Global Senior Payroll Manager

Payroll is one of Strava’s highest-trust, highest-risk functions: every employee across the globe depends on it being accurate, compliant, and on time. As Strava scales internationally and prepares for life as a public company, this role owns the integrity and scalability of global payroll across all entities and jurisdictions. Reporting to the Assistant Controller, you will own and run Strava’s global payroll function end-to-end across the US and EMEA entities, leading a globally-distributed team. You’ll build the SOX-ready controls, processes, documentation, and reporting that public-company readiness demands, partner closely with People Operation, Legal, and FP&A, and own the payroll and equity-compensation implications of the company’s path to IPO. This is a build mandate, not a maintenance role: the EMEA payroll platform is newly in place, the controls work is ahead of you, and leadership is invested in getting it right.

Responsibilities

Own and run Strava’s global payroll function end-to-end across the US and EMEA, ensuring accurate pay, tax withholding, and statutory filings in every jurisdiction where Strava operates; Lead and develop two Senior Payroll Analysts across San Francisco and France, setting clear expectations and supporting their growth across a significant timezone gap; Build and own SOX-ready payroll controls, processes, and documentation; partnering with the Assistant Controller on audit support and public-company readiness; Own the payroll side of equity compensation as Strava moves toward IPO, including RSU vesting, ESPP, and mobility/shadow-payroll implications, in partnership with Legal and Equity; Partner with the GL team on payroll journal entries, accruals, and reconciliations, ensuring a clean and timely month-end close; Build strong cross-functional partnerships, working closely with People Operations and Legal teams, and managing external payroll vendors, with the judgment to know when to push and when to take a diplomatic approach to keep relationships and outcomes on track; Communicate with clarity and impact across the function and up to leadership, synthesizing complex payroll matters into clear recommendations, weekly updates, SOX documentation, and standard operating procedures, and representing payroll confidently in both written and verbal settings; Run payroll as a measured function: build and deliver regular operations reporting (accuracy, cycle time, exceptions, compliance SLAs) to Controllership and Finance leadership; Drive process improvement and automation across payroll operations, including practical use of AI tooling to improve efficiency and quality; Manage international payroll vendors and lead system implementations and optimizations as the function scales.

Requirements

Substantial experience owning global, multi-country payroll end-to-end as a function owner, across multiple entities and currencies. Direct experience with UK, France, Germany, and Ireland payroll alongside US is important; Experience leading and developing payroll staff, ideally a distributed team across timezones; Hands-on depth with payroll processing systems, plus experience managing international payroll vendors and running system implementations; Deep multi-jurisdiction payroll compliance knowledge across the US and EMEA, including payroll tax, statutory filings, and FLSA, with ownership of SOX payroll controls and audit support; A track record of building SOX-ready payroll controls and processes, not just operating within them; Experience through a company’s transition to public ownership, including the payroll and equity-compensation implications of an IPO; A clear understanding of the payroll/GL interface — journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and the close dependency with the GL team; A measured, data-driven approach to running payroll, with experience building operations reporting from scratch for finance leadership; Demonstrated, functional use of AI tools (such as Anthropic’s Claude) to make meaningful improvements to payroll efficiency or quality.

Nice to have

Experience taking payroll from a startup operating model to public-company grade; CPP certification