Payroll Team Lead (maternity cover)

At NielsenIQ, we are seeking an experienced Payroll Team Lead to join our Global Payroll Center of Excellence on a maternity cover assignment. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of payroll operations across Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary, partnering closely with HR, Finance, payroll vendors, and other stakeholders. As the Payroll Team Lead, you will provide operational leadership to the payroll team, ensure compliance with local regulations, manage payroll audits and controls, and support continuous improvement initiatives. The role reports directly to the Regional Payroll Director, EEMEA, and is part of NielsenIQ's Global Payroll organization. Essential Duties & Responsibilities Manage Monthly Payroll processing activities for allocated countries in the Cluster – Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, ensuring pay is processed on time, accurately, completely and in compliance with all regulations. Lead, coach and develop Payroll team members. Contribute to designing short-term and long-term strategies to achieve continuous improvement and efficiencies in payroll processing and in optimizing systems. Development and execution of payroll strategies, planning, and communications; establish and maintain departmental policies, practices, and procedures. Oversee all Year End payroll processes, ensuring all statutory deadlines and requirements are met across multiple countries Design, implement and perform SOX compliant controls relevant to the payroll process Manage internal and external audit and tax-related activities, including preparation of data and evidence, and ensure any identified changes are executed. Build positive relationships to ensure successful collaborations to be able to respond to internal payroll questions, and handle ad-hoc payroll requests. Be accountable for ensuring all Payroll discrepancies are resolved in a timely manner and effectively communicated as required Other duties as assigned. Experience & Qualifications Minimum of 5 years of payroll operational experience in various countries across EEMEA. Hands-on experience with Bulgarian and/or Polish payroll processing is required. Experience in leading a team of payroll professionals Attention to detail, professional awareness, and sense of urgency for employee questions; be able to spot errors or exceptions quickly. Able to demonstrate a strong ability to absorb multiple country regulations and complexities Strong experience with Microsoft Office. Excellent communicator and collaborator. SAP/ Workday experience a plus. Multiple EU language skills an advantage The annual salary range is between 32.000 - 36.000 EUR. ( Offers are made within the disclosed range based on objective, role-related criteria and internal pay equity); Our Benefits Flexible working environment Volunteer time off LinkedIn Learning Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP) NIQ may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the recruitment process, including résumé screening, candidate assessments, interview scheduling, job matching, communication support, and certain administrative tasks that help streamline workflows. These tools are intended to improve efficiency and support fair and consistent evaluation based on job-related criteria. All use of AI is governed by NIQ’s principles of fairness, transparency, human oversight, and inclusion. Final hiring decisions are made exclusively by humans. NIQ regularly reviews its AI tools to help mitigate bias and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions, require accommodations, or wish to request human review were permitted by law, please contact your local HR representative. For more information, please visit NIQ’s AI Safety Policies and Guiding Principles: https://nielseniq.com/global/en/info/niqs-ai-safety-policies/ About NIQ NIQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™. NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100+ markets, covering more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit NIQ.com Want to keep up with our latest updates? 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