HR Operations Specialist (Payroll)

Hybrid work: Employees work in a hybrid model balancing collaboration in our office and remote work. You must reside in England, United Kingdom, and be commutable distance to the office.

Overview: Find a job that lets your imagination run wild! WildBrain is made up of a team of innovators and creators who bring industry‑leading kids’ content and brands to families globally. We inspire imagination, put creativity first, and believe in the power of storytelling. We are constantly connecting the powers of our global team, making WildBrain a collaborative, open‑minded and passionate environment to work in. To work at WildBrain means you get to create stories that let imaginations run wild. Join our team today to become part of the story!

About The Role: Reporting to the Director, HR Operations (EMEA & APAC), the Talent Ops Specialist (Payroll), EMEA & APAC is responsible for coordinating and owning the HR‑side payroll process across the region, with payroll processing delivered via external providers and final payroll reporting provided to Finance for financial accounting purposes. The role works collaboratively with the HR Operations Coordinator (EMEA) and HR Operations Partner (APAC). In a lean HR Operations environment, the role also supports cross‑training, knowledge sharing, and day‑to‑day operational activities, as well as contributing to HR Operations projects as required. The role ensures payroll delivery is accurate, compliant, and consistent by aligning upstream HR activity (such as new hires, leavers, changes, benefits, and time‑off reporting) with payroll requirements. Working closely with external payroll providers, HR colleagues, and cross‑functional stakeholders, the role focuses on maintaining strong governance, data quality, and documentation, while supporting continuous improvement and operational resilience. You will also support on payroll related country specific compliance tasks, year end activities and audit requirements, while working closely with the Director, HR Business Partners, Finance, Legal, Papaya Global, and other vendors to ensure smooth and compliant payroll operations across EMEA and APAC.

Job Description:

• Lead the HR process side for payroll processes across 11 APAC and 15 EMEA countries (circa 250 employees), with payroll processing delivered via Papaya Global.
• Prepare, review, and submit for second review of monthly HR payroll inputs, including new hires, leavers, contractual changes, variable pay, benefits, time‑off reporting, and statutory data.
• Coordinate payroll timelines, governance activities, controls, and data checks to support accurate and timely delivery.
• Act as the primary contact for Papaya Global and in‑country providers, supporting issue resolution, escalations, and lead on employee payroll‑related queries, escalating to Director as required.
• Ensure HR systems, upstream data, and payroll dependencies are aligned and accurate.
• Partner with key stakeholders to support payroll matters from an HR Operations perspective, including year‑end and audit activities.
• Maintain accurate process documentation, controls, and country‑specific guidelines, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support cross‑training, knowledge sharing, and broader HR Operations activities and projects within a lean team environment.

Qualifications:

• Experience supporting or owning multi‑country payroll operations delivered via a third‑party provider (e.g. Papaya Global).
• Good knowledge of payroll practices with a multi‑country scope of responsibility or keen desire to learn.
• Experience working with payroll vendors and HR/payroll systems (e.g. Papaya Global/UKG).
• Demonstrated ability to own, maintain, and improve operational processes end‑to‑end.
• Comfortable working independently and taking accountability with minimal supervision.
• Experience handling complex payroll issues and escalations.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work effectively with multiple stakeholders.
• Highly detail‑oriented, with a strong sense of accountability and integrity.

What We Offer: Working at WildBrain is more than a job — it’s the opportunity to join forces with extraordinary, insightful, and imaginative people who will recognize your talents and encourage your professional growth and development in a work environment that promotes creativity and individuality. We offer competitive benefits, and we invest in our people and their future.

Our Commitment: Diversity and Inclusion are in our DNA. As a global leader in kids and family entertainment, we strive to reflect and honour the diversity of our audiences around the world. We believe that creating diverse and inclusive content & brands begins with fostering a culture of belonging at WildBrain. To us, a culture of belonging is one where we celebrate and welcome the diversity of all employees, stakeholders, and external partners and strive to create an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and brings their authentic self to work. We demonstrate our commitment to this by striving to provide a supportive work environment and a corporate culture that welcomes and encourages equal opportunities for all employees. We recognize that people bring experience and talent that goes beyond the technical skills and requirements of a job. If you possess similar experience that is close to what we’ve listed here, we encourage you to please still consider applying. We strongly believe that diverse experience, transferable skills, and passion are key! WildBrain accommodates people with disabilities throughout the recruitment and selection process. Applicants are encouraged to make their needs known in advance if accommodation is required.

About WildBrain: At WildBrain we inspire imaginations through the wonder of storytelling. A leader in 360° franchise management—spanning Content Creation, Audience Engagement and Global Licensing—our mission is to cultivate and grow love for our own and partner brands through exceptional entertainment experiences. Home to such franchises as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Inspector Gadget and Degrassi, we produce such acclaimed series as The Snoopy Show, Snoopy in Space, Camp Snoopy, Teletubbies Let’s Go!, Yo Gabba GabbaLand!, Sonic Prime and Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City. With a library of approximately 14,000 half‑hours, our shows reach kids and families everywhere, including on our YouTube network, which has generated more than 1.7 trillion minutes of watch time. Our consumer products licensing arm, WildBrain CPLG, represents our own and partner brands in every major territory worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, WildBrain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Visit us at wildbrain.com.