Payroll Team Lead (White & Blue Collar)

About the Role

Terracotta Outsourcing is a UAE-based outsourcing provider focused on recruitment, manpower solutions, visa outsourcing, EOR/PEO, business setup, PRO services, and broader corporate support. The company is seeking a seasoned Payroll Team Lead to oversee payroll operations and strengthen performance across onboarding, compliance, and client coordination.

The role is based in Abu Dhabi and is fully on-site. It sits within the EOR & Staffing Solutions department and involves handling payroll for both blue-collar and high-volume white-collar workforces.

Core Responsibilities

You will be expected to manage payroll processing with a strong grip on compliance, commercial impact, and operational accuracy. The position requires someone who can work beyond routine processing and actively validate payroll logic, outputs, and business implications.

Payroll, Compliance, and Workforce Handling

• Apply detailed payroll calculation knowledge, including gross-to-net computation, accruals, provisions, retro adjustments, leave encashment, end-of-service benefits, allowances, and deductions.
• Maintain solid working knowledge of UAE Labour Law, employment agreements, WPS/SIF processes, and payroll compliance obligations.
• Oversee payroll structures for both blue-collar staff and high-volume white-collar employee groups.

Commercial and Financial Understanding

• Use payroll as a financial planning tool by managing cost allocation, payroll provisions, accruals, workforce costing, and margin-related improvements.
• Understand how payroll influences client invoicing, cost-to-client mapping, recharge structures, margin sensitivity, and the balance between utilization and payroll cost.
• Spot and reduce risks related to payroll leakage, billing gaps, and lost revenue.

Analysis and Business Support

• Review client agreements, compensation terms, and commercial arrangements to make sure payroll and billing accruals are accurate.
• Go beyond system-generated results by checking, questioning, and validating payroll outputs.
• Work confidently with advanced Excel tools such as reconciliations, variance checks, pivot tables, lookups, and large data handling.

Experience and Leadership Expectations

• Bring 4 to 8 years of UAE payroll experience in staffing, outsourcing, EOR/PEO, manpower supply, workforce solutions, or shared services settings.
• Have at least 2 years of supervisory or team-lead experience managing a team of 2 to 3 members or more.
• Demonstrate success managing large payroll volumes across multiple clients, entities, and workforce types.
• Be comfortable working with Finance, Operations, and Legal teams to shape payroll controls and processes.

Additional Notes

• Experience with HRMS platforms such as SAP, Oracle, or D365 is helpful, but not the main requirement.
• The ideal candidate should understand how payroll decisions affect finance, billing, and compliance at the same time.