Payroll Lead

about the company
Our client is a premier global alternative investment manager with over US$7.5 Billion in Assets Under Management (AUM), backed by world-class institutional investors. Headquartered in Singapore, the firm manages a diverse portfolio of alternative investment strategies across public and private markets worldwide.

As part of their ongoing strategic growth, they are establishing their Group Leadership Team Hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They offer an elite, fast-paced financial services environment that combines high autonomy, flat hierarchies, and institutional excellence.

about the job
We are seeking a high-caliber Regional Payroll Lead to serve as a high-autonomy Subject Matter Expert (SME) owning payroll operations, vendor governance, and financial integration across an international footprint of 14 countries.

This is a Sole Contributor (IC) position-not a high-volume transactional data-entry role. Because in-country headcounts are lean and high-value, 100% of local payroll calculations and processing are outsourced to tier-1 global vendors. Your primary responsibility is driving global vendor governance, cross-border statutory/tax compliance, and seamless month-end General Ledger (GL) accounting integration with Group Finance.

Key Responsibilities

• Global Vendor Governance: Act as the primary Process Lead holding external vendor partners accountable to strict SLAs, contract terms, accuracy metrics, and regional data security.
• Finance & GL Integration: Partner closely with Group Finance on month-end closures-mapping wage types to internal charts of accounts, conducting variance analysis, and performing balance sheet/payroll clearing account reconciliations.
• Statutory & Tax Oversight: Ensure total multi-country compliance across local tax filings, statutory reporting, and cross-border expatriate tax equalizations (including US W-2/401k, UK PAYE/P60, or APAC local frameworks).
• Process Excellence: Continuously optimize regional payroll workflows, vendor interfaces, and control mechanisms as the firm expands into new global jurisdictions.

Role Details

• Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Work Arrangement: Hybrid model (3 days in office: Tuesday-Thursday / 2 days WFH)
• Scope: Regional coverage across key international growth markets (US, UK, EMEA, ANZ, and APAC)

about the manager/team
You will join the firm's Group Leadership Team and partner directly with a centralized 20-person Group Finance Division (covering FP&A, Fund Accounting, and Corporate Operations).

• Reporting Line & Visibility: You will report directly to Senior Finance & Operations Leadership with direct visibility to Group Managing Partners and regional operational heads.
• Team Dynamic: The firm operates a lean, highly collaborative, and agile corporate structure. You won't be slowed down by multi-layered corporate red tape; instead, you are empowered to make direct decisions, drive vendor accountability, and own your regional domain end-to-end alongside supportive, highly accomplished peers.