REMOTE Payroll Transition Lead

JOB DESCRIPTION
We are seeking an experienced Payroll Transition Lead to support payroll transition activities across the Nordic region, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. This individual will lead country-specific payroll workstreams and partner with Payroll, HR, Finance, HRIS, vendors, and local stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to the future-state payroll model.
The ideal candidate has strong Nordic payroll operations experience, hands-on involvement in payroll implementations or transitions, and the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, timelines, and country-specific requirements. This individual must be adaptable, flexible, and willing to take on responsibilities outside of a narrowly defined scope as project needs evolve.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead payroll transition activities across planning, execution, testing, go-live, and stabilization phases.
Serve as the primary liaison between Payroll, HR, Finance, HRIS, IT, vendors, and in-country stakeholders.
Drive country transition plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, and action items.
Gather payroll requirements and document current and future-state processes.
Coordinate payroll data validation, migration, and readiness activities, including employee master data, pay elements, historical data, and cutover requirements.
Partner with internal teams and vendors to resolve data, integration, and process issues.
Support testing, payroll parallel runs, reconciliations, and go-live readiness efforts.
Monitor project risks, issues, and dependencies, escalating as needed.
Facilitate stakeholder meetings and ensure accountability for deliverables.
Support post-go-live stabilization and continuous process improvement.
Participate in knowledge transfer, shadowing, and training with existing regional payroll resources.
REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
3+ years of payroll experience, including payroll operations and payroll implementation, transition, or transformation projects.
Hands-on payroll experience supporting Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and/or Finland.
Experience supporting multi-country payroll transitions or implementations.
Knowledge of global payroll platforms such as ADP, Strada, SAP, Workday, or similar solutions.
Strong understanding of end-to-end payroll processes, including payroll inputs, validations, gross-to-net review, compliance requirements, payroll controls, and timekeeping impacts.
Experience coordinating testing, cutovers, payroll parallel runs, reconciliations, and go-live activities.
Strong project coordination, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and workstreams simultaneously.
Adaptable and flexible approach with a willingness to learn, try new processes, and work outside of a prescriptive scope.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Experience using project management or tracking tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, ServiceNow, or similar platforms.
NICE TO HAVE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Experience supporting payroll transitions within the Nordic region.
Payroll operations experience across multiple Nordic countries.
Experience in Workday-enabled payroll environments and payroll/HRIS integrations.
Knowledge of payroll data migration, validation, and reconciliation processes.
Familiarity with process documentation, operational readiness, and control design.

Work arrangement
Yes