Global Payroll Lead

ABOUT MERCOR Mercor's mission is to organize human intelligence to power the AI economy. We're a leading AI data company, building the layer between human expertise and frontier models. Millions of domain experts on the platform are paid over $4 million per day to train frontier AI models. Mercor's APEX benchmark family measures AI's real-world impact on professional work. Mercor Enterprise brings this same infrastructure to Fortune 500 companies: helping companies capture how their best people actually work, translating that expertise directly back into agents.   Mercor is creating a new category of work where expertise powers AI advancement. Achieving this requires an ambitious, fast-paced and deeply committed team. You’ll work alongside researchers, operators, and AI companies at the forefront of shaping the systems that are redefining society. Mercor is a profitable Series C company valued at $10 billion. We work in-person five days a week in our San Francisco, NYC, or London offices. About the Role Mercor is seeking a high-execution payroll leader to spearhead global payroll delivery while scaling our underlying operational infrastructure. In this role, you will hold end-to-end accountability for payroll execution schedules, vendor governance, internal controls, general ledger reconciliations, and complex issue resolution, all while driving high-impact automation initiatives. Additionally, you will orchestrate the seamless transition of acquired talent onto Mercor's unified payroll architecture. Working cross-functionally, you will collaborate closely with Accounting, People Ops, Finance Systems, Legal, and international payroll partners. This position demands a mix of strategic oversight and hands-on execution—diving deep into operational mechanics, driving swift decision-making within structured framework guidelines, and proactively flagging operational bottlenecks to executive leadership. What You'll Do - Run employee payroll cycles across assigned countries, coordinating inputs, validations, approvals, funding deadlines, and provider processing so employees are paid accurately and on time. - Review new hires, departures, compensation changes, bonuses, benefits, deductions, and equity-related payroll inputs with functional owners; investigate exceptions before approval. - Reconcile payroll outputs to approved inputs, funding, and accounting records. Partner with Accounting on journals, accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, and month-end close. - Maintain country calendars and evidence of required filings and remittances, working with providers and local advisers to resolve issues and complete year-end activities. - Lead payroll workstreams for acquisitions and new-country launches, including data mapping, cutover planning, testing, parallel runs where appropriate, and post-launch reconciliation. - Improve HRIS-to-payroll data flows, approval workflows, and reporting. Deliver scoped implementations and vendor transitions with documented requirements and acceptance criteria. - Build operating procedures, backup coverage, access controls, and audit evidence, maintaining separate preparation and approval responsibilities for payroll and payments. - Resolve employee pay questions clearly and promptly. Track accuracy, on-time delivery, reconciliation aging, and issue resolution, and address recurring causes. - Automate repeatable checks and reporting using approved tools, with validation, human review, and appropriate protection of employee data. What We're Looking For - 7+ years of progressive payroll experience in high-growth tech startups - Hands-on ownership of US payroll and experience delivering payroll in additional countries through local teams or providers. - Strong understanding of payroll processing, reconciliations, statutory deadlines, controls, and year-end reporting, with judgment about when to involve local tax or legal specialists. - Experience delivering a payroll optimization, vendor transition, acquisition integration, or new-country launch from planning through stabilization. - Practical experience with an enterprise HRIS and payroll platform, including data validation, reporting, testing, and troubleshooting. Rippling or comparable systems experience is valuable. - Strong analytical skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing deadlines and influence partners without direct authority. - Clear communication, sound judgment with confidential information, and willingness to stay close to operational work. - A degree in Accounting, Finance, HR, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. NICE TO HAVE - EMEA or APAC payroll - Equity or mobility payroll - Hourly payroll and timekeeping - CPP or comparable certification Compensation - Base cash comp from $160K - $185k - Generous equity grant vested over 4 years - Up to $15k Relocation bonus - $10K housing bonus (if you live within 0.5 miles of our office) - $1.5K monthly stipend for meals - Free Equinox membership - $200 monthly laundry reimbursement - $200 monthly personal wellness reimbursement - Health, Dental, Vision insurance - 401(k) with company match