Payroll Specialist

Job description

It’s not just about your career or job title… It’s about who you are and the impact you will make on the world. Because whether it’s for each other or our customers, we put People First. When our people come together, we Expand the Possible and continuously look for ways to improve what we create and how we do it. If you are constantly striving to grow, you’re in good company. We are revolutionizing the way the world moves for future generations, and we want someone who is ready to move with us.   Who are we?   Wabtec Corporation is a leading global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions, and value-added services for freight and transit rail as well as the mining, marine, and industrial markets. Drawing on nearly four centuries of collective experience across Wabtec, GE Transportation, and Faiveley Transport, the company has grown to become One Wabtec, with unmatched digital expertise, technological innovation, and world-class manufacturing and services, enabling the digital-rail-and-transit ecosystems. Wabtec is focused on performance that drives progress and unlocks our customers’ potential by delivering innovative and lasting transportation solutions that move and improve the world. We are lifelong learners obsessed with making things better to drive exceptional results. Wabtec has approximately 27K employees in facilities throughout the world. Visit our website to learn more!   Who will you be working with? The responsibility of HR Operations India & APAC is to oversee the administrative and transactional elements of human resources, ensuring that HR processes operate smoothly and align with organizational objectives. This encompasses the management of employee data, payroll, benefits administration (including Car Lease and Medical Insurance), compliance, and support of data quality, onboarding, offboarding, retirals and employee inquiries. In essence, it involves managing the daily operations that ensure the HR department functions effectively. The team collaborates closely with HR Business Partners to foster positive employee relations by implementing effective, efficient, and reliable HR strategies and practices that align with the Global HR Operation model, ensuring adherence to processes and policies while maintaining compliance with employment laws. Additionally, the team works in partnership with other Centers of Expertise (such as Talent Acquisition, HRIS, HRDP, Compensation & Benefits, and Legal) to design and implement HR business processes. How will you make a difference? The Payroll Specialist, HR Operations is a key member of the HR Shared Services team, responsible for delivering accurate, compliant, and timely payroll services across India and designated APAC countries. As a trusted payroll subject matter expert, you will ensure seamless payroll execution, exceptional employee experience, and operational excellence by partnering closely with HR, Finance, employees, and external payroll providers. In this role, you will: • Manage complex payroll and employee lifecycle transactions across India and APAC. Preferably co • Ensure payroll accuracy, compliance, and adherence to local statutory requirements. • Act as an escalation point for payroll-related inquiries, resolving issues and driving root-cause solutions. • Partner with HR teams and payroll vendors to meet service delivery expectations and SLA commitments. • Conduct payroll audits, data integrity reviews, and compliance checks to mitigate risks. • Develop payroll metrics and reporting to support regional and global HR leadership. • Lead vendor governance activities, including periodic service reviews and performance monitoring. • Support process improvements, system enhancements, payroll transitions, M&A activities, and organizational changes. • Maintain process documentation, SOPs, and knowledge resources to ensure consistency and scalability. • Support will be provided to cross-functional workstreams in the region, including Acquisitions, Reorganizations, Legal Entity Changes, and Mergers and Acquisitions. • It is essential to ensure that processes are thoroughly documented, creating and maintaining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and process maps as necessary. • Drive payroll process optimization and standardization by identifying opportunities to simplify existing payroll workflows, and implement global payroll best practices to enhance accuracy, compliance, and employee experience. • Partner with payroll vendors, HR, Finance, and stakeholders to continuously improve payroll delivery, leverage automation where appropriate, and establish scalable processes that support operational excellence. What We Want to Know About You • Bachelor's / Master degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a related field • 9–10 years of hands-on payroll experience across India and APAC and/or multiple country payrolls, including payroll processing, compliance, taxation, statutory requirements and Shared Service organization supporting multi-country operations. • Strong expertise in end-to-end payroll operations, payroll governance, and vendor management across multiple countries. Experience supporting multi-country payrolls in a regional or global environment is highly preferred. • Proven experience supporting payroll transformation initiatives, payroll implementations, mergers and acquisitions, and payroll transition projects. • Deep understanding of payroll systems, interfaces, controls, reconciliations, and payroll process design. • Strong working knowledge of payroll and HR