We're making Africa the first cashless continent.
In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.
We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across six countries and are growing fast.
Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...
How you'll help us achieve it
Wave is now the largest financial institution in Senegal, with over 7 million users. And, we’re still in the early days of our product roadmap and potential impact on people’s everyday lives.
Our organization is growing quickly, generating demanding roles, with plenty of room for professional and personal growth. As the Senior Global Payroll Specialist, you will play a key role in ensuring the accurate, compliant, and timely delivery of payroll across multiple countries, leveraging partnerships with local payroll providers. This role requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to navigate complex regulatory frameworks while driving efficiency and standardization across all payroll processes.
You will collaborate with internal teams, such as HR, Finance, and Legal, as well as external stakeholders, to ensure a seamless payroll experience for our employees globally. The position offers an exciting opportunity to shape the payroll function in a fast-paced, international environment.
In this role, you'll;
- Be responsible for accurate and timely payrolls for countries in EMEA region, in compliance with local tax and labor regulations, including variable pay, stock, or other supplemental or non-recurring pay runs, and ensuring timely tax deposits.
- Manage relationships with external payroll providers in all European and North American locations.
- Handle payroll administrative tasks, such as maintaining accurate employee records, processing adjustments, and responding to payroll-related inquiries.
- Identify and implement improvements in payroll systems and workflows to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
- Support internal and external payroll audits.
- Lead or support payroll system integrations and upgrades in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
- Develop, drive and report on key metrics for the function with guidance from the payroll Manager.
- Support management on ad hoc and growth-oriented projects such as scalability initiatives.
- Address payroll-related queries from employees and resolve issues promptly.
- Provide to employees guidance on salary payments, tax deductions, and benefits.
Key Details
- You can work remotely from anywhere (between UTC -1 and +3) with reliable Internet access.
- Wave covers travel once per year to one of our operating countries in Africa, as well as a yearly stipend of $800 to meet with coworkers.
- We run performance reviews twice a year and award bonuses or promotions to strong performers who have been with the company for more than six months.
- Our salaries are competitive and are calculated using a transparent formula. For this role, we are offering a salary between $84,000-$105,600 USD (paid in your local currency equivalent) plus a generous equity package.
- Major benefits:
- Subsidized health insurance for you and your dependents and retirement contributions (both vary from country to country
- 6 months fully paid parental leave and subsidized fertility assistance
- Flexible vacation, with most folks taking between 30-40 days per year
- $10,000 annual charitable donation matching
Requirements
- Fluent in English.
- Previous experience in global payroll management (5+ years).
- Ideally 2+ years of experience in US and CA payroll management.
- Strong knowledge of payroll and HR policies in the UK and other european countries.
- Manage relationships with third-party payroll providers across various countries.
- Demonstrated organizational skills and a strong sense of ownership.
- Strong analytical skills and flux analysis.
- Experience with major payroll software such as Workday, ADP Workforce Now, ADP Smart Tax Compliance, Ceridian.
You might be a good fit if you
- Are excessively detail-oriented and seek to achieve excellence in everything you do.
- Are a self-starter and proactive about achieving ambitious targets.
- Know the value of a great payroll experience and are eager to provide support to employees.
- Are very organized and detail-oriented - you’re the type that always looks at rounding errors.
- Are eager to think outside of the box when faced with potential roadblocks.
- Have previously worked for a remote company and enjoy working independently and within a team.
- We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Uganda, plus remote team members spread across the world.
- We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
- We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
- We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
- In 2023, we were on Y Combinator's top 50 companies by revenue.
How to apply
Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.
We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.
Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
What We Do
We're making Africa the first cashless continent.
In 2017, nearly 60% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.
We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In November 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. In 2019, we expanded to Cote D'Ivoire. Now, we have millions of users and are growing fast.
Our goal is to drive financial inclusion and make Africa the first cashless continent
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