Senior Payroll Specialist
Posted 1ds ago
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Job Description
Senior Payroll Specialist owning Portuguese payroll for Oyster, a global employment platform. Managing compliance, payroll systems, reconciliations, reporting, and complex client escalations remotely from Portugal.
Responsibilities:
- Own and run the complete Portuguese payroll cycle in-house accurately, compliantly, and on time
- Validate payroll master data for hires, terminations, salary changes, variable pay, benefits, absences, and garnishments
- Perform pre- and post-payroll validations, investigate discrepancies, and implement corrective actions
- Manage statutory filings and government accesses, including IRS, DMR, Modelo 10, and reimbursement claims
- Configure and maintain the in-house payroll system, test legislative updates, troubleshoot issues, and improve automation with Product
- Advise stakeholders on Portuguese tax, social security, labor law, and collective bargaining agreement interpretation
- Oversee payroll journals, GL mappings, Finance reconciliations, and data integrity
- Handle complex client payroll escalations with a customer-first approach
- Prepare statutory and ad-hoc reports, including pay transparency, works council pay assessments, and GDPR compliance documentation
- Support internal and external audits with structured data and documentation
- Improve processes, coach junior specialists, support Regional Managers, and maintain payroll playbooks and SOPs
Requirements:
- 5+ years running the complete native in-house payroll process for Portugal
- Experience independently handling a high volume of Portuguese payslips per month
- Advanced hands-on experience with Cegid (Primavera or PHC) and/or Sendys is essential
- Completed recognized accounting/payroll qualification, such as Contabilista Certificado, and/or dedicated payroll processing certification
- Deep, current knowledge of Portuguese wage tax, social insurance, and labor law
- Ability to advise stakeholders directly on Portuguese payroll-related legislation
- Portuguese at C1/C2 level
- Fluent English for collaboration with an asynchronous global team
- Experience handling complex and sensitive client escalations
- Analytical, productivity-focused, automation-oriented mindset
- Comfort operating in ambiguity and driving cross-functional change
- Experience coaching or mentoring less experienced colleagues
- Comfort working asynchronously in a fast-paced, remote-first environment
- Must be based in Portugal
- Must have the right to work in Portugal
- Broader accounting background or qualification, such as Revisor Oficial de Contas, is desirable
- Experience delivering cross-functional HR/payroll projects is desirable
- Hands-on AI tools experience for optimizing payroll or operations workflows is desirable
- Strong data transformation skills and practical data analytics platform experience are desirable
Benefits:
- Offers Equity
- Work from anywhere, subject to authorization and role/location requirements
- 40 days off per year including holidays and vacation, or more if required locally
- Mental health support through Plumm
- Monthly wellbeing allowance through the ThanksBen wallet
- At least three months’ paid parental leave for all new parents
- Job protection for up to 12 months or as required locally
- WFH stipend for laptop and home office equipment
- Asynchronous, collaborative work environment
- Inclusive global workplace and reasonable accommodations during recruitment

















