Senior Manager, Global Payroll Systems & Equity Operations

About the Role As the Senior Manager of Global Payroll Systems & Equity Operations at HTS, you will serve as a player-coach reporting to the Head of People Operations & Workforce Technology to modernize and scale our workforce compensation infrastructure. Sitting on the leadership team, your mandate is to transition the function away from manual, multi-vendor handoffs into an automated, highly scalable operating model that maximizes systemic efficiency without proportional headcount growth. This high-visibility role uniquely blends global cross-functional system design with hands-on execution to directly mitigate operational and financial risk.. What would your day-to-day look like - Own the end-to-end global payroll operating model across employees, contractors, EORs, PEOs, and local providers. - Manage and develop a team of 2–3 direct reports while maintaining execution discipline and high operational standards. - Lead the operational administration of employee equity in Shareworks, covering grant processing, data updates, and multi-department reconciliation. - Identify and implement automation workflows to minimize manual data transfers, recurring exceptions, and data friction. - Partner with HR Technology, IT, and Finance to drive payroll platform consolidations and maximize system reliability. - Strengthen compliance protocols, payroll controls, and documentation to protect the business from financial exposure and ensure audit readiness. - Establish clear processing calendars, accountability metrics, and data scorecards to measure function accuracy and capacity gains. - Step into complex tax, equity, and market-specific payroll challenges to drive swift cross-functional resolution. An ideal candidate has - Global Payroll Leadership: Proven experience managing multi-country payroll operations, specifically navigating EOR, PEO, and local provider frameworks. - Equity Administration Expertise: Direct familiarity handling equity platforms like Shareworks, including managing grant lifecycles and complex equity tax coordination. - Systems & Automation Focus: A strong track record of designing HRIS integrations, optimizing workflows, and intentionally removing manual touchpoints from financial operations. - Controls & Compliance Rigor: Deep knowledge of payroll controls, financial audit readiness, and tax implications within a high-growth technology or fintech corporate structure. - Player-Coach Capability: The demonstrated capability to manage and upskill a remote operational team while simultaneously acting as a hands-on technical expert. - Commercial & Analytical Mindset: The ability to convert complex operational patterns into clear, data-driven decisions that improve company-wide scaling efficiency Benefits - Well-funded and proven startup with large ambitions, competitive salary, upsides of pre-IPO equity packages. - Hopper covers 100% of the premiums for the employee for a group insurance plan through Vitality Health. - Automatic contributions when you start with Hopper through Smart Pension. - Please ask us about our very generous parental leave, much above industry standards!. - Access to co-working space on demand through FlexDesk AND Work-from-home stipend. - Carrot Cash travel stipend. - Unlimited PTO. - Entrepreneurial culture where pushing limits and taking risks is everyday business. - Open communication with management and company leadership. - Small, dynamic teams = massive impact. More about Hopper At Hopper, we are on a mission to become the leading travel platform globally – powering Hopper’s mobile app, website and our B2B business, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions). By leveraging massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper combines its world-class travel agency offering with proprietary fintech products to bring transparency, flexibility and savings to travelers globally. We have develop