

Issue Management & Professional Judgment

• Independently identify, assess, and resolve payroll issues, including complex or non-standard scenarios
• Determine when to escalate matters, challenge assumptions, or recommend alternative approaches
• Maintain professionalism and composure in high-pressure or time-sensitive situations

Optimization, AI Readiness & Career Growth

• Contribute to process optimization, documentation, and standardization across payroll operations
• Support initiatives that improve data quality, controls, and consistency, enabling increased automation and analytics
• Engage in continuous learning and development as payroll capabilities evolve, with opportunities to expand scope, expertise, and influence over time

What Success Looks Like

• Payroll is delivered accurately, compliantly, and with stability
• Stakeholders view you as a trusted advisor
• Payroll processes and data are increasingly structured and ready for advanced automation and analytics
• The role holder continues to grow in capability, confidence, and impact within the global payroll organization

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 10+ years extensive, hands-on Indian payroll experience
• Experience supporting payroll operations within a multinational environment
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage complexity
• Experience partnering with external payroll vendors and service delivery models

Key Attributes for Success

• Resilient and composed in complex or high-pressure environments
• Confident, credible communicator with sound professional judgment
• Resourceful and solution-oriented
• Growth-minded, with interest in expanding skills, embracing new technologies, and advancing a payroll career

Who we are:

At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realize the life they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. To learn more: We are Pearson.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing TalentExperienceGlobalTeam@grp.pearson.com.

Job: Operations

Job Family: ENTERPRISE

Organization: Corporate Human Resources

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Workplace Type: Hybrid

Req ID: 24661