Senior Payroll Specialist (m/f/d)

Role overview

KWS Berlin GmbH is hiring a Senior Payroll Specialist for its Berlin office to support business units across Germany. The position is permanent and full-time. The ideal person works independently, takes a service-oriented approach, and brings a self-driven, collaborative, and adaptable mindset.

Key responsibilities

• Handle regular and off-cycle payroll processing, including master data upkeep in SAP HCM.
• Check and prepare payroll-related data such as general salary adjustments, individual raises, benefit updates, absences, leave records, and other relevant inputs.
• Manage sensitive employee information and provide tax and social insurance information to public authorities when needed.
• Build, produce, and share recurring as well as ad hoc reports and dashboards.
• Work closely with Finance and Controlling, including support for payroll accounting reconciliations.
• Assist employees with time-entry records, updates, and monitoring.
• Implement pension arrangements and other employee benefits within payroll processing.
• Coordinate daily with external vendors to maintain strong cooperation and service quality.
• Carry out processes in line with local laws and internal company rules.
• Partner with business partners on matters related to works councils, unions, and other official documents.
• Protect employee confidentiality and handle sensitive data with care.

Candidate profile

• Prior payroll experience and hands-on SAP HCM knowledge are required; experience in a shared services setup is an added advantage.
• You work well in teams and believe in helping others, solving problems jointly, and learning together.
• You look for better and more efficient ways to complete tasks rather than settling for the current way of working.
• You treat colleagues as internal clients and value fast, reliable responses and timely completion of requests.
• Fluency in German and English is required; knowledge of additional languages is beneficial.

Benefits and workplace

• You will join an international team made up of open-minded people with varied cross-functional backgrounds.
• The role offers engaging and demanding projects and assignments.
• The company culture is shaped by closeness, reliability, vision, and independence, creating a welcoming and open atmosphere from the start.
• KWS Berlin offers the stability of a large company together with the energy and drive often associated with a startup.
• The Berlin-Schöneberg office is modern and centrally located, right across from Bülowstraße underground station, with secure car and bicycle parking.
• Benefits include 30 days of leave, flexible working arrangements, holiday and Christmas bonuses, a company pension plan, JobRad, and/or a Jobticket.
• Professional and personal growth is actively encouraged under the company’s “Make yourself grow” philosophy.