Payroll Specialist

About the role

Waystone is an established provider of asset-servicing solutions for institutional governance, administration, risk, and compliance. With more than 25 years of experience, the company supports financial institutions with specialist services that help them structure, run, and expand their businesses through expertise, innovation, digitisation, and the scale needed for international growth.

Based in Cashel, County Tipperary, this position reports to the Head of People & Development for Ireland. The Payroll Specialist will manage accurate, on-time payroll delivery across several jurisdictions and support a global workforce of about 1,800 employees.

The role covers the full payroll cycle and involves close coordination with external payroll vendors, HR, Finance, employees, and other stakeholders to ensure payroll is processed correctly, in compliance with statutory obligations, and with strong internal controls. It also includes payroll administration, pension payments, reporting, and handling queries.

This is a strong opportunity for someone who wants to contribute to process improvement in a busy, international environment and play an active part in a collaborative People team.

Key responsibilities

• Review current payroll workflows and data-handling methods, then refine them for better standardisation and performance.
• Work with HR Business Partners to keep processes aligned with company policy and accepted best practice, and help communicate those standards across the business.
• Support automation efforts by identifying repetitive work that can be streamlined through technology.
• Run the monthly payroll cycle end to end with accuracy and timeliness.
• Prepare and extract payroll reports for different countries and regions.
• Build effective working relationships with outsourced payroll providers so deliverables arrive on time and complex issues or complaints are resolved quickly.
• Check monthly payroll data from each external provider to confirm all information is complete and correct.
• Make sure all monthly payroll changes are captured accurately.
• Maintain payroll records and processing data in BambooHR and Microsoft Excel by collecting, calculating, and entering information.
• Answer payroll questions from employees and internal or external partners and vendors.
• Coordinate with HR, Finance, auditors, pension providers, Social Welfare, Revenue, HMRC, and other external bodies as needed.
• Produce manual calculations and make manual payments when required.
• Stay informed on payroll legislation and regulatory updates that may affect the organisation.
• Arrange pension contributions for employees and submit payments to external pension providers.
• Prepare and complete regional tax-related tasks, such as P11D medical insurance preparation and IR86 health returns for Asia, when needed.

Requirements

• Recent, relevant experience in a senior payroll role.
• A proactive approach to keeping payroll operations running smoothly.
• Solid understanding of the full payroll process from start to finish.
• Strong organisational ability and working knowledge of HRIS systems and Microsoft Office tools, especially Outlook.
• Advanced capability in Excel.
• High attention to detail with proven success in a similar role.
• Self-driven and motivated, with a strong desire to perform well.
• Ability to take initiative and ask for guidance at the right time.
• Skill in spotting potential issues early and proposing practical solutions.
• Very good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Comfortable working to strict deadlines and performance targets.
• Able to manage multiple priorities and balance competing demands.

Education

• Third-level education is preferred.
• A Payroll Technician qualification would be an advantage.

Additional information

This role involves payroll operations across multiple jurisdictions and support for approximately 1,800 employees worldwide. It requires coordination with a broad range of internal teams and external organisations, including payroll providers, auditors, pension providers, social welfare authorities, and tax bodies. The position also includes responsibility for process improvement, control strengthening, and payroll automation initiatives.