AVP, Payroll Specialist, Americas

Are you a payroll professional who thrives on accuracy, loves solving complex problems, and wants to make a real impact in a global organization? Swiss Re is looking for an experienced payroll professional to support accurate, timely, and compliant payroll delivery across the US and selected Americas payrolls. Successful candidates will demonstrate strong US multi-state payroll expertise, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to operate independently in a dedicated, collaborative team environment.

About the Role

As AVP, Payroll Specialist, Americas, you will be responsible for key activities across the payroll cycle for Swiss Re's US employees across multiple legal entities, as well as monthly payroll support for employees in Colombia. You will manage payroll inputs, audits, reconciliations, funding, tax-related processes, issue resolution, and year-end activities in partnership with internal stakeholders and external payroll providers.

This role requires strong payroll technical knowledge, discretion, and the ability to manage strict deadlines in a controlled and highly confidential environment. You will also support payroll projects, process improvements, and business continuity coverage for additional Americas payrolls, including serving as backup for Canadian payroll.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll delivery and compliance

• Process end-to-end US multi-state biweekly payroll for approximately 2500 employees across multiple legal entities, including input, audit, funding, reconciliation, tax returns, vendor management, etc.
• Coordinate and process monthly payroll for approximately 30 employees in Colombia
• Apply payroll requirements across relevant federal, state, local, and country-specific jurisdictions, addressing or escalating complex matters as needed (e.g. tax adjustments, deferred compensation, et al)
• Support payroll activities for International Assignees, International Transfers, and Non-Resident Aliens, including related tax forms and payroll implication

Controls, reconciliations , and year-end

• Perform payroll audits and validations to ensure accurate inputs, outputs, deductions, taxes, payments, employee data changes, and process adherence
• Prepare funding requests and reconcile payroll funding to payroll registers, general ledger files, and bank activity
• Support year-end payroll activities, including validation and delivery of Forms W-2 and other required payroll tax documents
• Maintain payroll documentation, controls, and records in accordance with Swiss Re policies and audit requirements

Stakeholder support, projects, and continuity

• Respond to employee and stakeholder payroll inquiries in a timely, accurate, and service-oriented manner
• Support payroll projects, system testing, process changes, and continuous improvement initiatives; lead defined workstreams where appropriate
• Serve as backup for Canadian payroll processing and provide business continuity and resiliency support for additional global payrolls as needed
• Maintain strict confidentiality of payroll, compensation, tax, banking, and employee data

About the Team

The Payroll team sits within the Operational Excellence function in the Global People Function and is responsible for ensuring that every employee is paid accurately, on time, and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We take pride in driving process improvements, maintaining the highest standards of data integrity, and delivering an exceptional experience for employees and stakeholders alike.

This role reports to the Head of Payroll, Americas, and is part of a lean, experienced payroll team supporting the Americas region. You will partner with colleagues across HR Operations, Reward, Finance, Tax, Mobility, Benefits, Legal, external payroll providers, and regional and global Payroll teams.

About You

You are an experienced payroll professional with strong technical knowledge, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to work independently in a deadline-driven environment. You are comfortable handling sensitive employee data, resolving complex payroll issues, and partnering across teams to deliver accurate, compliant, and employee-focused payroll support. You are energized by process improvement and open to new ways of working, including the use of automation and emerging technologies to strengthen payroll delivery. You bring integrity and teamwork to everything you do, and you're always looking for smarter, more efficient ways to get things done.

We are looking for candidates with

• At least 3–5+ years of relevant payroll experience, with demonstrated experience processing complex US multi-state payroll functions; experience in a large, matrixed, or global organization preferred
• Strong understanding of payroll processing, payroll controls, reconciliations, garnishments, tax reporting, and year-end payroll activities
• Working knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, payment processes, and filing procedures
• Experience working with outsourced payroll providers or third-party payroll vendors, including coordination, issue resolution, and escalation
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and large data-set reconciliation
• Experience with payroll systems and HRIS platforms; SAP Payroll and/or SuccessFactors preferred
• Experience supporting international, cross-border, expatriate, or non-resident payroll populations; familiarity with Canadian, Colombian, or broader Americas payroll preferred
• Experience supporting payroll transformation, automation, or process improvement initiatives
• Strong organizational, prioritization, problem-solving, and follow-through skills, with the ability to manage competing deadlines
• Spanish proficiency is required; Portuguese is a plus for broader regional support
• High degree of integrity, discretion, confidentiality, accountability, and teamwork
• College degree or equivalent experience; Certified Payroll Profession designation helpful

The estimated base salary range for this position is $84,000 to $126,000. The specific salary offered for this, or any given role will take into account a number of factors including but not limited to job location, scope of role, qualifications, complexity/specialization/scarcity of talent, experience, education, and employer budget. At Swiss Re, we take a "total compensation approach" when making compensation decisions. This means that we consider all components of compensation in their totality (such as base pay, short-and long-term incentives, and benefits offered), in setting individual compensation.

Our company has a hybrid work model where the expectation is that you will be in the office at least three days per week.

Reference Code: 137969