Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Payments operations is often the hidden backbone of B2B SaaS, and this Director-level remit sits directly on the seam between product promise and real-world execution. In a platform handling global workforce payments, reliability, compliance, and timeliness are not back-office concerns but core to the customer experience. The role stands out for treating payroll and payments delivery as an operational system that must perform consistently across many markets and regulatory constraints.
For a SaaS career, this kind of mandate builds durable operating leverage skills. It involves running SLAs at scale, translating customer outcomes into measurable process performance, and partnering across implementation, product, and finance to reduce friction in the service lifecycle. The emphasis on revenue retention and expansion signals exposure to how operational quality protects ARR, while the AI and automation focus aligns with a broader shift toward tooling-led operations in modern SaaS.
This role best suits an operator who prefers ownership over a defined domain, can lead large customer-facing teams, and is comfortable being an escalation point for complex issues. It will appeal to leaders who like using data to set standards, prioritize improvements, and turn operational maturity into predictable customer outcomes.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
Papaya Global is a rapidly growing, award-winning B2B tech unicorn with a mission to transform the way companies manage global workforce payments. Our platform enables organizations to pay employees, contractors, and other beneficiaries anywhere in the world quickly, compliantly, and reliably. As we continue to scale our global payments infrastructure, we are looking for an experienced Director of Payment Operations to lead and evolve our payment execution capabilities.
We are looking for an experienced Director of Payroll Operations to lead and elevate our global payroll operations function. This is a senior leadership role with end-to-end ownership of the payroll cycle, direct accountability for customer outcomes, and a mandate to take the team to the next level of operational maturity.
You will lead a team of 80+ payroll professionals, work closely with In Country Teams (ICTs), and serve as a
key driver of customer health, revenue retention and expansion.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end payroll cycle - ensuring accuracy, compliance, and SLAs across all markets.
- Drive a high level of service quality that directly contributes to customer health and retention.
- Own the revenue mindset: treat payroll operations as a business function that protects and grows ARR.
- Partner closely with ICTs to close the loop to ensure seamless handoff into steady-state operations.
- Build and execute a roadmap to mature the team's processes, tooling, and performance standards.
- Champion an AI-first mindset across the team - identifying opportunities to leverage AI and automation to streamline payroll operations, reduce manual effort, and scale effectively.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex customer issues and drive resolution with urgency and ownership.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and customer obsession across a team of 80+.
Requirements:
- 10+ years of experience in payroll operations, with proven expertise in managing full-cycle payroll processes at scale.
- Demonstrated experience leading large teams in a customer-facing environment.
- Experience working cross-functionally with implementation, product, and finance teams.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to represent the operations function at the executive level.
- A revenue mindset
- Data-driven mindset and decision making
- An AI mindset - you actively explore how AI and automation tools can drive effective teams and elevate the quality of service at scale.
- Experience in the global workforce industry, specifically in Payroll, EOR, and AOR.
- Familiarity with multi-country payroll complexity and the regulatory landscape across key markets
- Background in scaling operations teams through growth or transformation phases
Why This Role
This is not a steady-state role - it's a transformation mandate. You'll have the authority, the team, and the executive support to drive real change. If you thrive in fast-moving environments and want to leave your mark on a global payroll function, this is the opportunity.
