Senior Payroll Specialist - Global Payroll Operations

3M has a long-standing reputation as a company committed to innovation. We provide the freedom to explore and encourage curiosity and creativity. We gain new insight from diverse thinking, and take risks on new ideas. Here, you can apply your talent in bold ways that matter.

Job Description:

About 3M

At 3M, we believe our people are our greatest strength. We create innovative products that improve lives around the world, and behind every employee is a payroll team that ensures they are paid accurately and on time.

We are looking for a Payroll Specialist- India to join our Payroll Shared Services team in Bangalore. This is an individual contributor role where you will own the India payroll process, work closely with multiple business functions, and help improve payroll operations through technology and process improvements.

If you enjoy solving problems, working with data, collaborating with different teams, and driving continuous improvement, we'd love to hear from you.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced payroll professional to manage payroll operations across a portfolio of global countries, including India. This role will be responsible for ensuring payroll accuracy, compliance, governance, and vendor performance while partnering closely with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, HR Technology teams, and external payroll providers.

The successful candidate will serve as a trusted payroll subject matter expert, driving operational excellence, strong controls, and continuous improvement across multiple payroll jurisdictions.

Key Responsibilities

Global Payroll Operations

• Manage payroll operations for assigned countries across APAC, EMEA, and other regions through outsourced payroll providers.

• Ensure payrolls are processed accurately, compliantly, and on time.

• Review and validate payroll inputs including:

• New hires

• Employee exits

• Variable compensation

• Benefits and deductions

• Reimbursements

• Statutory changes

• Perform detailed payroll reconciliations and variance analysis against prior periods and approved source data.

• Manage payroll calendars and critical processing milestones across multiple countries.

• Oversee payroll vendor performance and service delivery to ensure agreed service levels are consistently achieved.

• Ensure accurate reporting and taxation of equity compensation, cash and non-cash benefits where applicable.

• Support employee lifecycle payroll activities including onboarding, transfers, expatriate movements, Full & Final settlements, and offboarding activities.

• Resolve employee payroll queries accurately and within agreed service levels.

• Collaborate with global payroll teams, HR Technology teams, and external payroll providers to enhance payroll processes, systems, and service delivery.

• Explore opportunities to leverage automation, analytics, and AI-enabled payroll solutions to improve efficiency and payroll accuracy.

Statutory Compliance & Governance

• Act as a subject matter expert for country-specific payroll regulations, taxation requirements, and statutory compliance obligations across assigned countries.

• Ensure compliance with all applicable payroll legislation, tax regulations, and employment-related statutory requirements.

• Maintain strong working knowledge of India payroll legislation, including:

• Provident Fund (PF)

• Employee State Insurance (ESI)

• Professional Tax (PT)

• Income Tax

• Labour law requirements

• Oversee payroll tax filings, statutory submissions, regulatory reporting, and required payments across assigned countries.

• Monitor legislative and regulatory changes and ensure timely implementation of required payroll process updates.

• Maintain robust payroll controls, governance frameworks, and audit-ready documentation.

• Support internal, external, statutory, and SOX-related audits through accurate reporting, documentation, and evidence management.

• Identify payroll compliance risks and partner with stakeholders and payroll providers to implement effective remediation and control measures.

• Ensure payroll processes operate in accordance with company policies, internal controls, and global governance standards.

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for payroll-related matters across assigned countries.
• Partner closely with HR, Finance, Tax, Legal, HR Technology teams, and external payroll providers.
• Build strong relationships with regional and global stakeholders to enhance payroll service delivery and employee experience.
• Support Finance with payroll accruals, reconciliations, forecasting, and budgeting activities.
• Provide payroll insights and reporting to support business and compliance requirements.

Reporting, Controls & Continuous Improvement

• Prepare payroll, compliance, headcount, and management reports.
• Conduct payroll validations, risk assessments, and control reviews.
• Perform regular audits and quality checks to ensure payroll accuracy and compliance.
• Investigate payroll discrepancies, identify root causes, and drive issues through to resolution.
• Drive process standardization, automation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain payroll process documentation, standard operating procedures, and control frameworks.
• Support payroll transformation, migration, and change management initiatives where applicable.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Payroll, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 8-10 years of payroll experience within a multinational organization, with exposure to global payroll operations.
• Strong knowledge of India payroll processing, taxation, and statutory compliance requirements.
• Experience managing payroll vendors and outsourced payroll service providers.
• Strong analytical, reconciliation, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and proficiency with other Microsoft Office applications.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and take ownership of end-to-end deliverables.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to payroll accuracy, controls, and compliance.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving global environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting payroll operations across APAC and EMEA regions, including managing country-specific compliance, payroll vendors, and payroll controls.

• Experience with Workday, ADP, SAP Payroll, Strada, or similar global payroll platforms.

• Exposure to payroll transformation, payroll migrations, automation, or shared services environments.

• Understanding of expatriate payroll taxation, including:

• Tax Equalization

• Tax Protection

• Hypothetical Tax

• Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA)

• Exposure to payroll automation, reporting, analytics, or AI-enabled payroll solutions.

• Strong judgment, prioritization, and decision-making capabilities.

Success Profile

We are looking for someone who:

• Demonstrates strong accountability and ownership.
• Is hands-on, detail-oriented, and willing to roll up their sleeves when needed.
• Challenges existing processes and proactively drives improvements.
• Thrives in a collaborative, global environment.
• Has a natural curiosity to learn new payroll systems, technologies, and country regulations.
• Is passionate about compliance, controls, and delivering an exceptional employee payroll experience.
• Takes pride in delivering high-quality outcomes and building trusted stakeholder relationships.

Why Join 3M?

• Be part of a global payroll transformation journey.
• Work with teams across HR, Finance, Tax, and Technology.
• Gain exposure to automation and process improvement initiatives.
• Grow your career in a collaborative and innovative environment.

Location: Bangalore, India

Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to the world's problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.

Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

3M Global Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

Carefully read these Terms of Use before using this website. Your access to and use of this website and application for a job at 3M are conditioned on your acceptance and compliance with these terms.

Please click on the following links and select the country where you are applying for employment to review the applicable Terms of Use (link here) and Privacy Policy (link here). Before submitting your application, you will be asked to confirm your agreement with the terms.