vendor relationship manager for global payroll

Oyster builds a global employment platform that enables companies to hire, pay, and support talent anywhere. Its platform provides global employment, multi-country payroll, and HR compliance services.

• Act as the subject matter expert and primary operational and commercial owner for strategic multi-country payroll partners worldwide
• Maintain operational expertise in end-to-end payroll delivery workflows, cut-off calendars, variance analysis, Gross-to-Net (GTN) calculations, statutory filings, and failure modes across key markets
• Partner with Pay & Payroll operations teams to monitor partner SLA compliance, data payload delivery, and payroll cut-off adherence
• Evaluate vendor capacity, operational readiness, and processing controls ahead of peak payroll cycles and expansion into new markets
• Define partner strategy, governance, scorecards, review cadences, escalation thresholds, and improvement plans
• Hold partners accountable for payroll accuracy, timeliness, statutory compliance, compliance tracking, responsiveness, controls, and customer outcomes
• Manage the vendor relationship lifecycle, from partner selection and onboarding through transition, consolidation, or exit decisions
• Evaluate partner capabilities, market coverage, operational maturity, security and compliance posture, and scalability
• Build expertise in multi-country payroll delivery, regulatory dependencies, and contractual trade-offs
• Establish baselines and monitor vendor performance through KPIs, SLAs, scorecards, and remediation plans
• Lead recurring executive business reviews and performance discussions with partner leadership teams
• Translate payroll-partner performance data into recommendations for Operations, Product, Finance, Legal, Customer teams, and leadership
• Monitor operational performance and identify service risks or quality concerns
• Conduct structured vendor compliance audits, risk assessments, and operational reviews across the partner ecosystem
• Drive consistent governance standards, regulatory alignment, and operational excellence across vendors
• Lead regulatory monitoring, risk assessments, and compliance tracking to prevent gaps across payroll and compliance vendor operations and local legal standards in all operating regions
• Build trusted, long-term relationships with external partner leadership teams
• Lead or materially shape commercial negotiations, contract renewals, pricing, remedies, and service changes
• Strengthen strategic partnerships to support business growth and customer outcomes
• Lead complex, multi-market payroll escalations through root-cause analysis, recovery, prevention, and executive communication
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to resolve sensitive operational challenges
• Support customer and internal stakeholder conversations requiring partner expertise
• Identify and source new partners to strengthen global coverage and capabilities
• Identify operational or geographic gaps within the vendor ecosystem
• Evaluate and onboard new partners to strengthen global coverage
• Recommend improvements to ecosystem strategy, scalability, and service quality
• Partner cross-functionally to evolve how external vendors are leveraged and managed
• Drive initiatives that improve partner consistency, efficiency, and customer experience
• Advise internal teams on vendor capabilities, strengths, and operational considerations
• Guide partner selection decisions based on customer needs and business priorities
• Share insights from vendor trends, escalations, and operational performance data
• Partner with Go-To-Market teams to support deal strategy and customer solutions
• Enable scalable and commercially sound global employment solutions
• Partner with HRBPs, Employee Lifecycle Teams, and Payroll/Pay teams to align vendor capabilities with employee support and operational workflows
• Maintain secondary oversight of specialized Health & Safety and Compliance vendor relationships, ensuring partner capabilities and SLAs support local statutory requirements
• Lead high-impact escalations across external partners and internal teams with limited direction
• Coordinate cross-functional and cross-partner responses to critical operational issues
• Protect customer experience while balancing operational and commercial priorities
• Identify root causes and recurring trends across escalations
• Drive preventative improvements and operational maturity across the partner ecosystem
• Lead escalation calls to identify root causes, find solutions, and manage end-to-end resolution
• Audit and refine workflows and ways of working to reduce response times and improve service quality
• Build scalable processes, knowledge resources, automation, and AI-enabled reporting while protecting payroll and personal data
• Analyze recurring ticket trends and queries to identify systemic issues and build preventative resources for internal teams
• Improve workflows, documentation, and knowledge management, ensuring Pearls have accurate, accessible self-service resources that reduce dependency and improve operational efficiency
• Lead People Services and cross-functional projects supporting the mission to enable companies to hire anyone, anywhere

• 5+ Years of direct experience managing multi-country Payroll Vendors and Compliance/Health & Safety partners in a global environment
• Strong technical understanding of end-to-end payroll processing cycles, Gross-to-Net (GTN) calculations, statutory filings, and payroll controls
• Significant experience owning strategic payroll and compliance vendor relationships in a global or multi-country environment
• Deep understanding of payroll operations, compliance tracking, risk assessments, statutory controls, regulatory monitoring, and global legal standards
• Evidence of improving vendor performance and regulatory alignment through KPIs, SLAs, vendor compliance audits, governance, remediation, and executive business reviews
• Commercial negotiation and contract-management capability, including pricing, service levels, remedies, renewals, and trade-offs
• Strategic thinking and ability to balance operational detail with long-term business goals
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data to drive decisions and improvements
• Commercially minded and solutions-oriented, with a pragmatic approach to operational challenges
• Strong relationship-building and influencing skills across internal and external stakeholders
• Ownership mindset and ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced environment
• Experience managing complex escalations and driving resolution across multiple stakeholders
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
• Collaborative approach and experience partnering across Operations, Legal, Support, Sales, and customer-facing teams
• Process-oriented mindset and focus on improving scalability and operational maturity
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and shaping evolving operational functions and frameworks
• Track record of proactive business partnering with HRBPs, Lifecycle Teams, and Pay teams
• Reliable home internet connection, or ability to obtain one
• Fluent English
• Будет плюсом: Experience working with global vendors across APAC, EMEA, LATAM, and AMER; experience building or scaling vendor governance programs and operational frameworks; additional languages; experience in a fast-paced, scaling startup or global tech environment; experience implementing AI tools or automation workflows to improve workflows and vendor management

• 40 Days off per year, including holidays and vacation, or more if required by the country
• Access to the Plumm mental well-being service
• Monthly wellbeing allowance through the ThanksBen wallet
• Flexible parental leave: at least three months’ paid leave for new parents, with job protection for up to 12 months or as required locally
• Stipend for a laptop and home office equipment