Senior Director, Global Payroll

The Mission: 

Leads strategy and execution of L&W’s global payroll operations to ensure accurate, compliant, and scalable delivery across all regions. This role is critical in enabling business continuity, mitigating regulatory risk and establishing strong governance and operational consistency while driving continuous improvement over time. 

Job Summary: 

The Senior Director, Global Payroll is responsible for end to end delivery of global payroll operations, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and consistency across all regions. Oversees a global payroll organization, including systems, processes, and vendor partnerships, to deliver scalable, efficient, and consistent operations across a complex, multi country environment. Drives continuous improvement through system optimization, standardization, and integration with a focus on strengthening governance and operational consistency. Partners cross functionally with People Capabilities, Finance, Legal, and Tax to manage risk, support business changes, and deliver a seamless creator and sci-player experience. 

Outcomes:  

• Consistently delivers accurate, timely, and compliant payroll across all regions, with strong audit outcomes and effective mitigation of regulatory and financial risk aligned to regulatory requirements. 

• Stabilizes, establishes, and sustains a globally consistent payroll framework, including policies, controls, and processes that support business growth, organizational complexity, and geographic expansion. 

• Leads payroll transformation initiatives (e.g., system optimization, automation, vendor rationalization), with a focus on standardization and sustainable improvements in efficiency, cycle times, and creator/sci-player experience. 

• Ensures stable, controlled, and resilient payroll operations that effectively support organizational changes, including acquisitions, restructures, and workforce events (e.g., RIFs), with minimal disruption to creators/sci-players and the business. 

• Builds strong, trusted partnerships with People Capabilities, Finance, Legal, and Tax to proactively address business needs, drive alignment, and enable informed decision making. 

• Develops a high performing global payroll team, fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning while building future ready capabilities across the function. 

Essential Job Functions:  

• Direct global payroll operations, ensuring accurate and timely processing across all regions. 

• Define and implement payroll policies, controls, and procedures to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations. 

• Manage payroll systems, data integrity, and external partners to support operational effectiveness and scalability. 

• Identify and execute process improvements to enhance efficiency, standardization, and service delivery. 

• Lead, develop, and evaluate a global payroll team to ensure strong performance and capability development. 

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to support business initiatives, workforce changes, and risk management. 

• Provide oversight and support for payroll readiness during organizational changes, including acquisitions and restructures. 

• Ensure alignment of payroll operations, practices, and team behaviors with Light & Wonder’s vision, mission, and values. 

• Any other duties assigned. 

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Accounting, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent experience. 

• Experience: 12+ years of progressive payroll experience, including managing global payroll operations across multiple countries and regions. 5+ years of leadership experience overseeing global payroll teams, including experience leading distributed or multi region teams. 

• Experience across both in-house and outsourced payroll models and experience leading payroll system implementations or enhancements (e.g., ADP, Workday, or similar platforms) preferred 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:   

• Ability to lead and operate effectively in a complex, global environment, balancing strategic priorities with operational execution. 

• Strong knowledge of global payroll processes and the ability to apply sound judgment in navigating complex compliance and regulatory requirements. 

• Ability to establish structure, drive consistency, and maintain control in a dynamic and evolving business environment. 

• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex issues, identify root causes, and implement practical, sustainable solutions. 

• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to effectively engage and align diverse stakeholders across functions and levels. 

• Ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing teams, fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. 

• Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced environment. 

• Ability to anticipate risks and proactively develop mitigation strategies to ensure continuity and operational stability. 

Physical Requirements:   

• This position requires 25% - 30% travel. 

Work Conditions:  

• The Light & Wonder requires a minimum of four days per week in the office.

• The work conditions are representative and typical of similar jobs in comparable organizations. 

Light & Wonder and its affiliates (collectively, “L&W”) are engaged in highly regulated gaming and lottery businesses. As a result, certain L&W employees may, among other things, be required to obtain a gaming or other license(s), undergo background investigations or security checks, or meet certain standards dictated by law, regulation, or contracts. In order to ensure L&W complies with its regulatory and contractual commitments, as a condition to hiring and continuing to employ its employees, L&W requires all its employees to meet those requirements that are necessary to fulfill their individual roles.  As a prerequisite to employment with L&W (to the extent permitted by law), you shall be asked to consent to L&W conducting a due diligence/background investigation on you.

This job description should not be interpreted as all-inclusive; it is intended to identify major responsibilities and requirements of the job. The employee in this position may be requested to perform other job-related tasks and responsibilities than those stated above.

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