SF EC Payroll Lead

About Accenture

 Accenture helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed for organizations across industries. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and lead in the safe, widespread adoption of AI, and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. We bring together the talent of our approximately 786,000 people with proprietary assets and platforms, deep process and industry expertise, and leading ecosystem relationships to deliver end-to-end solutions and measurable outcomes at scale. Through our Reinvention Services, we offer broad expertise across Cybersecurity, Digital Core, Finance, Industry and Enterprise, Song, Supply Chain and Engineering, and Talent, with advanced capabilities in AI and Data, Industry and Process, and Technology. We serve approximately 9,000 clients and generated approximately $70 billion in FY25 revenue. Visit us at accenture.com.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced SAP SuccessFactors EC Payroll Lead to join our Reinvention Services team at Manager level. In this role, you will serve as the principal Functional Subject Matter Expert across SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll and SAP HCM Payroll, leading end-to-end delivery or defined components of complex payroll transformation engagements.

You will be accountable for meeting operational, contractual, and financial delivery commitments while ensuring service quality, stakeholder alignment, and the identification of opportunities for follow-on value. You will take ownership of team decisions, engage across multiple cross-functional workstreams, and provide solutions to challenges that span delivery teams — combining deep technical proficiency with the influencing and advisory skills required at Manager level.

Key Responsibilities

Functional SME Leadership & Delivery Accountability

• Act as the primary Subject Matter Expert for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll and SAP HCM Payroll, ensuring functional correctness and alignment with real operational payroll business needs throughout all project phases.

• Lead end-to-end delivery or a defined component of a contract, meeting all operational, contractual, and financial commitments with accountability and rigour.

• Apply deep knowledge of payroll business processes and expected system behaviour to validate requirements, configurations, and workflows with client stakeholders.

• Ensure solutions are functionally sound, compliant, and aligned to both HR/Payroll objectives and broader business goals across the project lifecycle.

• Drive the adoption of delivery best practices, quality standards, and governance frameworks across all engagements.

Solution Design & Process Improvement

• Identify project scope and define detailed, structured requirements to support business and technology transformation initiatives.

• Create clear and comprehensive functional and technical specifications to guide development, configuration, and integration teams.

• Develop and support proof of concepts, solution estimates, and conceptual designs to validate approaches and build stakeholder confidence.

• Lead the analysis and refinement of payroll business processes, aligning them with SAP SuccessFactors and HCM system capabilities and project objectives.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives by identifying functional gaps, anticipating delivery challenges, and proposing innovative, scalable payroll solutions.

Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Advisory

• Engage directly with client business leads, HR Directors, Finance, and project sponsors to align delivery objectives with business goals and ensure high-quality service standards throughout.

• Communicate effectively with stakeholders to manage expectations, provide transparent progress updates, and ensure alignment at every stage of the project lifecycle.

• Influence delivery strategies across multiple teams to optimise efficiency, effectiveness, and overall project outcomes.

• Identify and pursue opportunities for follow-on value delivery, up-selling, or cross-selling within existing and new client relationships.

• Support change management efforts to facilitate smooth adoption of new payroll processes, configurations, and technologies across client organisations.

Team Leadership & Practice Contribution

• Take accountability for team decisions within the payroll workstream, providing clear direction and resolving cross-team challenges with confidence and commercial awareness.

• Provide advanced guidance to the delivery team, shaping functional approaches and outcomes to enhance overall project success.

• Mentor, coach, and support team members to enhance their understanding and execution of functional payroll requirements.

• Engage with multiple delivery teams simultaneously, providing solutions and guidance that apply across workstreams.

• Contribute to the growth and market positioning of Accenture's SAP SuccessFactors Payroll practice through knowledge sharing and methodology development.

Skills & Expertise

Core Technical Skills

• Expert proficiency in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll — configuration, payroll control centre, off-cycle processing, and integration with Employee Central.

• Expert proficiency in SAP HCM Payroll — payroll schemas, rules, wage types, off-cycle payroll, and statutory compliance (including South African payroll legislation: PAYE, UIF, SDL).

• Advanced proficiency in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central — data model, foundation objects, position management, and EC-to-Payroll integration.

• Strong capability in requirements gathering, functional and technical specification writing, and solution documentation.

• Proficiency in solution design, proof of concept development, and payroll integration architecture.

• Experience with HR Payroll processes and best practices across multiple industries and regulatory environments.

Enabling & Advisory Skills

• Intermediate proficiency in Business Process Analysis — translating complex payroll operational challenges into structured, implementable solution approaches.

• Intermediate proficiency in Change Management — guiding clients through payroll transformation with empathy, structure, and practical transition planning.

• Intermediate proficiency in Stakeholder Engagement — ability to communicate technical payroll concepts clearly and influence at senior business and executive level.

• Foundational proficiency in Data Analytics — an emerging capability to leverage payroll data insights for operational reporting and continuous improvement.

• Understanding of Accenture's SAP ecosystem strategy and how EC Payroll integrates within broader digital, cloud, and financial architectures.

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum 8 years of hands-on experience in HR Payroll, SAP HCM Payroll, and/or SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field; postgraduate qualification advantageous.

• SAP SuccessFactors certification in Employee Central Payroll and/or SAP HCM Payroll (required); additional module certifications advantageous.

• Demonstrated experience in a client-facing consulting or advisory role within a global systems integrator or professional services environment.

• Proven track record of leading or co-leading full-cycle SAP Payroll implementations — from blueprint through go-live and hypercare.

• Experience operating at Manager level or equivalent — comfortable with delivery accountability, team leadership, and senior stakeholder management.

• Knowledge of South African statutory payroll requirements (PAYE, UIF, SDL, ETI) and broader SADC compliance landscape strongly advantageous.

• Experience with payroll migration from on-premise SAP HCM to cloud-based EC Payroll advantageous.

Why Accenture

• Lead landmark SAP payroll transformation programmes for marquee South African and global clients across Banking, Mining, Retail, Public Sector, and more.

• Be embedded in the SAP Reinvention Partner ecosystem with early access to SAP's latest payroll innovations, including AI-driven payroll automation and intelligent compliance tools.

• Thrive in a high-performance culture that values deep expertise, commercial acumen, and collaborative leadership.

• Access world-class continuous learning, SAP certification pathways, and accelerated career development opportunities.

• Join a diverse, inclusive, and purpose-driven South Africa team that is reinventing how Africa's leading organisations pay and support their people.

• Minimum 8 years of hands-on experience in HR Payroll, SAP HCM Payroll, and/or SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field; postgraduate qualification advantageous.

• SAP SuccessFactors certification in Employee Central Payroll and/or SAP HCM Payroll (required); additional module certifications advantageous.

• Demonstrated experience in a client-facing consulting or advisory role within a global systems integrator or professional services environment.

• Proven track record of leading or co-leading full-cycle SAP Payroll implementations — from blueprint through go-live and hypercare.

• Experience operating at Manager level or equivalent — comfortable with delivery accountability, team leadership, and senior stakeholder management.

• Knowledge of South African statutory payroll requirements (PAYE, UIF, SDL, ETI) and broader SADC compliance landscape strongly advantageous.

• Experience with payroll migration from on-premise SAP HCM to cloud-based EC Payroll advantageous.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 791,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. Our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities.

Visit us at www.accenture.com 

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