Payroll Specialist (Germany)

About this role

✨ 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 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