Senior Manager

Position Title: Senior Manager - Payroll _ INDIA

Reports To: General Manager - HR

Location: Head Office SBS (NESCO_Mumbai)

Role Description:

The Senior Manager – Payroll, Statutory & Income Tax Compliance will oversee end-to-end payroll operations for India within the Sodexo Business Services (SBS) Global Capability Center. The role is responsible for ensuring accuracy, compliance, process efficiency, and strong controls across payroll and statutory functions. This position requires deep expertise in statutory compliance and income tax, excellent stakeholder management, and the ability to lead and develop high-performing teams. The incumbent will work closely with business leaders, finance, HR, and operational stakeholders to drive process excellence, optimize payroll systems, and ensure adherence to all regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

Payroll Leadership & Management:

• Lead and manage the payroll team to deliver timely, accurate, and compliant payroll processing for a large and diverse workforce, including blue-collar employees.
• Oversee all payroll transactions, including new hires, exits, salary changes, minimum wage updates, flexi-benefits, bonuses, overtime, income tax and full & final settlements.
• Ensure full compliance with central, state, and local statutory requirements (PF, ESI, PT, LWF, Minimum Wages, Income Tax, etc.).
• Drive standardization of payroll processes, conduct periodic policy and SOP reviews, and implement continuous improvements.

Income Tax & Compliance:

• Oversee income tax calculations, TDS compliance, Form 16 generation, and statutory reporting/filings.
• Manage coordination with external auditors, legal advisors, and statutory authorities during audits and compliance reviews.
• Implement best practices to strengthen compliance, mitigate risks, and support accurate and timely statutory submissions.
• Manage the end-to-end validation of employee investment declarations and supporting proofs during the financial year-end cycle and for exit cases, ensuring compliance with income tax regulations, accurate TDS computation, and timely completion of all statutory requirements.

Strategic & Operational Excellence:

• Lead initiatives to implement, enhance, and optimize payroll systems and tools.
• Analyze payroll data to identify gaps, resolve discrepancies, and present actionable insights to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with compliance, finance and accounting teams on reconciliations, variance analysis, and monthly/annual reporting.
• Participate in or lead strategic projects, including system upgrades, process transformations, transitions, or geographic expansions.

Stakeholder Management:

• Build strong relationships with business leaders, operations teams, HR, finance, and other internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for payroll, statutory, and income tax-related escalations and advisory support.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to co-create solutions, enhance governance, and drive continuous improvement.

Leadership & Team Development:

• Provide direction, coaching, and development opportunities to team members to build capability and drive performance.
• Define clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations, fostering a culture of ownership, accuracy, and service excellence.
• Manage large, diverse teams effectively, ensuring operational efficiency, compliance, and high service delivery standards.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, Finance, HR, or related field.
• 8–10+ years of progressive payroll and statutory compliance experience in complex, multi-location organizations, preferably within the services sector.
• Certification/Diploma in Payroll Management, Labour Laws, or Income Tax is an advantage.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Strong expertise in end-to-end payroll processing, statutory compliance, payroll taxation, and income tax regulations.
• Proven leadership and team management experience, including managing large headcounts and blue-collar populations.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and collaborate at all levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with sound decision-making skills with proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Experience in both in-house payroll processing and managed service payroll models, along with proficiency in leading platforms such as SAP, Workday, Oracle, Ramco and other enterprise-grade payroll systems will be an added advantage.
• Solid understanding of accounting concepts, including journal entries and payroll reconciliations.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and manage complex deliverables in a fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and customer service skills.
• High level of integrity, confidentiality, and compliance orientation. Experience in multi-country payroll is an added advantage.