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Salary: USD 88,100 - 125,900 / annual
Wave is a fintech company building financial services for Africa, with a mission to make the continent cashless. The company operates across 9 countries with millions of users and is backed by top-tier investors including Sequoia, Stripe, and Y Combinator.
The Payroll Systems Analyst will join the HR Technology team, reporting to the HR Systems Lead. This is a strategic role that bridges Payroll, People, and Finance teams with technical capabilities. You'll work on a newly launched HRIS and own multiple high-impact initiatives.
Key responsibilities include:
**Process Optimization & Standardization**: Map current payroll operations across all markets, identifying manual, duplicated, or at-risk work. Align global payroll standards and controls while accommodating local statutory requirements. Design payroll request tracking and resolution workflows, and train the Payroll team on new processes and systems.
**Payroll-to-Finance Reconciliation Tool**: Own the full lifecycle (requirements through rollout) of an internal tool that reconciles payroll outputs from third-party providers against the HRIS and general ledger across entities and countries. Define reconciliation logic for headcount, gross-to-net, employer costs, accruals, cost center/entity mapping, FX, and variance thresholds. Automate data ingestion and build exception reporting to reduce manual matching work.
**HRIS & Payroll Systems Support**: Stabilize HRIS-to-payroll data flows post-go-live, ensuring hires, compensation changes, leave, and terminations reach payroll accurately. Analyze workflows and integrations to reduce manual inputs and spreadsheet handoffs. Support payroll provider changes, consolidations, integrations, and new-market launches. Coordinate testing of legislative and system updates.
**Data Quality & Reporting**: Own payroll data quality across systems and conduct regular audits. Develop payroll reporting and dashboards for HR, Finance, and business decisions (e.g., payroll cost by entity/country, period-over-period variance). Manage data privacy and access controls for sensitive pay and banking data in compliance with GDPR and applicable regulations.
You'll work in a high-growth fintech environment where every payroll error has real impact on employees' paychecks. The role requires bridging technical and non-technical stakeholders, designing systems for complexity (multi-country, multi-currency, varying tax regimes), and iterating based on user feedback.
**Requirements:**
- Fluent in English and French
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Business Administration, or related field
- 3+ years of experience in HRIS, payroll operations, payroll systems, or payroll accounting, ideally in multi-country or multi-entity organizations
- End-to-end payroll process knowledge: inputs, calendars, cut-offs, gross-to-net, statutory deductions, payments
- Hands-on experience reconciling payroll to general ledger, including employer costs, accruals, cost center and entity mapping
- Experience working with third-party or in-country payroll providers and data flows between HRIS, payroll, and finance systems
- Demonstrated experience documenting, standardizing, and improving processes (controls, checklists, sign-off flows, RACIs)
- Advanced knowledge of data management, analysis, and reporting
- Experience building tools or automations (scripts, Apps Script, low-code platforms like Workato or Zapier), or strong interest in learning
- Experience with Business Intelligence systems (Sigma, Power BI, Looker)
- Effective written and verbal communication for cross-functional collaboration
- Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills
**Nice to have:**
- Payroll experience in francophone West Africa (CNPS, IPRES/CSS, ITS/IRPP) or OHADA accounting
- Experience with Workday or enterprise HRIS
- Payroll certification (CPP, FPC, CIPP)
