Rise is hiring an International Payroll Lead based in Canada to take full ownership of payroll design, execution, and compliance across its Canadian client payroll population and beyond.
This role is suited to a Canadian payroll specialist with around 6 years’ experience who is comfortable designing, owning, and executing payroll in a complex environment that includes:
Multi-province payroll operations
Manual statutory filings and calculations
Historic compliance remediation
Building payroll controls in a partially underdeveloped environment
Supporting direct client payroll delivery operations in Canada
Some international payroll processing exposure
Reporting to the Head of Global Payroll & HR, this role will be critical in stabilizing Canadian payroll operations, introducing a compliant and scalable control framework, and ensuring Rise is operationally ready to deliver payroll services to clients in Canada.
Key Responsibilities
Canada Payroll Operations Ownership
Own end-to-end payroll operations across the Canadian employee and client payroll population
Validate payroll inputs, outputs, calculations, statutory deductions, and payments
Perform and review manual payroll calculations where required
Manage payroll calendar, approvals, and processing timelines to ensure accurate and timely payroll delivery
Ensure compliance with CRA requirements and all relevant provincial payroll obligations
Own payroll processing across multiple provinces with differing statutory requirements
Canada Compliance, Filings & Controls
Manage and review federal and provincial payroll tax filings and remittances
Maintain payroll compliance tracker and statutory filing calendar for Canada
Build and implement payroll controls across input validation, processing review, reconciliation, filing, and sign-off
Introduce practical and audit-ready control evidence into the Canadian payroll cycle
Identify and escalate payroll compliance issues, filing gaps, tax issues, underpayments, or overpayments quickly and effectively
Support T4 and year-end reporting obligations across all relevant jurisdictions
Ensure compliance with CPP, EI, provincial health tax, and other statutory obligations
Remediation & Stabilization
Review and correct historic payroll set-up issues in partnership with internal stakeholders and external advisors where needed
Validate statutory deductions, year-end reporting, and historical payroll records
Lead payroll reconciliations, variance analysis, and corrective action where required
Document manual workarounds, operational risks, and recommended improvements
Support audit, due diligence, and internal control documentation requests
Client Payroll Readiness & Service Delivery
Take operational ownership of payroll delivery for Rise’s client payroll population in Canada and various other countries
Help design repeatable payroll workflows, controls, and documentation standards suitable for client-facing payroll operations
Contribute to payroll operating procedures covering onboarding, recurring processing, compliance tracking, filings, reconciliations, and issue management
Identify gaps between current internal payroll operating model and the requirements of a scalable client service model
Partner with internal stakeholders to improve service readiness, delivery quality, and operational risk management
Support future growth of the play books as Rise scales its North American service offering
SOPs, Documentation & Reporting
Build and maintain payroll SOPs for payroll operations (internal and client-facing)
Maintain organized, complete, and audit-ready payroll records
Produce monthly payroll reports and variance summaries for the Head of Global Payroll & HR
Support internal governance reporting and stakeholder communications on payroll performance
Systems & Process Improvement
Assess current payroll configuration and identify functional, compliance, and control gaps
Partner with internal stakeholders to improve payroll set-up, controls, and calculation logic
Recommend pragmatic automation opportunities and process improvements without compromising compliance
Support future-state payroll design and operational scalability as the client book grows
Experience Required
Essential
Minimum 6 years’ Canadian payroll experience, with demonstrated ability to design, own, and execute a full payroll remit independently
PCP (Payroll Compliance Practitioner) or PLP (Payroll Leadership Professional) qualified — must have
Strong multi-province payroll experience including federal and provincial tax compliance
Solid working knowledge of CRA requirements, CPP, EI, T4 obligations, and provincial health taxes
Proven experience with manual payroll calculations and manual statutory filings
Experience building or strengthening payroll controls in underdeveloped or partially manual environments
Strong reconciliation, documentation, and audit-readiness capability
Comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment with evolving processes and structures
Strongly Preferred
Experience in a payroll services, EOR, PEO, or client-facing payroll delivery environment
Experience managing payroll for third-party client populations, not just internal employees
Familiarity with payroll systems used in Canadian multi-province environments
Experience supporting year-end reporting, audit preparation, and compliance documentation
Exposure to Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec payroll requirement
Exposure to UK payroll — familiarity with HMRC obligations, PAYE, and UK statutory requirements an advantage given Rise’s broader international payroll operations
Bilingual (English and French) an advantage but not required
