Fast Facts

Coursera is seeking a Senior Manager, Payroll, to lead global payroll operations and ensure compliance and accuracy in payroll processing. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in payroll management and a strategic mindset to enhance payroll functions.

Responsibilities: Oversee global payroll processing, ensure compliance with labor laws, manage payroll-related projects, and lead a team of payroll professionals.

Skills: In-depth knowledge of payroll laws, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, experience with payroll software like Workday and ADP, and proficiency in Excel is required.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in business, accounting, or finance, with over 8 years of payroll experience including leadership roles, and expertise in publicly traded companies. Certification as a Certified Payroll Professional is preferred.

Location: The position is remote but requires candidates to have a compatible timezone overlap with their team. Candidates must be located in the US.

Compensation: $138400 - $183500 / Annually

Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 175 million registered learners as of March 31, 2025. Coursera partners with over 350 leading universities and industry leaders to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees. Coursera’s platform innovations enable instructors to deliver scalable, personalized, and verified learning experiences to their learners. Institutions worldwide rely on Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in high-demand fields such as GenAI, data science, technology, and business. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp.

Join us in our mission to create a world where anyone, anywhere can transform their life through access to education. We're seeking talented individuals who share our passion and drive to revolutionize the way the world learns.

At Coursera, we are committed to building a globally diverse team and are thrilled to extend employment opportunities to individuals in any country where we have a legal entity. We require candidates to possess eligible working rights and have a compatible timezone overlap with their team to facilitate seamless collaboration. 

Coursera has a commitment to enabling flexibility and workspace choices for employees. Our interviews and onboarding are entirely virtual, providing a smooth and efficient experience for our candidates. As an employee, we enable you to select your main way of working, whether it's from home, one of our offices or hubs, or a co-working space near you.

Job Overview

Financial management is crucial to the performance and success of any company. The roles and responsibilities of the Coursera Finance team include accounting, financial reporting, analysis, planning, budgeting, and compliance. Problem solvers at heart, this team works to fuel Coursera’s growth by developing creative solutions in response to accounting and finance challenges.

We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Manager, Payroll, to lead and manage our global payroll operations at Coursera. This individual will be responsible for ensuring payroll compliance, accuracy, and efficiency, while serving as a key partner to our internal Finance, HR, and Legal teams. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in global payroll management, a strong understanding of payroll regulations, and the ability to provide strategic direction for the payroll function. Analytical and methodical, this leader will have a proven background in payroll administration and regulatory compliance. If you are passionate about payroll accuracy, care deeply about the employee experience, and thrive in building strong cross-functional partnerships, this role could be a great next step in your payroll career.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end global payroll processing for employees in multiple countries, ensuring timely and accurate payroll execution and serve as a subject matter expert on US and international payroll matters
• Lead the implementation and optimization of global payroll processes and controls, ensuring compliance with local labor laws, payroll tax regulations, and internal policies
• Manage external vendor relationships and collaborate with People Operations, Equity, Finance, and Legal in the administration of payroll
• Assist with month-end and quarter-end accounting close, including review of payroll journal entries, account reconciliations, and monthly payroll flux analyses
• Manage payroll-related projects including year-end preparation, resolve payroll tax issues, support annual audits and other ad hoc projects
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of payroll professionals, including offshore or third-party providers

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, finance, or a related field
• 8 + years of progressive experience in global payroll, (with at least 3 years in a leadership role)
• Experience managing payroll in a publicly traded company, including processing of stock transactions and compliance with SOX requirements 
• In-depth knowledge of payroll laws and best practices for various countries in North America, EMEA, and APAC
• Proven expertise in payroll accounting, including journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and general ledger impacts

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification or equivalent international certification
• Strong hands-on experience with Workday Payroll, ADP SmartCompliance, EY Payroll Operate
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills, with the ability to interact with employees at all levels and work cross-functionally
• Strong Excel skills, with experience creating pivot tables and v-lookups
• Experience with NetSuite and Fidelity (or other ERP or equity platforms) 
• Experience with system implementations and integrations

If this opportunity interests you, you might like these courses on Coursera:

• Business and Financial Modeling Specialization
• Data Analysis & Presentation Skills
• Applying Data Analytics in Accounting
• 
  

Compensation

US Zone 1 - San Francisco Metro, New York City Metro or Seattle Metro

This position is not open in Zone 1

US Zone 2 - CA (outside of SF Bay Area), CO, CT, DC, GA, IL, MA, MD, NY/NJ (other than NYC), OR, RI, TX, VA, WA (other than Seattle)

$146,000 - $183,500

US Zone 3 - all other locations not listed in Zone 1 or 2

$138,400 - $173,000

The range listed above is the expected annual base salary for this role, subject to change.

Salary is just one component of Coursera’s total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for a bonus program and equity in the form of RSU’s.

A number of factors are taken into account when determining pay, which includes: job level, location, training/education, business need, skill set and internal equity.

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Coursera is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected class.

If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

For California Candidates, please review our CCPA Applicant Notice here.

For our Global Candidates, please review our GDPR Recruitment Notice here.

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