Regional Payroll Director, Americas

Reports to: VP, Head of Global Payroll  Geographic Scope: North America, Central America, and Latin America  Operational Scope: 32 countries and approximately 8,000 employees  Location : This position is remote and open to candidates who are legally authorized to work and reside in the United States or Latin America (including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and other Latin American countries).  Language Requirements: Candidates must possess full professional fluency in both English and Spanish, with the ability to communicate effectively in verbal and written business settings. Regular interaction with English- and Spanish-speaking stakeholders is a core requirement of this role. R26_0023392 #LI-Remote As part of NIQ’s Global Payroll Center of Excellence, the Regional Payroll Director, Americas has end-to-end accountability for accurate, timely, compliant, and controlled payroll delivery across 32 countries and approximately 8,000 employees.  The role leads payroll delivered through in-house, outsourced, and global solutions, including U.S. headquarters and executive payroll, established country operations, and countries transitioning to NIQ’s global payroll platform. It leads a geographically dispersed organization of regional managers, cluster leaders, country teams, offshore resources, and external providers.  Working closely with HR, Employee Experience, Benefits, Compensation, Equity, Finance, Tax, Treasury, Technology, Legal, and Audit, the role drives operational performance, financial integrity, regulatory compliance, vendor accountability, and payroll transformation.  The position also serves as senior regional deputy to the VP, Head of Global Payroll, leading global priorities and escalations when required. Key Responsibilities  Regional Payroll Delivery and Compliance  Own accurate, complete, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across the Americas Lead regional managers, cluster leaders, country teams, offshore resources, and external providers, setting clear priorities and accountability Oversee the payroll lifecycle, including inputs, calculations, approvals, funding, payments, statutory remittances, accounting, and reconciliations Maintain effective governance, controls, procedures, calendars, escalation routes, business-continuity plans, and role coverage Identify and resolve payroll issues, compliance risks, and control gaps through root-cause analysis and sustainable corrective action Apply consistent regional service standards while meeting country-specific statutory requirements U.S. Payroll  Provide leadership and governance for U.S. headquarters and executive payroll Oversee federal, state, and local payroll tax compliance, year-end reporting, employee tax statements, statutory filings, and corrections Ensure appropriate confidentiality, system access, segregation of duties, reviews, and approvals Lead resolution of tax notices, assessments, penalties, amended filings, and government inquiries with payroll providers and Corporate Tax Oversee payroll requirements relating to leave programs, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, benefits, taxable benefits, equity, and employee deductions Payroll Accounting and Financial Close  Partner with Record-to-Report and Financial Controllership to ensure accurate and timely period-end and year-end close Oversee payroll journals, accruals, balance-sheet reconciliations, statutory liabilities, accounting interfaces, and supporting documentation Maintain clear ownership and closure plans for aged items, unmatched balances, historical differences, and other payroll-related concerns Investigate material or recurring accounting differences and coordinate resolution across Payroll, Finance, Technology, offshore teams, and providers  People and Vendor Leadership  Lead, coach, and develop payroll leaders and teams, building technical capability, succession readiness, and operational resilience Foster an inclusive culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and employee-focused service Manage payroll providers against contractual obligations, KPIs, SLAs, compliance requirements, and implementation milestones Lead vendor governance and escalations, challenging underperformance and ensuring sustainable corrective action Monitor regional performance and provide concise, evidence-based updates to senior stakeholders Controls and Transformation  Ensure payroll controls are appropriately designed, performed, documented, and evidenced Lead readiness for SOX reviews, internal and external audits, statutory audits, payroll tax audits, and regulatory assessments Oversee country transitions to NIQ’s global payroll solution, addressing payroll, statutory, tax, banking, accounting, data, integration, reporting, and control requirements Protect employee pay, compliance, financial controls, and business continuity throughout each transition Simplify, standardize, automate, and strengthen payroll processes, systems, interfaces, and controls Required: University degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Human Resources, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience At least 10 years of progressive payroll experience, including significant leadership responsibility for complex, multi-country payroll operations Deep knowledge of U.S. payroll operations, taxation, controls, compliance, and year-end requirements, together with practical Latin American payroll experience Experience managing in-house, outsourced, or co-sourced payroll models and geographically dispersed teams Demonstrated success managing providers against KPIs, SLAs, contractual obligations, and improvement plans Experience transitioning countries to new payroll providers, systems, or global payroll solutions Experience with payroll accounting, financial close, SOX controls, audits, reconciliations, and statutory requirements Strong leadership, communication, influencing, stakeholder-management, and