Payroll (India Region) - Associate Director

Job description

Career Category Human Resources Job Description Location: Hyderabad, India At Amgen, every challenge is an opportunity. And every opportunity brings the potential to change lives. Our shared mission—to serve patients—has driven our status as one of the world’s preeminent biotechnology companies, reaching over 10 million patients worldwide. Leverage your high-level expertise to lead and forge partnerships that advance the biotechnical and biopharmaceutical science that can turn the tide of serious, life-interrupting illnesses. Department Name: Amgen India – Human Resources What you will do The India Payroll Lead is responsible for the strategic leadership and end-to-end governance of payroll and HR compliance for Amgen India, supporting a growing workforce across multiple legal entities, including regular employees, international workers and expatriates, as applicable. The role is accountable for the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of payroll and HR compliance services and serves as the country-level subject-matter expert for these areas. The India Payroll Lead defines and evolves country payroll and HR compliance standards, policies, controls and operating practices; manages payroll and compliance vendors; and leads major transformation and risk-mitigation initiatives. The role partners closely with Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compliance, Global Mobility, Information Systems and external service providers, and provides guidance and recommendations to senior stakeholders to support business growth and meet statutory and internal requirements across Amgen India legal entities. The role manages and develops two Senior Associates responsible for payroll administration, compliance and standard end-to-end payroll activities. As the workforce and legal-entity footprint grow and Workday integration with the payroll vendor platform reduces manual processing, the role will place increased emphasis on strategic governance, policy and control design, complex issue resolution, data integrity, vendor performance, automation, scalable service delivery and cross-functional program leadership. Roles and Responsibilities: • Lead the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of end-to-end payroll and associated HR compliance services for a growing workforce across multiple Amgen India legal entities, covering regular employees, international workers and expatriates, as applicable. • Oversee payroll cycles, payments, deductions, statutory obligations, tax withholding, payroll reporting, entity-specific requirements and applicable expatriate-related payroll inputs. • Develop, define and maintain country payroll and HR compliance policies, procedures, calendars, controls, service standards and governance processes in alignment with Amgen policies, business objectives and India statutory requirements. • Oversee payroll inputs and outputs across legal entities, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, incentives, allowances, deductions, statutory contributions, off-cycle payments and adjustments, ensuring appropriate entity-level controls and approvals. • Coordinate payroll activities for international workers and expatriates, including applicable compensation elements, allowances, deductions, tax-related inputs, shadow payroll requirements and cross-border stakeholder coordination. • Provide functional governance over payroll results, reconciliations, control reports and exception items, and direct the resolution of material risks, inaccuracies and processing issues before payroll completion. • Serve as the India subject-matter expert and principal escalation point for complex payroll and HR compliance matters, providing guidance and recommendations to senior stakeholders on payroll practices, taxation, statutory requirements, deductions, employee-related compliance and operational risk. • Interpret relevant Indian payroll, tax, labor and social-security requirements, including requirements affecting international workers and expatriates, and translate regulatory changes into practical policies, controls and operating requirements across legal entities. • Establish and govern the end-to-end HR compliance operating framework, including compliance calendars, statutory filings, payments, registrations, documentation, certifications, record retention, ownership and evidence requirements. • Lead payroll- and HR-related internal and external audits, regulatory inspections, compliance reviews and control assessments; coordinate responses with relevant stakeholders and ensure sustainable remediation of identified gaps. • Lead major payroll and HR compliance transformation, simplification and automation initiatives, including Workday integration, payroll vendor interfaces, legal-entity readiness, data accuracy, control enhancement and reduction of manual activities. • Provide strategic oversight of the external payroll provider and other payroll- and compliance-related vendors, including service delivery, performance reviews, service-level governance, issue resolution, risk management, corrective actions and recommendations on service-model changes. • Develop payroll and HR compliance metrics, dashboards and management reports covering accuracy, timeliness, statutory adherence, controls, vendor performance, process efficiency, employee impact and operational risk across legal entities. • Present payroll and HR compliance performance, risks, trends and recommendations to the Head of Total Rewards, HR Operations and Payroll and other senior stakeholders, and contribute to country HR objectives and operating priorities. • Partner with Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compliance, Global Mobility and Information Systems to align legal-entity requirements, empl