payroll lead.

As part of their ongoing strategic growth, they are establishing their Group Leadership Team Hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They offer an elite, fast-paced financial services environment that combines high autonomy, flat hierarchies, and institutional excellence.

about the job
We are seeking a high-caliber Regional Payroll Lead to serve as a high-autonomy Subject Matter Expert (SME) owning payroll operations, vendor governance, and financial integration across an international footprint of 14 countries.

This is a Sole Contributor (IC) position—not a high-volume transactional data-entry role. Because in-country headcounts are lean and high-value, 100% of local payroll calculations and processing are outsourced to tier-1 global vendors. Your primary responsibility is driving global vendor governance, cross-border statutory/tax compliance, and seamless month-end General Ledger (GL) accounting integration with Group Finance.

Key Responsibilities

• Global Vendor Governance: Act as the primary Process Lead holding external vendor partners accountable to strict SLAs, contract terms, accuracy metrics, and regional data security.
• Finance & GL Integration: Partner closely with Group Finance on month-end closures—mapping wage types to internal charts of accounts, conducting variance analysis, and performing balance sheet/payroll clearing account reconciliations.
• Statutory & Tax Oversight: Ensure total multi-country compliance across local tax filings, statutory reporting, and cross-border expatriate tax equalizations (including US W-2/401k, UK PAYE/P60, or APAC local frameworks).
• Process Excellence: Continuously optimize regional payroll workflows, vendor interfaces, and control mechanisms as the firm expands into new global jurisdictions.

Role Details

• Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Work Arrangement: Hybrid model (3 days in office: Tuesday–Thursday / 2 days WFH)
• Scope: Regional coverage across key international growth markets (US, UK, EMEA, ANZ, and APAC)

about the manager/team
You will join the firm’s Group Leadership Team and partner directly with a centralized 20-person Group Finance Division (covering FP&A, Fund Accounting, and Corporate Operations).

• Reporting Line & Visibility: You will report directly to Senior Finance & Operations Leadership with direct visibility to Group Managing Partners and regional operational heads.
• Team Dynamic: The firm operates a lean, highly collaborative, and agile corporate structure. You won't be slowed down by multi-layered corporate red tape; instead, you are empowered to make direct decisions, drive vendor accountability, and own your regional domain end-to-end alongside supportive, highly accomplished peers.