Payroll Specialist

Role ID – FF-001-2

Payroll Specialist

Role Background

The Payroll Specialist will be the dedicated owner of Fossefall's end-to-end payroll operations across Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, and the upcoming Finland operation.

The role is responsible for ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time while payroll activities meet local requirements. It will manage the day-to-day relationship with external payroll providers, coordinate payroll inputs and outputs, and ensure pension and insurance arrangements are correctly maintained.

The Payroll Specialist will also act as the main internal coordination point for payroll-related employment administration and for communication with external legal advisers when employee-rights questions or employment disputes arise. This is an administrative and coordination role and does not carry legal responsibility.

Role Duties and Responsibilities

• Own and manage the monthly payroll cycle across Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, and, when introduced, Finland.
• Prepare, validate, and quality-check payroll inputs before submission to external payroll providers.
• Review payroll outputs and resolve errors or discrepancies before salary payments are processed.
• Manage day-to-day relationships with external payroll providers, including deadlines, service levels, escalations, and performance reviews.
• Support the selection and onboarding of payroll providers when the company enters new jurisdictions.
• Ensure payroll-related employer obligations are completed correctly, including tax and social security withholding, statutory reporting, and required filings.
• Maintain clear and documented payroll procedures for each operating country.
• Ensure pension arrangements and individual employee enrolments match contractual entitlements.
• Coordinate pension updates for new hires, leavers, and salary changes.
• Ensure employees are covered by required statutory and contractual insurance schemes.
• Maintain accurate pension and insurance documentation by country and legal entity.
• Maintain payroll-related employee information, including absence, leave, holiday pay, terminations, and final settlements.
• Act as the internal coordination point with external law firms for employee-rights questions and employment disputes, including gathering documentation, instructing external counsel, and tracking matters to completion.
• Reconcile payroll information with accounting records and provide Finance with accurate payroll documentation.
• Support year-end activities, audits, and requests from relevant authorities.
• Maintain effective payroll controls and identify opportunities to improve and standardize payroll processes.
• Serve as the first point of contact for employees regarding payroll, pension, and insurance questions.
• Handle salary and personal information with a high level of confidentiality and discretion.

Essential Skills

• Strong practical knowledge of payroll administration and end-to-end payroll processes.
• Understanding of payroll delivered through external payroll providers.
• Practical knowledge of payroll and employer obligations in at least one Nordic country.
• Ability to manage payroll activities across multiple countries and legal jurisdictions.
• Working knowledge of:
• Tax and social security withholding
• Statutory payroll reporting
• Pension schemes
• Employee insurance
• Leave, absence, and holiday pay
• Terminations and final payroll settlements
• Strong organizational skills and ability to consistently meet monthly payroll deadlines.
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong documentation and process-management skills.
• Confident user of Microsoft Excel and payroll/HR systems.
• Strong data-handling discipline, particularly when working with confidential employee and salary information.
• Ability to independently coordinate external payroll providers, advisers, pension providers, insurers, and legal counsel.
• Professional written and spoken English.
• High level of discretion and integrity.
• Structured and proactive working style.
• Strong ownership and accountability for the accuracy and quality of work.
• Comfortable working across different countries, cultures, and time zones.

Experience

Required Experience

• Minimum 3–5 years of hands-on payroll administration experience.
• Experience managing payroll delivered through external payroll providers.
• Practical payroll experience in at least one Nordic country.
• Demonstrated experience working across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience handling payroll-related tax, social security, pension, insurance, and statutory reporting requirements.
• Experience coordinating external providers and advisers independently.

Nice-to-Have Experience

• Payroll experience across several of Norway, Sweden, and Luxembourg.
• Experience within a group structure containing multiple legal entities.
• Experience with cross-border employment.
• Experience coordinating with external law firms on employment-related matters.
• Experience documenting, standardizing, or improving payroll processes and controls.
• Experience with payroll accounting and reconciliation against the General Ledger.
• Norwegian and/or Swedish language skills.

Working Location

Barcelona, Spain

Department: Finance

Reporting to: Finance Manager

Working Policy

• Full-time position.
• Barcelona office location.
• Mid-level position.
• No direct reports at present.
• Limited decision-making authority.
• The role sits within Finance and works closely with the Finance Manager, accounting team, Head of People & Culture, local management, CFO, and employees.
• External stakeholders include payroll providers, pension providers, insurance providers/brokers, external law firms, auditors, and relevant tax and social security authorities.
• Finance retains ownership of the General Ledger and payroll postings; the Payroll Specialist provides reconciled payroll information and supporting documentation.
• Management retains decision-making authority over pension and insurance terms and provider contracts.
• Legal responsibility remains with management and external legal counsel; the Payroll Specialist coordinates related administrative activities.