Payroll Specialist I (Portugal)

✨ 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 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 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 to meet the business needs, this role requires you to be based in Portugal with the right to work in this location. Role Summary 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. Core Responsibilities Run payroll end-to-end. Own the full native Portuguese payroll cycle in-house; accurate, compliant, and on time. Master data accuracy. Process and check employee payroll master data — including new hires, terminations, salary changes, variable pay, payroll-related benefits (including meal vouchers and other employee benefits), absences, and garnishments ( penhoras de vencimento ), 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. Monthly IRS withholding declarations, DMR (Declaração Mensal de Remunerações)[1] filings to Segurança Social, and the annual Modelo 10 filing, filing of subsídio de doença and subsídio parental reimbursement claims, owning the retrieval and maintenance of employee IRS withholding codes: 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 Direito Fiscal (IRS), Direito da Segurança Social, Direito do Trabalho, and Contrato Coletivo de Trabalho (CCT) as they apply to your work, and ask questions when something is unclear. Check your numbers . Check payroll journals and 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, Comissão de Trabalhadores-facing pay assessment documentation, and RGPD/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 Portugal, comfortable independently handling a defined volume of payslips per month. Hands-on experience with Portuguese payroll software Cegid (Primavera or PHC) and / or Sendys is essential. Completed a recognized accounting/payroll quali