Payroll (India Region) - Associate Director

Career Category

Human Resources

Job Description

Location: Hyderabad, India

At Amgen, every challenge is an opportunity. And every opportunity brings the potential to change lives. Our shared mission—to serve patients—has driven our status as one of the world’s preeminent biotechnology companies, reaching over 10 million patients worldwide. Leverage your high-level expertise to lead and forge partnerships that advance the biotechnical and biopharmaceutical science that can turn the tide of serious, life-interrupting illnesses.

Department Name: Amgen India – Human Resources

What you will do

The India Payroll Lead is responsible for the strategic leadership and end-to-end governance of payroll and HR compliance for Amgen India, supporting a growing workforce across multiple legal entities, including regular employees, international workers and expatriates, as applicable. The role is accountable for the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of payroll and HR compliance services and serves as the country-level subject-matter expert for these areas.

The India Payroll Lead defines and evolves country payroll and HR compliance standards, policies, controls and operating practices; manages payroll and compliance vendors; and leads major transformation and risk-mitigation initiatives. The role partners closely with Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compliance, Global Mobility, Information Systems and external service providers, and provides guidance and recommendations to senior stakeholders to support business growth and meet statutory and internal requirements across Amgen India legal entities.

The role manages and develops two Senior Associates responsible for payroll administration, compliance and standard end-to-end payroll activities. As the workforce and legal-entity footprint grow and Workday integration with the payroll vendor platform reduces manual processing, the role will place increased emphasis on strategic governance, policy and control design, complex issue resolution, data integrity, vendor performance, automation, scalable service delivery and cross-functional program leadership.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Lead the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of end-to-end payroll and associated HR compliance services for a growing workforce across multiple Amgen India legal entities, covering regular employees, international workers and expatriates, as applicable.
• Oversee payroll cycles, payments, deductions, statutory obligations, tax withholding, payroll reporting, entity-specific requirements and applicable expatriate-related payroll inputs.
• Develop, define and maintain country payroll and HR compliance policies, procedures, calendars, controls, service standards and governance processes in alignment with Amgen policies, business objectives and India statutory requirements.
• Oversee payroll inputs and outputs across legal entities, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, incentives, allowances, deductions, statutory contributions, off-cycle payments and adjustments, ensuring appropriate entity-level controls and approvals.
• Coordinate payroll activities for international workers and expatriates, including applicable compensation elements, allowances, deductions, tax-related inputs, shadow payroll requirements and cross-border stakeholder coordination.
• Provide functional governance over payroll results, reconciliations, control reports and exception items, and direct the resolution of material risks, inaccuracies and processing issues before payroll completion.
• Serve as the India subject-matter expert and principal escalation point for complex payroll and HR compliance matters, providing guidance and recommendations to senior stakeholders on payroll practices, taxation, statutory requirements, deductions, employee-related compliance and operational risk.
• Interpret relevant Indian payroll, tax, labor and social-security requirements, including requirements affecting international workers and expatriates, and translate regulatory changes into practical policies, controls and operating requirements across legal entities.
• Establish and govern the end-to-end HR compliance operating framework, including compliance calendars, statutory filings, payments, registrations, documentation, certifications, record retention, ownership and evidence requirements.
• Lead payroll- and HR-related internal and external audits, regulatory inspections, compliance reviews and control assessments; coordinate responses with relevant stakeholders and ensure sustainable remediation of identified gaps.
• Lead major payroll and HR compliance transformation, simplification and automation initiatives, including Workday integration, payroll vendor interfaces, legal-entity readiness, data accuracy, control enhancement and reduction of manual activities.
• Provide strategic oversight of the external payroll provider and other payroll- and compliance-related vendors, including service delivery, performance reviews, service-level governance, issue resolution, risk management, corrective actions and recommendations on service-model changes.
• Develop payroll and HR compliance metrics, dashboards and management reports covering accuracy, timeliness, statutory adherence, controls, vendor performance, process efficiency, employee impact and operational risk across legal entities.
• Present payroll and HR compliance performance, risks, trends and recommendations to the Head of Total Rewards, HR Operations and Payroll and other senior stakeholders, and contribute to country HR objectives and operating priorities.
• Partner with Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compliance, Global Mobility and Information Systems to align legal-entity requirements, employee lifecycle processes, data flows, controls and accountabilities across related processes.
• Lead, coach and develop two Senior Associates; establish priorities, allocate work, build capability and align team capacity with workforce growth and legal-entity requirements while monitoring the quality, accuracy and timeliness of deliverables.
• Guide major cross-functional payroll and HR compliance programs and lead workstreams that span legal entities and materially support country HR and business objectives.
• Design and evolve a scalable payroll and HR compliance operating model capable of supporting continued headcount growth, additional legal entities, organizational change and future expansion of payroll services, subject to approved business requirements.
• Monitor regulatory developments, international-worker requirements, payroll and compliance technologies and industry practices; assess their implications for Amgen India and recommend changes to policies, controls, processes and service delivery.

Win

What we expect from you.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources or a related discipline.
• 9–13 years of relevant experience in payroll, HR operations, finance or a related area, including substantial experience leading end-to-end payroll, HR compliance governance and major cross-functional programs.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex India payroll and HR compliance operations for a growing workforce across multiple legal entities, including regular employees and, as applicable, international workers and expatriates.
• Experience directly managing and developing payroll professionals and leading major workstreams or programs through cross-functional teams and external partners.
• Experience governing external payroll and compliance providers, including service delivery, escalations, controls, performance, audit support and risk remediation.
• Advanced working knowledge of Indian payroll legislation, payroll taxation, statutory contributions, labor requirements, employment-related HR compliance obligations and internal control expectations.
• Understanding of payroll and compliance requirements affecting international workers, expatriates, cross-border employees or global mobility populations, as applicable.
• Experience working with integrated HR and payroll systems, preferably Workday and a major payroll-vendor platform, in a complex multi-entity operating environment.
• Experience leading payroll and HR compliance transformation, automation, controls enhancement, legal-entity implementation or systems-integration initiatives.

Functional Skills:

Must Have

• Advanced subject-matter expertise in India payroll operations, end-to-end HR compliance, taxation, statutory requirements, deductions, labor-law obligations and payroll controls.
• Strong understanding of payroll and HR compliance requirements for regular employees, international workers and expatriates, including applicable tax, allowance, deduction, reporting, documentation and compliance considerations.
• Ability to lead complex payroll cycles and HR compliance programs across multiple legal entities, including exceptions, escalations, reconciliations, audits, regulatory changes and risk-management activities.
• Experience with Workday or a comparable human capital management platform and its integration with external payroll and compliance systems.
• Strong vendor-governance, stakeholder-influencing, analytical and program-management skills, with the ability to translate payroll and HR compliance data, regulatory developments and risks into practical recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience preparing multi-entity payroll reconciliations, compliance trackers, metrics, dashboards and management reports.

Good-to-Have

• Experience supporting expatriate, international-worker, shadow payroll or global mobility payroll and compliance arrangements.
• Experience implementing or optimizing Workday integrations with external payroll providers and related compliance processes.
• Experience leading payroll and HR compliance transformation, automation, vendor-transition, legal-entity setup or operating-model programs.
• Exposure to multi-country payroll, regional payroll governance or complex multi-entity HR compliance environments.
• Professional certification in payroll, accounting, finance, taxation, labor law, compliance or human resources.

Soft Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach and develop payroll professionals while delivering results through cross-functional teams and external partners.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to address complex, ambiguous and medium-impact payroll and HR compliance issues.
• Effective stakeholder-management, advisory and influencing skills across Human Resources, Finance, Tax, Legal, Compliance, Global Mobility, Information Systems and senior management.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex payroll, regulatory and compliance matters into clear decisions and recommendations for varied audiences.
• High level of integrity, discretion and sound judgment when handling confidential employee, financial, legal and regulatory information.
• Ability to lead through workforce growth, legal-entity expansion, process, technology and service-delivery change while fostering a collaborative and high-performing team environment.

Thrive 
What you can expect from us. 

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for our teammates’ professional and personal growth and well-being. We offer competitive annual base salary, and a Total Rewards Plan comprising health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider you without regard to your race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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