Global Head of Payroll

Amplitude • San Francisco, CA

1d

About The Position

As Global Head of Payroll at Amplitude, you will lead and scale our global payroll function across multiple countries and regions, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations worldwide. This is a highly visible leadership role responsible for setting the global payroll strategy, strengthening controls, and driving operational excellence in a public-company environment.
You will oversee end-to-end payroll operations, manage and develop a team of payroll professionals, and partner closely with Finance, People, Legal, and external vendors. A key focus of this role will be improving processes, optimizing systems, and supporting growth initiatives—including international expansion and the integration of acquired entities—while maintaining strong compliance and governance standards.

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive payroll experience, including global payroll leadership
• Strong knowledge of U.S. payroll, international payroll practices, and statutory compliance
• Experience in a public company and SOX-controlled environment
• Hands-on experience with payroll systems such as Workday Payroll, CloudPay, or similar global platforms
• Proven ability to lead teams and manage complex vendor relationships
• Strong understanding of payroll tax, equity compensation payroll (RSUs, ESPP), and cross-border considerations
• Excellent communication skills and ability to influence cross-functionally
• Bachelor’s degree required (CPA, CPP, or equivalent certification a plus)

Responsibilities

• Own and oversee end-to-end global payroll operations across multiple countries and regions
• Develop and execute a global payroll strategy aligned with Amplitude’s growth, compliance, and control objectives
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of payroll professionals
• Ensure compliance with local payroll, tax, and labor regulations in all jurisdictions
• Manage relationships with global payroll vendors and PEOs (e.g., CloudPay or similar)
• Partner closely with People Ops, Accounting, FP&A, Legal, and Equity teams
• Oversee payroll accounting coordination, including:
• Payroll month end close
• Payroll accruals and reconciliations
• GL integration and reporting
• Own and maintain SOX controls related to payroll in a public company environment
• Drive process improvements, automation, and system enhancements
• Support international expansion and integration of acquired entities into payroll systems and processes
• Act as the escalation point for complex payroll issues, audits, and employee inquiries

Benefits

• Excellent ​Medical, ​Dental and ​Vision insurance coverages, with 100% employer-paid premiums for employee ​Medical, ​Dental,​ ​​​​​​​​Vision on select plans
• Flexible time off, ​p​aid holidays, and more
• Generous stipends to spend on what matters most to you, whether that’s wellness (monthly), commuter transit/parking (monthly), learning and development (quarterly), home office equipment (annual), and much more
• Excellent Parental benefits including​:​ 12-20 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, Carrot Fertility Benefits/Adoption/Surrogacy support, Back-up Child Care support
• Mental health and wellness benefits including no cost employee access to Modern Health coaching & therapy Sessions and high quality physician office experience via One Medical membership (select U.S. locations only)
• Employee Stock Purchase Program​ (ESPP)​

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees