Head of Payroll & Payroll Transformation

We’ve signed up to an ambitious journey. Join us!

As Arrive, we guide customers and communities towards brighter futures and more livable cities, it isn’t a challenge just anyone could take on. Luckily, we have something to help us make it happen. Our people and our values. We Arrive Curious, Focused and Together. Just as our entire brand is inspired by the North Star, the shining light leading travelers to their destinations since time began, our values guide us. They help us be at our best. For our customers. For the cities and communities we serve. For ourselves. As a global team, we are transforming urban mobility. Let’s grow better, together.

As we continue to grow globally, our People Platform needs to scale with the business — delivering simple, reliable and high-quality employee experiences while building strong operational foundations.

Payroll is a critical part of this. With employees across multiple countries, entities, payroll providers and regulatory environments, we are transforming our payroll operating model, technology and processes to create a more scalable, controlled and globally consistent payroll function. We are looking for a Head of Payroll & Payroll Transformation to lead this journey.

THE ROLE

As Head of Payroll & Payroll Transformation you will have end-to-end accountability for payroll operations and payroll transformation across Arrive.

This is a leadership role combining operational excellence, transformation, technology, vendor management and strategic payroll leadership. You will ensure employees are paid accurately and on time while also leading the transformation of our payroll landscape as Arrive continues to scale and evolve.

You will own the payroll strategy, operating model, governance and roadmap, working closely with People Platform, Finance, IT, People Partners and external payroll providers.

A key part of the role will be leading our ongoing payroll transformation programme, including the implementation and optimisation of CloudPay and other payroll technologies, standardising processes across countries, improving controls and automation, and transitioning payroll from a fragmented country-by-country model towards a scalable global operating model.

We are looking for someone who has hands-on experience leading payroll transformation, not simply running payroll operations. You should be comfortable operating at both strategic and operational levels and navigating the complexity of payroll across Europe, the USA and APAC.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

PAYROLL LEADERSHIP & OPERATIONS

• Own the end-to-end payroll function across Arrive’s global employee population.

• Ensure payroll is accurate, timely, compliant and well controlled across all countries and entities.

• Establish clear payroll governance, processes, controls and accountability.

• Define and monitor payroll KPIs, including payroll accuracy, on-time payments, payroll exceptions, compliance and employee experience.

• Build strong relationships with Finance, People Operations, People Partners, IT and other key stakeholders.

• Ensure payroll issues are identified, escalated and resolved quickly and effectively.

• Establish robust processes for payroll reconciliations, approvals, audits and controls.

• Act as the senior escalation point for complex payroll issues.

PAYROLL TRANSFORMATION

• Lead Arrive’s global payroll transformation strategy and roadmap.

• Drive the transition from fragmented and manual payroll processes towards a standardised, scalable and technology-enabled operating model.

• Lead the implementation, optimisation and continuous improvement of payroll technology and providers, including CloudPay.

• Own the transition of countries and entities onto the new payroll model, ensuring strong planning, testing, cutover and post-go-live support.

• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardise and automate payroll processes.

• Establish a clear global payroll process framework while accounting for legitimate local requirements.

• Partner with Workday and IT teams to improve integrations, data flows and automation across the employee lifecycle.

• Lead payroll process re-engineering, identifying root causes rather than simply resolving individual issues.

• Build a long-term payroll operating model that can support continued M&A and international expansion.

• Ensure lessons learned from each country implementation are incorporated into future rollouts.

• Manage transformation risks, dependencies, timelines and stakeholder expectations.

GLOBAL PAYROLL & COUNTRY COMPLEXITY

• Provide leadership across payroll operations in Europe, the USA and APAC.

• Understand the different regulatory, tax, employment and payroll complexities across these regions.

• Ensure global standards are balanced appropriately with local statutory requirements.

• Support new country launches, acquisitions, entity changes and integrations from a payroll perspective.

• Develop scalable approaches for countries with different payroll volumes, providers and levels of complexity.

• Ensure payroll readiness is embedded into M&A and integration planning.

VENDOR & PARTNER MANAGEMENT

• Own relationships with global and local payroll providers.

• Establish clear SLAs, performance expectations and governance with payroll vendors.

• Hold providers accountable for service quality, accuracy and delivery.

• Lead vendor performance reviews and continuous improvement plans.

• Evaluate the payroll vendor landscape and make recommendations on consolidation, technology and operating model changes.

• Manage vendor transitions and exits where required.

PEOPLE LEADERSHIP

• Build and lead a high-performing global payroll team with clear roles, accountability and expertise.

• Create a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement and ownership.

• Develop payroll capability and ensure appropriate country and regional expertise is maintained.

• Build a scalable team structure aligned with Arrive’s broader People Platform operating model.

• Partner closely with the Head of People Operations and other People Platform leaders to create seamless employee lifecycle processes.

• Develop strong relationships with senior stakeholders and become the trusted payroll subject matter expert across Arrive.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

• Significant experience leading global or multi-country payroll.

• Proven experience operating across Europe, USA and APAC.

• Strong understanding of the different payroll, tax, regulatory and operational complexities across these markets.

• Demonstrated experience leading payroll transformation programmes, including technology implementation, process redesign, operating model change and/or payroll provider transformation.

• Experience managing payroll through periods of significant organisational growth, international expansion or M&A.

• Experience managing global payroll vendors and holding providers accountable for delivery.

• Strong understanding of payroll controls, governance, compliance and risk management.

• Experience working with HRIS/payroll technology and integrations, ideally Workday and CloudPay or similar global payroll platforms.

• Experience leading and developing geographically distributed teams.

• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively with Finance, IT, People and senior leadership.

WE WOULD PARTICULARLY VALUE

• Experience consolidating multiple payroll providers into a global payroll model.

• Experience implementing or transforming a global payroll platform.

• Experience moving payroll from manual/local processes into a more automated operating model.

• Experience designing payroll shared services or Centres of Excellence.

• Experience supporting acquisitions and integrating acquired payrolls.

• Experience with Workday payroll integrations and employee master data.

• Experience defining payroll KPIs, controls and service-level frameworks.

• Ex