Director, Global Payroll Strategy and Americas Payroll (Hybrid - Rahway, NJ)
Merck
- Location
- Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America
- Employment
- Full Time
- Work model
- Hybrid
- Level
- Staff
- Salary
- $156.9k – $247k/yr
- Posted
- Aug 31, 2026
Skills
About this role
Job Description
The Director, Global Payroll Strategy and Americas Payroll Leader has responsibility for the delivery of HR and LATAM payroll for approximately 35,000 employees as well as Global Payroll Strategy impacting employees globally. The role is a leadership role with 5 Direct reports and a total organization between 20 and 25 people. This leader will oversee the delivery of payroll services both through internal resources and an external vendor relationship. It will be expected that the role balances delivery, operational efficiency and elevates the employee and HR experience. In addition, this role will be the leader of Global Payroll Service strategy inclusive of migrating all company payrolls from Finance to HR, managing external provider relationships and on-going delivery strategy. This position will be based in Rahway, New Jersey and reports to the Executive Director, HR Regional Services. Payroll Strategy and Roadmap: Ensuring the realization of global payroll strategy across all markets. This includes migration plans for integration of finance-owned payrolls into HR, ensuring a 3- year payroll roadmap is created and approved, and creating and executing payroll strategies that align with the organization's goals and objectives. This includes identifying opportunities for process improvement, standardization, and automation to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of payroll operations on a global scale. This will require close and frequent collaboration with Regional Directors on the overall plan and country specific needs and priorities. Enhance Governance and Control Processes: The Director is responsible for creating internal and external control through governance and audit processes. They will collaborate with legal and compliance teams to develop and implement policies and procedures to further enhance governance as well as lead in any process failure events to conduct thorough after-action reviews, suggest recommendations and ensure execution path. Managing payroll vendors and relationships: The director oversees relationships with external payroll service providers globally. This includes contracts oversight, monitoring vendor performance, and ensuring service level agreements are met. They are also responsible for partnering to evaluate payroll systems, technologies and suppliers that best meet the organization's needs. Leading payroll transformation initiatives: The role involves driving payroll process improvements, standardization, and automation initiatives across the organization. This includes leveraging technology solutions to streamline payroll operations, eliminate manual tasks, and enhance data accuracy and reporting capabilities. Collaborating with cross-functional teams: The Global Payroll Strategy Director collaborates with various stakeholders, including HR, finance, IT, and legal departments, to ensure seamless integration of payroll processes with other business functions. They provide guidance and support to these teams on payroll-related matters and ensure alignment with the organization's overall strategies and objectives. This role will be the single point of contact/demand management for IT budgeting and sequencing. Analyzing and reporting payroll data: The director is responsible for analyzing payroll data to identify trends, insights, and areas for improvement. They prepare and present reports to senior management on a regular basis, providing key metrics and recommendations for payroll-related decisions. US and LATAM Payroll & Tax Operations: This role will have direct oversight of US Payroll & Tax Operations scope and team/org structure of inclusive of Direct reports with a total organization of 20 to 25 people. This role requires accurate, timely delivery of payroll in both union and non-union environments. The successful candidate should be energized by an environment that requires strong leadership, attention to detail, coaching for excellence, and prioritizes