Payroll Manager, APAC

The Opportunity

As Flexport continues to grow its footprint across Asia Pacific, we’re looking for a Payroll Manager to be the cornerstone of payroll excellence across the region. You’ll own the full payroll cycle for our APAC entities — spanning Singapore, Malaysia, Greater China, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, India and other new markets as we expand — and serve as the go-to expert where precision, compliance, and people experience intersect.

Sitting within the APAC People team and reporting to the Head of People, APAC, this is a high-ownership individual contributor role with significant cross-functional visibility. You’ll work closely with Finance, People Operations, and business partners to ensure every employee across APAC is paid accurately and on time — and that our payroll infrastructure scales as we enter new markets.

What You’ll Do

• Own Regional Payroll End to End: Lead monthly payroll processing across all APAC entities, managing vendor relationships and ensuring timely, accurate execution.
• Drive Data Accuracy: Coordinate with Finance on payment funding, GL booking, cost centre allocation, and month-end reconciliations — keeping payroll and finance in lockstep.
• Support the Full Employee Lifecycle: Manage off-cycle payments, bonus runs, and statutory pay calculations across all employment events, ensuring compliance with local labour requirements.
• Enable Compliant Growth: Partner with the Expansion team to onboard new APAC entities onto payroll — from vendor setup to first run — as Flexport enters new markets.
• Be the Audit & Compliance Expert: Respond to external audit requests, maintain payroll documentation standards, and manage compliance notifications as the business evolves.
• Elevate Vendor Performance: Collaborate with HR Operations to monitor vendor SLAs and proactively resolve service issues, ensuring consistent quality across all markets.

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of hands-on APAC payroll experience, with strong expertise in 2 or 3 countries payroll operations required.
• Multi-country payroll experience across the region — Singapore, Malaysia, Greater China, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, or India is a strong plus.
• Deep knowledge of statutory compliance, local labour laws, and payroll vendor management across APAC.
• Hands-on experience using modern AI assistants to automate data analysis, reporting, and modelling.
• Proven ability to partner with Finance on reconciliations, GL allocations, and audit deliverables.
• A reputation for precision — you hold yourself to a high bar and catch issues before they reach employees.
• Strong communicator who can work fluidly across Finance, People Operations, and People Business Partners.
• Experience with HRIS platforms, specifically in Workday.
• Professional proficiency in English.
• Energised by a fast-scaling environment and excited to help build payroll infrastructure in new markets.
• Be comfortable challenging ideas and holding space for other perspectives to be heard.
• Strong logical approach to resolving complex issues and adept at fostering resilience.
• Committed to maintaining a high degree of personal integrity and confidentiality.