Payroll Specialist

📋 Description

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

• Named one of America's Greatest Startup Workplaces 2026 by Newsweek

• A G2 Spring 2026 Leader across Employer of Record, Global Employment, Multi-country Payroll, and HR

• The only B Corp-certified global employment platform ~ independently verified since 2023

Location: To create the best experience for this employee and to meet the business needs, this role requires you to be based in Portugal with the right to work in this location.

This is an exciting time to join Oyster. Portugal 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 Portuguese payroll each cycle, follow our Cegid (Primavera or PHC) and / or Sendys processes closely, and flag anything that doesn't look right. If you have hands-on native Portuguese 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.

What you'll do:

• Run payroll end-to-end. Own the full native Portuguese payroll cycle in-house; accurate, compliant
• Master data accuracy. Process and check master data including hires, terminations, salary changes

• Payroll controls & quality. Run validations and flag issues before they reach stakeholders.

• Statutory filings & accesses. IRS declarations, DMR filings, Modelo 10, and related procedures.

• System procedures. Maintain payroll system, test updates, and flag ideas.

• Subject matter knowledge. Learn relevant tax and social security laws as they apply to work.

• Check numbers. Reconcile payroll journals and GL mappings.

• Client tickets. Handle tickets and escalate when needed.

• Reporting. Prepare regulatory and ad-hoc reports.

• Audits. Provide data for audits.

• Team support. Follow SOPs and share knowledge.

What you'll bring

• 1–3 years running native (in-house) payroll processes for Portugal, independent payslips.

• Hands-on experience with Portuguese payroll software Cegid (Primavera or PHC) and/ or Sendys.

• Accounting/payroll qualification or certification.

• Knowledge of Portuguese wage tax, social insurance, and labor law.

• Portuguese at C1/C2 and fluent English.

• Customer-focused and self-motivated.

• Detail-oriented and able to work asynchronously.

Bonus points

• Additional accounting qualification or GL experience.

• Cross-functional HR/Payroll project experience.

• AI tools for payroll optimization.

• Data analytics experience.

Practicals

• Reports to: Manager, Global Payroll Operations

• Team: Payroll

• Location: Remote, Portugal (Right to work in Portugal required)

• Start date: As soon as possible