Overview
Payroll & Compliance Administrator Jobs in City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa at LevelUP HCS
Title: Payroll & Compliance Administrator
Company: LevelUP HCS
Location: City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Payroll & Compliance Administrator
Location: Cape Town, South Africa (Hybrid)
Company: LevelUP HCS
Reports To: Global Payroll Manager
About LevelUP
LevelUP empowers companies to reach their goals through sustainable talent acquisition and workforce solutions. By leveraging subject matter expertise, industry best practices, and cutting-edge technology, we go beyond conventional methods, providing innovative strategies that tackle our clients' toughest challenges.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, LevelUP operates in over 20 countries across North and South America, EMEA, and APAC, with regional offices in Cape Town, Mexico City, London, and Hong Kong. We are one of the largest privately owned Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) in our industry, a five-year Clearly Rated Best of RPO Winner, and a Major Contender on the Everest Group 2025 RPO PEAK Matrix.
Our vision is to elevate the world of work through agile talent solutions. Our service portfolio includes Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Contingent Workforce Management, HR Advisory, and Total Talent Solutions, and our brands include Phyton Talent Advisors.
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced International Payroll & Compliance Administrator to join our Cape Town, South Africa team in a hybrid capacity. This individual will play a critical role in processing and validating payroll activity across multiple countries, partnering with in-country HR contacts, and managing our relationships with Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) and third-party payroll vendors. The ideal candidate brings strong technical payroll expertise, sharp attention to detail, and the ability to operate comfortably across global time zones and regulatory environments.
Key Responsibilities
- Review payroll output across multiple countries for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with local statutory requirements prior to funding and disbursement.
- Serve as the primary point of coordination with in-country HR contacts to validate hire, termination, compensation change, and leave data that feeds into each payroll cycle.
- Manage day-to-day relationships with PEOs and third-party payroll vendors, including issue resolution, service-level monitoring, and invoice validation.
- Respond to US tax and payroll inquiries from employees and internal stakeholders, including questions on deductions, withholdings, garnishments, year-end forms, and multi-state considerations.
- Support payroll processing and review for the United States, and provide oversight or processing support for countries including India and Mexico.
- Reconcile payroll data between source HR systems, ADP, and general ledger feeds, and partner with Finance on month-end close activities.
- Maintain accurate employee payroll records, ensuring confidentiality and data integrity at all times.
- Build, maintain, and improve Excel-based payroll reports, reconciliations, and variance analyses.
- Identify process improvement opportunities and contribute to the standardization of global payroll operations across LevelUP entities.
- Support internal and external audits, including ISO 27001 and ISO 42001-aligned controls, by producing documentation and evidence as required.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of progressive payroll experience, with demonstrated ownership of end-to-end payroll cycles.
- Hands-on experience operating within a PEO or vendor-managed payroll relationship is required.
- Strong working knowledge of payroll systems, with the ability to navigate, audit, and extract data efficiently.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP, conditional logic, and complex reconciliations.
- Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
- Excellent written and verbal English communication skills, with comfort liaising across multiple countries and time zones.
- Strong analytical mindset and attention to detail, with the ability to spot anomalies in large data sets.
Preferred Qualifications
- Global payroll experience spanning 2 or more countries.
- Direct experience with ADP, including ADP Workforce Now, ADP Celergo, or ADP GlobalView.
- Prior payroll experience in one or more of the following markets: United States, India, or Mexico.
- Familiarity with US federal and multi-state tax concepts, including filing cadence, tax agency correspondence, and year-end W-2 processes.
- Exposure to integrated HRIS and finance environments (for example ADP, NetSuite, Snowflake-based reporting).
- Experience supporting audit or compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, or GDPR.
Work Arrangement
This is a hybrid position based at our Cape Town recruiting center of excellence. The successful candidate will be expected to be on site for team collaboration days each week, with flexibility to work remotely on other days. Some schedule flexibility is required to support US and Asia-based stakeholders during key payroll cycles.
What We Offer
- Exposure to a genuinely global payroll environment across the US, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
- A growing international organization with a strong investment in technology, AI, and process modernization.
- Collaborative, high-trust culture with direct access to senior leadership.
- Professional development support and opportunities to shape the future of our global payroll function.
LevelUP HCS is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.