Payroll Specialist (Germany)

Job description

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…

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…
• 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.

Qualifications and requirements

• 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…
• 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.
• Payroll specialist role delivering accurate and compliant payroll support for Germany.