Kering Payroll Lead

About Kering

Kering is a global luxury group renowned for nurturing some of the world’s most influential Houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry, and eyewear, including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and Boucheron. As an employer, Kering offers a distinctive environment where creative excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, and long-term sustainability converge. The Group empowers its talents to shape the future of luxury through innovation, craftsmanship, and responsible business practices. With an international culture grounded in diversity, inclusion, and shared ambition, Kering provides meaningful career opportunities for professionals seeking to contribute to exceptional brands while advancing a more sustainable and imaginative luxury industry.

Role & Responsibilities

• Support Payroll Officers on technical issues, complex cases, anomaly analysis, and solution development
• Establish methodological guidance on payroll operations and controls, harmonizing practices and ensuring procedural compliance
• Prepare and monitor the payroll calendar, secure pre-cutoff and pre-closure controls, and lead payroll control checklists
• Analyze significant variations between periods and validate entries, exits, compensation changes, OTPs, bonuses, absences, IBANs, contract terminations, and sensitive situations
• Verify data coherence between Workday and the payroll system, identify missing or inconsistent data, and track necessary corrections
• Participate in payroll calculation controls, qualify incidents and ADP requests, monitor tickets and testing, and identify recurring anomalies
• Track Payroll-related requests and incidents in Kering Connect, prioritize blocking or urgent tickets, support SLA monitoring, and ensure action traceability
• Provide operational support to Maisons, HRBPs, and C&B contacts on complex matters and coordinate technical exchanges
• Contribute to payroll reporting, payroll-to-accounting reconciliations, variance analysis, and prepare briefings for Finance and Treasury stakeholders
• Monitor social compliance obligations and payroll-related controls, address declaration anomalies and rejections, and execute necessary regularizations
• Qualify post-cutoff requests, coordinate treatment within exception protocols, and analyze root causes of late-submitted demands
• Identify manual, redundant, or error-prone processes, analyze systemic root causes, and propose process simplifications, automation, or organizational improvements
• Update procedures, operating guides, and quick-reference materials; develop monitoring and control tools; and track improvement initiatives through implementation
• Develop team competencies through technical briefings, anomaly documentation and knowledge-sharing sessions, and promote best-practice adoption
• Implement enhanced controls for COMEX/CODIR and VIP populations per Group C&B guidelines and support related simulations or analyses
• Formulate recommendations and alert the Payroll Manager to high-priority issues, regulatory or financial risks, and critical decisions requiring management arbitration

Qualifications

• Strong command of French payroll principles and mechanisms
• Comprehensive knowledge of DSN, social contributions, absences, entries and exits, regularizations, variable compensation, one-time payments, and bonuses
• Proficiency with ADP and Workday payroll environments
• Advanced Excel skills and reporting tool mastery
• Strong analytical and synthesis capabilities
• Solution-oriented mindset with recognized rigor and control discipline
• Pedagogical ability to mentor and guide team members
• Autonomous, responsible approach with prioritization and multitasking capability
• Ability to work cross-functionally without direct hierarchy
• Clear communication and escalation discipline
• Discretion and confidentiality adherence in payroll operations
• Good command of English for international environment

Skills

Experience

Demonstrated expertise in French payroll operations within complex, multi-entity environments. Proven experience supporting and mentoring payroll teams, managing technical escalations, and implementing payroll control frameworks. Experience with major payroll systems (ADP, Workday) and incident management platforms. Track record of identifying process improvement opportunities and driving standardization initiatives.

Education

Professional qualification or certification in payroll, HR, or accounting (e.g., BAC+2 or equivalent in human resources, accounting, or related discipline). Continuous professional development in French labor law and payroll regulations is expected.

Workplace

Culture

Kering fosters a dynamic, purpose-driven culture where creativity, entrepreneurship, and collaboration support the distinct identities of its luxury Houses. As an employer, the Group places strong emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and talent development, encouraging people to innovate responsibly while contributing to the future of modern luxury.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.