Global payroll manager

About Watershed

Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like Airbnb, Carlyle Group, FedEx, Visa, and Dr. Martens use Watershed to manage climate and ESG data, produce audit-ready metrics for voluntary and regulatory reporting including CSRD, and drive real decarbonization. We are looking for team members who love product-building, want to work hard at a mission-oriented startup, and will collaborate with us in shaping the culture of a growing team.

We have offices in San Francisco, New York, Denver, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City, and remote team members across the US and Europe. We hope that you'll be interested in joining us!

The role

As our first dedicated payroll leader, you'll own payroll at Watershed end to end and build the controls, processes, and automation that let us grow headcount and geographies without growing manual work. You'll run payroll for our US and UK entities and oversee in-country payroll in Mexico and through our EOR partners.

This role is hands-on. You’ll run our day-to-day payroll operations while building the processes and automation that let the function scale as we expand. You'll partner closely with People Ops, Accounting, Legal, and Revenue Operations, and you'll be the go-to person for payroll questions across the company.

You will leverage AI and automation to streamline payroll workflows, applying strong judgment to determine where human oversight remains critical.

You will:

• Build the global payroll function: the documentation, processes, calendars, checklists, SOPs, and controls that let payroll scale with headcount, hire and develop a team as we grow, and lead the payroll side of expanding into new geographies.

• Own end-to-end global payroll, including new hires, terminations, salary changes, bonuses, commissions, and leave pay, and act as the escalation point for complex payroll issues and employee pay questions.

• Manage our in-country payroll providers and EOR partners across multiple countries, validating inputs and outputs, evaluate the right long-term model for each country, and evaluate payroll tools and providers, recommending what to adopt based on accuracy, cost, and risk.

• Own payroll configuration in Rippling and keep payroll data flowing cleanly to the general ledger as we scale, using AI and workflow automation to remove manual work.

• Administer deductions and retirement contributions, including 401(k) remittances, and reconcile plan contributions to the plan administrator.

• Maintain compliance with payroll taxes, wages, and statutory requirements across the US and the UK, including registrations, filings, year-end reporting, and responses to tax authority notices, and support financial statements, statutory, and 401(k) plan audits with documentation and responses to auditors.

• Administer sales commissions and other variable pay with Revenue Operations so plans are paid accurately and on schedule.

• Support equity-related payroll processes, including withholding and reporting on exercises and vesting events, in coordination with Legal and Carta.

• Partner with Accounting on payroll journal entries, reconciliations, and month-end close, with the goal of bringing payroll accounting into the payroll function over time, and with People Ops on employee lifecycle events (hires, terminations, leaves, and compensation changes) so the data flowing into payroll is accurate.

You might be a fit if you:

• Have 7+ years in payroll, or in finance or accounting with substantial global payroll ownership

• Have hands-on US & UK payroll experience. Experience with Mexico, Australia or Germany payroll is a strong plus.

• Have experience working with an EOR or PEO to cover countries without a local entity.

• Have hands-on experience with Rippling, including payroll-to-GL integrations.

• Enjoy partnering closely with HR, Accounting, Revenue Operations, and external providers to keep payroll accurate and on time.

• Are familiar with commission and variable pay structures, and with equity compensation payroll mechanics (withholding and reporting on option exercises and RSU vesting).

• Feel comfortable with journal entries, accruals, and reconciliations, and with closing out your own work.

• Are detail-oriented, with strong Excel, data, and report-building skills, and practical experience using AI tools to reduce manual effort.

• Are excited to build structure and controls where none exist yet, and comfortable working hands-on while leading others.

• Are able to explain payroll clearly to non-experts across time zones, with sound judgment on confidentiality and when to escalate.

• Hold a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) or an equivalent certification.

Must be willing to work from an office 4 days per week (except for remote roles)

Watershed has hub offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Mexico City and satellite offices in Denver, Sydney, Paris, and Berlin. Where we have offices, employees are expected to be in office for 4 days per week. Certain jobs are open to being remote and will be specifically noted on the jobs page and in the job description if so.

What’s the interview process like?

It starts the same for every candidate: getting to know the team members through 1 to 2 conversations about Watershed, your experience, and your interests. Next steps can vary by role, but usual next steps are a skill or experience interview (e.g. a coding interview for an engineer, a portfolio review for a designer, deeper experience call for other roles) which leads to a virtual or in person interview panel. We prioritize transparency and lack of surprise throughout the process.

What if I need accommodations for my interview?

At Watershed, we are dedicated to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. We provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health needs, religious observances, neurodivergence, or pregnancy-related support requirements. If you need assistance during your process, please contact your recruiter.