Operations Manager / Service Delivery Manager – FAO & Payroll

The Opportunity

We’re looking for an experienced Operations Manager / Service Delivery Manager to lead a growing Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO), Payroll and GBS delivery operation based in Umhlanga.

This is not a traditional contact centre Operations Manager role.

We need someone who understands the operational detail behind payroll, finance and employee administration services, while also having the leadership capability to manage people, engage clients, build processes and successfully ramp new services.

You’ll play an important role in developing the South African delivery capability supporting international clients across the UK, Ireland, US and broader global markets.

What You’ll Own

You’ll lead service delivery across FAO, payroll support and related GBS services, including:

• Leading, coaching and developing operational teams and Team Leaders
• Managing payroll processing support, employee data, deductions, benefits, pensions and payroll queries
• Driving SLA performance, quality, accuracy, productivity and client satisfaction
• Supporting the transition, onboarding and ramp-up of new international clients
• Translating client requirements into delivery models, staffing plans, SOPs and controls
• Managing operational risk, compliance, data privacy and audit readiness
• Building operational capacity as new services and clients come onboard
• Producing performance reports, capacity forecasts, risk logs and improvement plans
• Working closely with Sales, Implementation, HR, IT, Quality and senior leadership
• Driving continuous improvement through Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, automation and workflow optimisation

Finance & Accounting Experience

You should have practical exposure to one or more core FAO / Finance Operations areas, including:

Procure-to-Pay (P2P)
Order-to-Cash (O2C)
Record-to-Report (R2R)
General Ledger
Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable
Reconciliations
Cash Applications
Tax or Treasury Support
Management Reporting

Payroll Experience

Strong payroll operations exposure is important for this position.

We’re particularly interested in candidates who have managed teams supporting:

Payroll processing and administration
Employee data changes
Deductions
Benefits administration
Pensions / retirement contributions
Payroll reviews and reconciliations
Payroll queries and issue resolution

Experience delivering payroll or payroll-related services on behalf of multiple clients or employee populations would be highly valuable.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years’ Operations Management experience within BPO, GBS, Shared Services, FAO, Payroll Services, HR Operations, PEO/ASO or professional services
• Strong people leadership and performance management experience
• Practical payroll and/or finance operations knowledge
• Experience managing client-facing service delivery and SLAs
• Experience with transitions, ramp-ups, knowledge transfer, SOP creation and operational stabilisation
• International client exposure, particularly UK, Ireland or US, is highly advantageous
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills
• Strong understanding of controls, compliance, information security and data privacy
• Confidence engaging with senior internal and external stakeholders

Experience with Sage, VIP, PaySpace, ERP/general ledger platforms, payroll applications, workflow tools, ticketing systems or reporting dashboards would be advantageous.

Qualifications

A Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, HR, Payroll Management, Operations Management or a related field is preferred.

Additional qualifications or certifications in Payroll, Accounting, Bookkeeping, SAPA, CIPP, ACCA, AAT, CPA, CIMA, Lean Six Sigma, Project Management or Service Management would be advantageous.

The Person We Want

You understand the numbers, but you also understand the people.

You can manage the detail of payroll and finance operations, hold teams accountable to SLAs, confidently sit in front of a client and build structure where structure is still being developed.

Most importantly, you know how to take an operation and make it work, make it stable and make it scale.

If you have strong FAO, Payroll, GBS or Shared Services operations leadership experience and are ready for your next challenge, we’d love to hear from you.