People Operations & Payroll Lead

Team description

The People Enablement team ensures every SumUpper has a consistent, high-quality experience throughout their time here, from their first day to their last.
We're building something ambitious: a People Ops and Payroll function that's faster, smarter, and built to scale across borders. As the lead for Northern Europe, you'll shape how a team of eight operates across Germany, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium turning complexity into clarity and manual work into automation. This is a role where you will bring structure, automation, and clear ownership to a function that's built to scale.

What you'll do

• Lead and develop a team of eight People Ops and Payroll partners, consolidating two distinct functions into one integrated, accountable regional team
• Map, redesign, and scale core processes across the full employee lifecycle — from onboarding through to offboarding — ensuring accuracy, compliance, and efficiency across all markets
• Identify and implement automation opportunities using no-code and low-code tools, reducing manual effort and setting a new standard for how the team works
• Build a success measurement framework covering SLAs, error rates, and processing times — and report on this regularly to senior stakeholders
• Partner with Finance, People Partners, Legal, and Compliance to ensure payroll accuracy and regulatory alignment across Germany, the UK, and beyond

You'll be great for this role if…

• Proven leadership experience in multi-country People Ops, with Germany as a core market and exposure to the UK, Ireland, or the Netherlands
• Strong knowledge of German employment law and HR compliance requirements, with the ability to navigate complex legal scenarios confidently across the employee lifecycle
• A solid understanding of payroll processes across EU markets, with UK employment law knowledge considered a strong plus
• A clear track record of delivering process improvements and automation initiatives, with concrete examples of efficiency gains and time saved
• Hands-on experience with AI-powered or no-code tools such as Make or n8n, alongside advanced Excel skills and a data-driven approach to decision making
• Comfort leading through change and ambiguity, with the stakeholder management skills to build trust while restructuring how a team operates

Why you should join SumUp

• Opportunity to work with SumUppers globally on large-scale fintech products used by millions of businesses worldwide, from our Berlin office. This involves an office-first setup
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced
• Enrolment onto our Virtual Stock Option programme: you will own a stake in SumUp's future success
• A dedicated annual L&D budget of €2000 for your individual development, which you can use to attend conferences and/or advancing your career through further education
• A corporate pension scheme where we match up to 20% of your contributions
• Generous time off: enjoy 28 days of paid leave plus public holidays and special leave days
• ️ Numerous other benefits such as Urban Sports Club subsidy, Kita placement assistance, subsidised office lunches
• Break4me: 1-month sabbatical after 3 years of service
• Referral Bonus: earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team

Job Application Tip

We recognise that candidates feel they need to meet 100% of the job criteria in order to apply for a job. Please note that this is only a guide. If you don't tick every box, it's ok too because it means you have room to learn and develop your career at SumUp.