Senior Payroll Specialist – Product Support

Position Summary We are looking for an experienced Senior Payroll Specialist – Product Support with strong hands-on knowledge of Indian Payroll, statutory compliance and payroll processing. The role will provide functional support to customers using a SaaS HRMS & Payroll platform and will act as a senior domain point of contact for complex payroll, compliance and product-related queries. The ideal candidate should combine strong payroll expertise with excellent customer communication, problem-solving, ownership and customer-handling skills. The candidate must be able to understand a customer's business requirement, analyze the issue, explain the solution in simple business language, coordinate internally when required, and drive the case to closure within SLA. Role Objective • Provide accurate, timely and customer-focused functional support for payroll and HRMS-related queries. • Use strong payroll-domain knowledge to identify the root cause of calculation, configuration, compliance and process issues. • Handle complex and high-priority customer cases independently and take ownership until resolution. • Act as a bridge between customers and internal Product, Development, QA and Operations teams. • Improve customer experience through clear communication, proactive updates, effective troubleshooting and knowledge sharing. • Contribute to product quality, UAT, knowledge base and continuous improvement initiatives. Key Responsibilities A. Payroll & Functional Product Support • Provide functional support through calls, emails, chat, remote sessions and ticketing channels. • Understand customer payroll processes, requirements and configurations before recommending a solution. • Support customers during monthly payroll execution, payroll validation, approval and finalization. • Troubleshoot salary calculation discrepancies, payroll processing errors, arrears, deductions, reimbursements and other payroll scenarios. • Analyze payroll inputs, employee master data, salary structures, attendance/leave inputs and statutory deductions to identify the source of an issue. • Guide customers on correct product processes and best practices without making unauthorized manual data corrections. • Differentiate between product configuration issues, payroll-domain issues, user/process errors and potential product defects. • Maintain complete and accurate ticket documentation, including issue summary, analysis, action taken, customer communication and resolution. B. Payroll Domain & Statutory Compliance • Demonstrate strong knowledge of Indian payroll processing and salary structures. Understand CTC, gross salary, earnings, deductions, reimbursements, arrears, bonuses and other payroll components. • Handle functional queries relating to PF, ESI, PT and LWF. • Knowledge of Income Tax, TDS, Form 16 and Form 24Q. C. Customer Communication & Customer Handling • Communicate confidently and professionally with payroll administrators, HR teams, finance teams and senior customer stakeholders. • Listen actively and ask relevant probing questions before concluding the cause of an issue. • Convert complex payroll or product explanations into simple, customer-friendly language. • Set clear expectations on timelines, dependencies and next steps. • Handle dissatisfied or escalated customers calmly, professionally and with empathy. • Take ownership of critical issues and provide proactive status updates until closure. • Avoid unnecessary technical jargon and ensure the customer understands the recommended resolution. • Manage difficult conversations without committing to unsupported timelines or product changes. • Document important customer commitments and follow-ups to maintain accountability. D. Troubleshooting & Root Cause Analysis • Perform structured issue analysis instead of relying only on trial-and-error troubleshooting. • Perform impact analysis for issues affecting multiple employees, payroll runs or statutory outputs. • Identify recurring issues and recommend permanent corrective actions. • Escalate technical defects to Development/QA with clear business impact, reproduction steps, expected result and actual result. E. Escalation & Cross-Functional Coordination • Take ownership of escalated customer cases and coordinate with internal teams until resolution. • Work closely with Product, Development, QA and Operations teams for defects, enhancements and complex functional issues. • Prioritize cases based on business impact, payroll timelines, customer impact and severity. • Provide meaningful internal escalation notes rather than forwarding incomplete customer queries. • Follow the defined escalation matrix and keep stakeholders informed of progress. • Validate fixes before communicating closure to customers wherever applicable. F. Knowledge Management & Process Improvement • Create and maintain knowledge base articles, FAQs, user guides, troubleshooting notes and internal SOPs. • Share product/process learnings with the support team through knowledge-sharing and training sessions. • Identify repeated customer pain points and recommend process or product improvements. • Maintain accurate documentation for new product features, statutory changes and support processes. Payroll Knowledge • Indian Payroll processing knowledge • Salary structure, CTC, gross/net salary and payroll components • Payroll calculations, deductions, arrears, reimbursements and adjustments • Income Tax, TDS, Form 16 and Form 24Q • PF, ESI, Professional Tax (PT) and Labour Welfare Fund (LWF) • Payroll reports, validation and reconciliation • Practical understanding of payroll compliance and statutory processes Product / Technical Skills • Hands-on experience with HRMS / Payroll software, preferably SaaS payroll products • Strong MS Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, filters, pivots and data validation • Ability to analyze payroll reports and employee-level data • Basic understanding of ticketing, incident management and support workflows • Ability to understand product configurations, workflows and system-generated reports Customer Handling & Behavioral Competencies • Excellent verbal and written communication • Strong active listening and questioning skills • Customer empathy and professional customer handling • Ownership and accountability • Logical thinking and structured problem solving • Root-cause analysis mindset • Calm handling of escalations and high-pressure payroll situations • Time management and prioritization • Attention to detail and accuracy • Ability to work independently and collaborate across teams • Ability to explain complex payroll concepts in simple language Experience & Qualification • Recommended experience: 2–5 years in Payroll Operations, Payroll Product Support, HRMS Support or a similar payroll-domain role. • Strong practical knowledge of Indian payroll and statutory compliance. • Experience supporting enterprise or high-headcount customers is preferred. • Experience with SaaS-based HRMS/payroll products is preferred. • Graduate degree in Commerce, Business Administration, HR, Finance or a related discipline preferred. Ideal Candidate Profile The ideal candidate is not only a payroll expert but also a strong customer-facing problem solver. They should be comfortable discussing payroll with HR, Finance and senior customer stakeholders, analyzing product behavior, managing escalations and coordinating with internal teams. The candidate should demonstrate a balance of domain expertise, product understanding, communication, ownership and customer empathy.