Global Payroll Manager

FieldAI•Irvine, CA

About The Position

FieldAI is seeking a Global Payroll Manager to join its growing finance team and own end-to-end payroll for a global, distributed workforce across UCAN, APAC, and EMEA, including contractors and temporary workers. This builder role will establish policies, identify and close process gaps, and help scale payroll as the company expands into new countries. The manager reports to the Controller and works closely with People Ops, Legal, and teams throughout the organization. The role covers employee payroll administered in-house, through in-country providers, or through Employer of Record (EOR) partners; contingent-worker payments; payroll systems and integrations; accounting and reconciliations; and employee support. The position is based with FieldAI’s Irvine team, which builds and tests robotics systems on real hardware and works with colleagues across the US and around the world.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive payroll experience, including 2–3 years managing multi-country payroll, with meaningful experience in a startup environment.
Hands-on payroll experience across UCAN, APAC, and EMEA.
Direct experience paying contractors and temporary workers at scale, with working knowledge of worker-classification risk.
Experience with BambooHR data management, reporting, and payroll integrations.
Demonstrated ability to build and improve processes, rather than only execute inherited processes.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain payroll and tax complexity in plain language to employees and leadership.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with TriNet.
CPP or FPC (PayrollOrg), CPM (Canada), or CIPP (UK) certification.
Experience with global payroll platforms such as Deel, Rippling, Papaya Global, or ADP Global.
Experience with equity payroll events, such as option exercises, across jurisdictions.
Background at Series A–C companies and familiarity with being the first to formalize a process.

Responsibilities

Own accurate, on-time payroll for employees across UCAN, APAC, and EMEA, whether run in-house, through in-country providers, or via EOR partners.
Manage the global payroll calendar, inputs, and approvals across multiple pay frequencies and currencies.
Own payroll tax withholding, filings, and remittances, including registrations as the company enters new countries and states.
Manage year-end reporting in each jurisdiction, including W-2, T4, P60, and local equivalents.
Own the payment process for contractors and temporary workers, including onboarding, invoicing, approvals, and payment runs.
Partner with People Ops and Legal on worker classification and misclassification risk, including ABC tests, IR35, and local equivalents.
Manage staffing agency and EOR relationships, reconciling invoices to timesheets and contracted rates.
Own 1099 and other non-employee tax reporting.
Maintain BambooHR as the source of truth for employee data and ensure compensation and job changes flow cleanly into payroll.
Own integrations between BambooHR, payroll providers, benefits carriers, and NetSuite.
Identify and close payroll process gaps, building scalable policies and controls where they do not yet exist.
Prepare payroll journal entries and accruals for month-end close and reconcile payroll liability accounts.
Serve as the go-to resource for employee payroll questions across all time zones.
Partner with People Ops on onboarding, offboarding, leave, relocations, and international transfers.
Advise leadership on payroll and tax implications of hiring in new countries.