Junior Manager – Global Payroll Operations

Job Description :
About the Function:
Global Business Operations keeps our business moving, connecting markets, streamlining processes and keeping everything running smoothly at scale.
With teams across Bangalore, Budapest, Bogotá, Gurugram, and Manila, GBO delivers the essential services that support our day-to-day performance, from finance to operations and beyond. It’s a truly global environment, where collaboration across time zones and cultures is part of everyday life.
You’ll gain exposure to different markets, build skills for the future and develop a broad understanding of how a business operates at scale. It’s a phenomenal place to learn, grow and see the bigger picture.
About the role:
Diageo Global Business Service (GBS) delivers standardized, compliant, and efficient payroll services that support Diageo's Performance Ambition. Within the Product People Experience Tower, the Payroll Operations team is responsible for delivering accurate, timely, and compliant payroll services while providing an excellent employee experience and maintaining strong governance and operational controls.
The Junior Manager – Global Payroll Operations, Process Improvement & Automation will primarily focus on improving and simplifying payroll processes across GBS and Non-GBS payroll operations, finding opportunities for automation, reducing manual activities and embedding consistent global ways of working. The role will work closely with Payroll Operations teams, Payroll Specialists, vendors, HR, Finance and Technology teams to understand operational challenges and translate them into sustainable process improvements.
To ensure improvements remain grounded in operational reality, the role will also provide hands-on support to payroll operations and perform Maker and Checker activities for payroll processing when required, including payroll inputs, outputs, reconciliations, payments and reporting. The role will additionally support payroll transformation and change initiatives through As-Is assessment, To-Be process redesign, testing and implementation.
Dimensions:
a) Financial -
Support accurate and timely payroll payments by ensuring appropriate processes, reviews and controls are operating optimally.
Review payroll reporting, reconciliations, payment processes and significant variances where required.
Identify process gaps or control weaknesses that could result in payroll errors, financial exposure or employee impact.
Support simplification and automation opportunities that improve productivity and reduce manual effort.
Ensure process changes maintain appropriate financial controls and segregation of duties.
b) Countries Complexity -
· Support payroll operations across multiple GBS and Non-GBS markets, each with different payroll providers, systems, processes and statutory requirements.
· Coordinate changes that may impact multiple markets, payroll systems, integrations, controls or vendors.
· Balance global standardisation with legitimate local statutory and operational requirements.
· Maintain an end-to-end process perspective across HR, Payroll, Finance, Tax, Treasury and Technology dependencies.
Support multiple payroll initiatives and changes while protecting critical payroll timelines and business continuity.
c) Relationship -
· Work closely with regional and country Payroll Operations teams, Payroll Specialists and Payroll Managers.
· Establish effective relationships with payroll vendors and support resolution of process and service issues.
· Partner with HR Operations, Finance, Tax, Treasury, Reward, HR Technology/Workday and other upstream/downstream teams.
· Collaborate with Payroll Transformation and project teams on system and vendor implementations.
Communicate process changes, risks, decisions and required actions clearly across different levels of the organisation.
Purpose of Role
The primary purpose of this role is to drive payroll process improvement, simplification, standardisation and automation across Global Payroll Operations. The role will assess existing processes, identify inefficiencies and manual interventions, redesign processes and work with Payroll, Technology and vendor teams to implement sustainable solutions.
The role will also maintain strong operational payroll capability by supporting payroll processing as both Maker and Checker when required, providing operational review and validation of payroll inputs, outputs, payments, reconciliations and reporting. This combination of operational knowledge and process excellence enables the role to identify practical improvement opportunities and ensure solutions are designed around the realities of payroll delivery.
Key Accountabilities
1. Process Improvement & Automation
· Review end-to-end payroll processes and find opportunities to simplify, standardise and automate.
· Drive root-cause analysis of recurring payroll issues and implement sustainable improvements.
· Partner with Technology, HR Systems and vendors to develop and implement payroll automation solutions.
· Track process KPIs and benefits to ensure improvements deliver the expected outcomes.
2. Payroll Operations – Maker & Checker
· Perform Maker and Checker activities for payroll processing as required, including inputs, outputs, reconciliations, payments and reporting.
· Review payroll accuracy, variances, controls and critical timelines before payroll approval.
· Support payroll teams during peak periods, transitions, resource gaps and complex operational issues.
· Ensure appropriate segregation of duties and adherence to payroll controls.
3. Process Governance & Global Standardisation
· Maintain payroll process maps, SOPs, controls and global governance documentation.
· Drive consistent Global Payroll Standards and ways of working across GBO and Non-GBO payroll teams.
· Identify local process variations and support alignment to global standards where appropriate.
· Establish and monitor process metrics and KPIs to identify performance gaps.
4. Payroll Transformation & Change
· Assess As-Is processes and support the design of simplified To-Be processes, including roles, responsibilities, controls and segregation of duties.
· Support payroll transformation, system/vendor changes, UAT, parallel testing and implementation.
· Assess the end-to-end impact of payroll changes across process, systems, controls and vendors.
5. Vendor & Customer Management
· Partner with payroll vendors to improve service delivery, resolve recurring issues and drive process improvements.
· Collaborate with Payroll Operations, HR, Finance, Tax, Reward, Technology and HR Systems teams.
· Communicate payroll changes, risks, dependencies and improvement initiatives effectively across stakeholders.
· Influence teams across different locations to adopt consistent processes and global ways of working
6. Compliance, Controls & Continuous Improvement
o Ensure process changes and automation maintain appropriate payroll controls, compliance and data privacy requirements.
o Support remediation of audit findings and operational risks.
o Continuously find opportunities to improve payroll accuracy, efficiency, controls and employee experience.
Qualifications & Experience
· 5–7 years of experience in payroll operations, preferably within a multi-country or global payroll environment.
· Strong hands-on understanding of payroll processing, including both Maker and Checker activities.
· Demonstrated experience in payroll process improvement, simplification or automation.
· Experience in process mapping, root-cause analysis and process redesign.
· Experience working with outsourced payroll vendors.
· Exposure to payroll transformation, system implementation, UAT or vendor transition activities.
· Understanding of payroll controls, segregation of duties and audit requirements.
· Experience working across multiple countries or shared service environments preferred.
· Bachelor's degree in Accounting, HR, Business Administration or equivalent.
· Good knowledge of HRIS/payroll systems such as Workday, SAP, Oracle or equ