Payroll Specialist (Germany)

Job description

✨ ONE PLATFORM, A WHOLE WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY The best jobs have always clustered in a handful of the world's wealthiest cities. But talent is everywhere. Oyster set out to close that gap - building a global employment platform that lets companies hire, pay, and care for brilliant people anywhere. We're proof that a high-performing culture doesn't need an office. Distributed across 60+ countries since 2020, we've built something the industry keeps noticing: - Ranked #10 of 250 on TIME and Statista's 2026 list of America's Top WorkTech Companies https://www.oysterhr.com/library/oyster-hr-named-10-of-americas-top-worktech-companies-of-2026-by-time - Named one of America's Greatest Startup Workplaces 2026 https://www.oysterhr.com/library/oyster-2026-newsweek-award by Newsweek - A G2 Spring 2026 Leader https://www.oysterhr.com/library/oyster-named-best-roi-for-any-global-employment-platform-for-g2-spring-2026 across Employer of Record, Global Employment, Multi-country Payroll, and HR Compliance - The only B Corp-certified global employment platform ~ independently verified since 2023 Two of those rankings measured our business impact from the outside. One measured how our own people feel about working here. They landed in the same place ~ because at Oyster, culture and performance aren't separate conversations. They're the same one. And we're just getting started. If you want to do the best work of your career alongside people who care as much as you do, we'd love for you to apply. Location: To create the best experience for this employee and meet business needs, this role requires you to be based in Germany and have the right to work in this location. ROLE SUMMARY This is an exciting time to join Oyster. Germany is one of our most important markets — this role will give you real ownership over how payroll runs, with the scope to help us achieve best-in-class payroll standards at scale. You'll be a valued member of our in-house payroll team: someone we trust to accurately produce your assigned stream of German payroll each cycle, follow our DATEV processes closely, and flag anything that doesn't look right. If you have hands-on native (in-house) German payroll experience, are comfortable executing structured processes with care, and want to build your skills within a payroll function that's still taking shape, this role is for you. CORE RESPONSIBILITIES - Process payroll accurately. Produce your assigned stream of the German payroll cycle in-house each period; accurate, compliant, and on time. - Master data accuracy. Process and check employee payroll master data — new hires, terminations, salary changes, variable pay, benefits, absences, and garnishments (Pfändungen) — following defined procedures and flagging anything unclear or that looks off. - Payroll controls & quality. Run pre- and post-payroll validations each cycle; check your own work carefully, and flag anything that doesn't look right before issues reach team members, customers, or Finance. - Handle all statutory filings & accesses. Lohnsteueranmeldung, SV-Meldungen, Jahresmeldung, filing of U1/U2 reimbursement claims, owning the retrieval and maintenance of ELStAM data: you follow established procedures for these activities and flag anything that looks off. You'll support the setup and maintenance of required government accesses as directed. - Follow the payroll system procedures. Follow defined steps to help maintain the in-house payroll system, test legislative updates before they go live as directed, and flag issues or ideas to your team lead or our Product team. - Build your subject matter knowledge. Learn and follow Lohnsteuerrecht, Sozialversicherungsrecht, Arbeitsrecht, and Tarifvertrag interpretation as they apply to your work, and ask questions when something is unclear. - Check your numbers. Check payroll journals and General ledger (GL) mappings against your outputs, and flag any data integrity issues you notice. - Handle assigned tickets. Handle assigned client payroll tickets well, and escalate anything that exceeds your frame to senior team members. Pair careful, accurate work with a customer-first mindset. - Reporting. Help prepare statutory and ad-hoc reports to meet regulatory requirements, including EU Pay Transparency Directive obligations, Betriebsrat-facing pay assessment documentation, and Datenschutz/GDPR compliance across payroll data. - Audits. Provide structured data and documentation to support internal and external audits. - Support the team. Follow SOPs closely and flag gaps when you spot them. Share knowledge when asked and support your peers informally, helping keep our living knowledge base — playbooks and SOPs — documented and shared. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS - 1–3 years running native (in-house) payroll processes for Germany, comfortable independently handling a defined volume of payslips per month. - Hands-on DATEV processing experience. - Completed Kaufmännische Ausbildung (e.g. Steuerfachangestellte/r) and/or Lohnbuchhalter qualification. - Working knowledge of German wage tax, social insurance, and labor law, with a willingness to build deeper expertise over time. - German at C1/C2 for interaction with local authorities and fluent English for collaborating with our async global team. - Comfortable handling assigned client queries and escalating anything beyond your scope with clear context; balancing careful, accurate work with a genuine customer-first mindset. - A careful, detail-oriented mindset. You check your own work thoroughly and flag patterns or issues as you notice them. - Comfortable navigating ambiguity within your own workstream, and know when to escalate something that falls outside your frame. - You're happy to share knowledge when asked and support your peers informally. - Comfortable working largely asynchronously in a fast-paced, remote-first environment. DESIRABLE SKILLS - A broader accounting background or qualification (e.g. Bilanzbuchhalter); particularly useful for the GL mapping and reconciliation side of the role. - Proven experience working on and delivering cross-functional HR/Payroll projects. - Hands-on capability working with AI tools to optimize payroll or operations workflows. - Strong data transformation skills and practical experience with data analytics platforms. HOW WE WORK TOGETHER AT OYSTER Our values guide the work we do, the decisions we make, and the culture that makes Oyster what it is. We make it happen—progress is our default setting. We drive change, we build and give trust, and we move as one united team. Our mission is to create a more equal world of work: helping companies everywhere hire, pay, and care for talent anywhere. Everything we do ladders up to our mission. We embrace asynchronous, collaborative work and share how we operate in the Oyster Public HQ https://oysterhr.notion.site/Welcome-to-The-Reef-Oyster-s-Open-Source-Employee-Guide-fc482e3f107c4afd8c85ed217f1d0c1d so other global teams can learn from us. HOW YOU WORK With diverse locations, cultures, and needs, we created How YOU Work; https://oysterhr.notion.site/How-YOU-work-ac16c1932e314ffd8cb693e332458395 a program supporting your whole human experience at Oyster: - Work from anywhere: Oyster has no borders or HQ. As long as work is timely, your team is supported, and you're authorized to work where you live, you can work from anywhere. - Paid time off: Enjoy 40 days off per year (including holidays and vacation), or more if required by your country. - Mental health support: Access Plumm https://oysterhr.notion.site/Plumm-3b5e7e70dec6428e975f68f25972cfb7, our mental well-being service. - Wellbeing allowance: Each month, receive a wellbeing allowance in your ThanksBen wallet to spend on a wide range of options. - Flexible parental leave: All new parents are eligible for at least three months’ paid leave, with job protection for up to 12 months or as required locally. - WFH stipend: Receive a stipend for your laptop and home office equipment to get you set up quickly. ✨ THE BEST JOBS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE We embrace diverse perspectives and intentionally build our product and company with an inclusive, global mindset. We encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet every criterion, and are committed to a trust-based, thriving environment. Oyster is committed to ensuring equal opportunity of employment for qualified persons with disabilities and actively fosters an inclusive work environment. If you require reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process, please email jobs@oysterhr.com with the subject line: Interview Accommodations. Our available positions are on our careers page. Our team will only contact you from an @oysterhr.com email, and we will never ask for money as part of an interview process or job offer. If you receive a suspicious email about Oyster jobs or are directed to a site other than www.oysterhr.com/careers http://www.oysterhr.com/careers, please report it via our Compliance and Ethics Helpline https://faceup.com/c/8tpzyyye.