Payroll Lead

This position will manage local employee taxation, statutory compliance, labor law adherence, and government liaison activities across Francophone African countries. This role requires strong expertise in local legislation, payroll governance, statutory filings, and stakeholder management to ensure full regulatory compliance and operational excellence.

The successful candidate will work closely with government authorities, auditors, payroll vendors, finance teams, HR teams, and internal business stakeholders to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations in line with country-specific regulations.

What you will do:

Interpret and apply local payroll legislation, employment laws, and statutory regulations across Francophone African countries.

Ensure compliance with income tax, social security, pension, labor law, mandatory employee benefits, leave, and severance regulations.

Manage statutory registrations, renewals, and ongoing compliance activities.

Coordinate timely submission of monthly and annual tax filings, statutory reports, employee tax certificates, and social security declarations.

Monitor legislative changes and implement payroll and process updates.

Act as the primary liaison with tax authorities, labor departments, social security offices, government agencies, and regulatory bodies.

Coordinate government inspections, audits, statutory inquiries, and compliance-related escalations.

Support internal and external payroll audits while maintaining accurate payroll records and audit documentation.

Ensure compliance with internal controls, governance standards, company policies, and payroll procedures.

Partner with payroll vendors, Finance, HR, Legal, and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality payroll services.

Identify opportunities to improve payroll processes, controls, and operational efficiency.

Support payroll reporting, compliance analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.

The skills you bring:

Payroll Management.

Local Payroll Taxation.

Labor Law.

Statutory Compliance.

Government & Regulatory Liaison.

Payroll Governance.

Social Security Regulations.

Payroll Audits.

Risk & Compliance Management.

Stakeholder Management.

Vendor Management.

Financial Acumen.

Business Acumen.

Data Analytics.

Process Improvement.

Internal & External Communication.

Ethics and Compliance.

Attention to Detail.

Problem Solving.

English Language.

French Language (Fluent).

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Finance, Accounting, Law, Business Administration, or a related field.

Professional certification in Payroll, Taxation, or Labor Law is considered an advantage.

8-12 years of payroll and statutory compliance experience.

Solid experience managing payroll operations across multiple West African countries.

Preferred Systems Experience

SAP

Workday

Oracle HCM

Advanced Microsoft Excel

Payroll reporting and dashboard tools

Regional Experience

Experience supporting payroll and statutory compliance activities in one or more of the following countries:

Morocco

Senegal

Côte d’Ivoire

Cameroon

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mali