Head of Payroll - Africa Zone at The South African Breweries (SAB)

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Governance

• Define and implement the Africa Zone Payroll strategy aligned to Global People Services and Finance frameworks
• Act as the accountable executive for payroll governance, risk, controls and compliance across 12 countries
• Ensure adherence to internal control frameworks, corporate governance policies, SABOX, and audit requirements
• Drive standardization of payroll processes across markets while accommodating local legislative nuances
• Serve as payroll escalation point for senior leadership and regional stakeholders

Payroll Operations Oversight

• Provide executive oversight of end-to-end payroll execution including salaries, incentives, bonuses, benefits and statutory payments
• Ensure accurate and timely monthly payroll sign-off across all markets
• Approve payroll calendars and ensure delivery against SLA commitments
• Oversee year-end processes including tax reconciliations and statutory submissions
• Ensure accuracy of recharge mechanisms between Zone and countries

Compliance, Tax & Regulatory Oversight

• Ensure full compliance with all country-specific payroll, tax, and employment legislation (e.g. PAYE, social security, pension, benefits regulations across Africa)
• Oversee statutory reporting and filings across all jurisdictions
• Lead resolution of regulatory escalations with revenue authorities and statutory bodies (e.g. SARS and equivalents across Africa)
• Accountable for payroll audit readiness and remediation of findings (internal & external)

Financial Control & Risk Management

• Oversight of payroll-related General Ledger postings and reconciliations
• Ensure integrity of payroll financial reporting and month-end close processes
• Sign off on monthly payroll packs, bonus calculations and payroll-related financial reporting
• Drive risk mitigation and control enhancements across payroll processes
• Ensure strong reconciliation discipline and root cause analysis for discrepancies

Systems, Transformation & Continuous Improvement

• Own payroll systems strategy (e.g. SAP HR, Payspace or equivalent)
• Lead payroll transformation initiatives including automation, digitization and harmonization across markets
• Drive continuous improvement, efficiency and cost optimization
• Manage system upgrades, statutory configuration changes and vendor performance
• Enhance reporting capabilities and payroll analytics across the Zone

Employee Experience & Stakeholder Management

• Champion a customer-centric payroll service model
• Drive improvements in payroll service delivery and query resolution
• Engage regularly with Zone and Country People Directors, Finance leaders and external vendors
• Provide monthly payroll statistics and insights to senior leadership
• Ensure payroll supports broader People Services transformation initiatives

Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and develop a multi-country payroll team (Direct: 6 | Indirect: 14+)
• Set clear performance objectives, KPIs and service standards
• Build capability and succession within the payroll function
• Drive a culture of accountability, compliance and continuous improvement
• Maintain and evolve SOPs and governance documentation

Profile & Experience

Education

• BCom Finance, Accounting or related degree (essential)
• Postgraduate qualification or professional certification in Payroll/Tax (advantageous)

Experience

• 8–12+ years progressive payroll experience, including multi-country payroll management
• Proven experience leading payroll operations across multiple African markets
• Minimum 5+ years senior leadership / people management experience
• Strong exposure to payroll governance, audits and statutory compliance
• Experience operating at executive stakeholder level