Senior Payroll Analyst- AMER

About the Role

As a Senior Payroll Analyst, AMER, you will own end-to-end payroll operations for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant processing in a fast-moving, growth environment. You will be a key problem-solver for complex payroll and tax issues, a trusted partner to cross-functional stakeholders, and a champion for process excellence and controls that keep our people paid correctly and confidently.

At Guidewire, we're transforming how the world's P&C insurers do business by combining digital, core, analytics, and AI in a single cloud platform. In this role, you'll help enable that mission by delivering reliable, insight-rich payroll operations that support data-driven financial transparency, cost optimization, and scalable growth across the Americas. You'll join a culture centered on determination, collaboration, continuous improvement, and bravery, where your expertise in payroll is part of a broader adventure to help our customers and teammates thrive.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Payroll Management: Oversee and execute timely, accurate semi-monthly payroll for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and monthly payroll for Brazil, including off-cycle runs, bonuses, and corrective adjustments.
• Compliance & Tax Administration: Ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state/provincial, and local tax regulations and wage laws across AMER jurisdictions, managing new U.S. tax registrations and year-end reporting (e.g., W-2s, T4s).
• Internal Controls & Quality Assurance: Review and approve all payroll runs prior to transmission, ensuring strict alignment with internal controls, company policies, local regulations, and audit requirements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with People Operations, Stock Administration, Compensation, Benefits, and external vendors (e.g., ADP) to streamline workflows and resolve complex payroll discrepancies.
• Issue Resolution: Monitor, track, and drive the timely resolution of open payroll tickets, ensuring clear documentation and communication with impacted stakeholders.
• Month-End Accounting Support: Collaborate with the GL team on month-end close activities, managing payroll-related journal entries, reconciliations, and salary-related accruals.
• System & Integration Optimization: Drive payroll process improvements and automation initiatives, partnering with People Tech to optimize integrations between Workday and third-party payroll systems.
• Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as the AMER payroll SME, providing clear, consistent guidance on policy interpretations, tax amendments, and payroll inquiries to internal partners and employees.
• Data-Driven Reporting & Projects: Utilize payroll data and metrics to identify trends, support broader Finance and People initiatives (including platform and data-driven projects), and enable transparent decision-making.
• Team Leadership & Culture: Support, guide, and mentor payroll team members to build regional capability, while modeling a collaborative culture that constructively challenges the status quo.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on payroll experience for multi-state U.S. payroll plus at least one additional AMER country in a mid- to large-sized, multi-entity corporate environment.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. federal and state payroll tax, wage and hour rules, and year-end reporting; familiarity with Canadian, Mexican, and/or Brazilian regulations preferred.
• Equity knowledge (ESPP, NQ, ISO, RSU) preferred.
• Experience working with ADP and other third-party payroll providers; comfort working across multiple systems and integrations.
• Solid understanding of accounting concepts related to payroll (accruals, reconciliations, GL mapping) and experience supporting month-end close.
• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets for reconciliations, variance analysis, and audit support.
• Proven ability to own processes end-to-end, manage deadlines, and operate effectively in a fast-changing environment.
• Collaborative work demonstrated success partnering across Finance, HR, Technology, Benefit, Stock, and Compensation teams.

Pay

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $96,000 - $172,000. Your base pay will depend on your experience, skills, education, training, and location among other factors.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off
• Company sponsored retirement plan
• Some roles may be eligible for the annual company bonus plan, commissions, and/or long term incentive awards which are contingent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, company and employee performance