Chief of Payroll and Offboarding

The Chief, Payroll & Offboarding provides strategic leadership and technical oversight of UNICEF’s global payroll, offboarding and job classification functions, ensuring accurate, timely, compliant and client-focused service delivery. The incumbent leads a team of specialized HR professionals responsible for complex, high-risk and interdependent processes and acts as a principal advisor to senior management on payroll and related functions.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end global payroll, offboarding and job classification operations ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Exercise delegated authority within established governance frameworks.
• Establish and maintain a robust governance and internal control framework ensuring compliance with UN/UNICEF regulations.
• Lead end-to-end offboarding services.
• Lead ERP payroll and offboarding optimization, automation and integration with case management and reporting systems.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with DPC, DFAM, DID and country offices and represent UNICEF in inter-agency payroll and offboarding initiatives.
• Oversee job classification.
• Leadership and Management of Staff.
• Strengthening collaboration with UNJSPF and HLIS.

Requirements

• Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Business Administration and any other related fields.
• Minimum ten years of increasingly responsible professional experience in accounting, finance, payroll, management or related fields is required.
• Experience in the UN common system or experience with similar positions in other international organizations is required.
• Thorough knowledge of the principal practices and techniques used in payroll operations is required.
• Advanced technical expertise in global payroll administration, employee entitlements, separation processing and post-employment benefits within a complex, multinational or intergovernmental environment.
• Strong knowledge of UN common system HR and financial regulations, pension arrangements, ASHI/ASLI processes and job classification principles.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-volume, high-risk payroll and offboarding operations involving multiple currencies, duty stations, contractual arrangements and regulatory frameworks.
• Expertise in payroll accounting, reconciliations, internal controls, segregation of duties, audit requirements and financial risk management.
• Ability to interpret complex policies and translate them into consistent operational procedures, system requirements and client guidance.
• Strong ERP and HR information-system expertise, including process design, functional specifications, testing, automation, systems integration and data governance.
• Advanced analytical skills and the ability to use operational data, dashboards, KPIs and exception reporting to improve performance and manage risk.
• Experience working with pension funds, insurance administrators and other external service providers, including the secure exchange and reconciliation of sensitive data.
• Strong stakeholder-management and negotiation skills, with the ability to coordinate policy owners, operational teams, finance, IT, country offices and inter-agency partners.
• Sound judgement and discretion in managing sensitive, confidential and exceptional staff cases.
• Strong people-management skills, including the ability to lead and develop specialized professional teams in a complex, multicultural environment.
• Fluency in English (both verbal and written) is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
• In-depth knowledge of UN/UNICEF HR rules and regulations is desirable.
• Knowledge of UNICEF financial regulations and rules, and the UN remuneration system is highly desirable.
• In-depth knowledge of SAP and variety of software applications such as database and spreadsheet packages is highly desirable.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Skills

• Payroll Operations
• Global Payroll Administration
• Employee Entitlements
• Separation Processing
• Post-Employment Benefits
• UN Common System HR Regulations
• UN Financial Rules
• Pension Arrangements
• ASHI/ASLI Processes
• Job Classification Principles
• Payroll Administration
• Financial Reconciliation
• Internal Controls
• Segregation of Duties
• Audit Requirements
• Financial Risk Management
• Policy Interpretation
• Operational Procedures
• System Requirements Analysis
• Client Guidance
• ERP Systems
• HR Information Management Systems
• Process Design
• Functional Specifications
• Systems testing
• Automation
• System Integration
• Data Governance
• Operational Data Analysis
• Dashboard Reporting
• KPI Reporting
• Exception Reporting
• Pension Fund Operations
• Insurance Administration
• Data reconciliation
• Stakeholder Management
• Negotiation Skills
• People Management
• Team Leadership
• SAP
• Database Software
• Spreadsheet Software Knowledge

Languages

English