Subject Matter Expert & Customer Success Specialist ( South Africa ) REF-J01-452
Job Description
The Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a country's payroll and HR-related regulations, processes and best particles specialist. The SME is responsible for providing Mercans’ internal stakeholders, including the Business Development, Compliance, Product and Operations departments, with support and advice regarding the country’s end-to-end payroll processes, statutory calculations and filings, labor laws, as well as the other aspects the country-specific processes that relevant to Mercans’ payroll outsourcing or SaaS services.
Qualifications / Skills
Minimum Requirements for Candidates
7+ years of country-specific experience in the payroll outsourcing industry.
5+ years of experience with country-specific statutory filings and compliance activities.
Able to perform country-specific gross-to-net calculations in Excel without external support.
Able to describe and document end-to-end payroll processing and statutory compliance activities for the country.
Able to communicate fluently in writing and verbally complex country-specific payroll concepts in English.
Expectations for Ideal Candidates
Bachelor’s degree or diploma in accounting/finance/business administration/IT/HR or related discipline
Experience with end-to-end payroll processes, statutory calculations and filings, labor laws
Able to perform country-specific gross-to-net calculations in Excel without external support.
Able to communicate fluently in writing and verbally complex country-specific payroll concepts in English.
Responsibilities
This role is responsible for analyzing, summarizing, documenting and presenting the country’s regulations related to the payroll processing, statutory payments and filings, taxes, employment contracts, labor laws, company incorporation, entity registrations with statutory bodies, and the other related legislations, in accordance with Mercans’ standard documentation processes.
The SME is responsible for actively working with all departments to ensure that their processes and solutions are in line with the country’s statutory requirements and best practices. When needed, the SME supports the internal stakeholders with the requirements gathering, documentation, implementation and training related to the country-specific processes and requirements.
The SME is responsible for monitoring the statutory compliance requirements in the country, by conducting independent research and through continuous communication with the authorities, and ensuring Mercans’ compliance with these requirements.
The SME acts as the primary focal point, in a collaboration with the resources from the respective departments, throughout a client engagement lifecycle i.e. from the lead generation through the client off-boarding, with respect to all in-country activities.
Collect, analyze and document all relevant statutory information for the country, using Mercans’ standard documentation requirements, including the country-specific and statutory data fields, tax and social security calculations, statutory and common wage types and their taxability, tax and social security filings and payments, collective bargaining agreements, leave and benefits regulations, etc.
Conduct a review of the current processes and solutions and identify any gaps with the statutory requirements. Create a plan of action for closing the gaps and ensure the completion of the plan within the established timeframes.
Ensure that Mercans is considered as the payroll industry leader in the country by elevating Mercans brand recognition in the country and building strong relationships with the external stakeholders.
Review and audit the payroll results and reports before their release to the clients and identify any errors. Conduct root cause analysis (RCAs) related to the errors and work with the internal stakeholders to ensure that the root causes are permanently addressed.
When requested by the clients and approved through Mercans change management processes, deliver in-country support to the clients in the areas of statutory filings, payments, pension and benefits reporting, leave management, registrations with the statutory authorities, etc.
Support the Employer of Record (EOR) department and the other internal stakeholders with the end-to-end in-country HR and labor law related questions and activities.