Payroll & People Operations Specialist (d/f/m) fixed term

We are looking for a Payroll & People Operations Specialist to join our People Operations team on a fixed-term contract (12 months). Your main focus will be to run and improve our monthly payroll operations end-to-end (in close collaboration with Finance and our payroll partners/providers), while also taking ownership of Compensation & Benefits (C&B) operations and selected People Ops processes.

You’ll support the local implementation and continuous improvement of our People processes as we transition from global to locally owned HR practices. The role reports to the Head of Employee Relations & People Operations.

Responsibilities:

Payroll (primary focus)

• Support our Senior Specialist in running the operational payroll process end-to-end: monthly preparation, checks, approvals, and follow-up activities.

• Coordinate with internal stakeholders (People Ops, Finance) and external payroll partners/providers to ensure correct and on-time payroll processing.

• Manage payroll-relevant employee changes (e.g., starters/leavers, contractual changes, salary changes, variable pay inputs, absences where applicable).

• Ensure payroll data quality in our HR systems: validate inputs, reconcile outputs, investigate discrepancies, and document resolutions.

• Support payroll-related audits, reporting needs, and continuous improvements (e.g., checklists, controls, timelines, documentation).

Compensation & Benefits Operations (major secondary focus)

• Support the operation and administration of compensation processes, including annual pay reviews, salary adjustments, variable incentives, and benefits offerings.

• Maintain clean and up-to-date compensation data (e.g., salary ranges, guidelines, eligibility rules) and ensure alignment between compensation decisions and payroll execution.

• Coordinate cross-functionally with Rewards, Finance, People Partners, and Payroll for compensation cycles and related process improvements.

• Support local implementation and compliance work impacting rewards/pay (e.g., pay transparency requirements).

Your Profile:

• 3+ years’ experience in Payroll, Compensation, People Operations, or HR Analytics, ideally in a tech or scale-up environment.

• Strong skills in Excel/Google Sheets (pivot tables, data modeling) and working with large datasets.

• Analytical and detail-focused; able to synthesize, present, and communicate data and process information.

• Reliable, organized, solution-oriented; able to work both independently and collaboratively.

• Strong communicator (German is a must).

• Comfortable managing deadlines and shifting priorities in a fast-paced setting.

Nice to Have skills:

• Experience with compensation tools or HRIS/data visualization platforms.

• Familiarity with local compensation regulations or pay transparency topics.