Senior Global Payroll Manager, Strava
$180-190k
Ireland salary range: €140,000 – €150,000. Offers equity
3 days a week in office
Social network for tracking run and cycle routes
Be an early applicant
Social network for tracking run and cycle routes
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
$180-190k
Ireland salary range: €140,000 – €150,000. Offers equity
3 days a week in office
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To create the most committed, close, and engaged athlete community on the internet.
Role
Who you are
- Substantial experience owning global, multi-country payroll end-to-end as a function owner, across multiple entities and currencies. Direct experience with UK, France, Germany, and Ireland payroll alongside US is important
- Experience leading and developing payroll staff, ideally a distributed team across timezones
- Hands-on depth with payroll processing systems, plus experience managing international payroll vendors and running system implementations
- Deep multi-jurisdiction payroll compliance knowledge across the US and EMEA, including payroll tax, statutory filings, and FLSA, with ownership of SOX payroll controls and audit support
- A track record of building SOX-ready payroll controls and processes, not just operating within them
- Experience through a company’s transition to public ownership, including the payroll and equity-compensation implications of an IPO
- A clear understanding of the payroll/GL interface — journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, and the close dependency with the GL team
- A measured, data-driven approach to running payroll, with experience building operations reporting from scratch for finance leadership
- Demonstrated, functional use of AI tools (such as Anthropic’s Claude) to make meaningful improvements to payroll efficiency or quality
- Experience taking payroll from a startup operating model to public-company grade, or CPP certification, is a plus
What the job involves
- Payroll is one of Strava’s highest-trust, highest-risk functions: every employee across the globe depends on it being accurate, compliant, and on time. As Strava scales internationally and prepares for life as a public company, this role owns the integrity and scalability of global payroll across all entities and jurisdictions
- Reporting to the Assistant Controller, you will own and run Strava’s global payroll function end-to-end across the US and EMEA entities, leading a globally-distributed team
- You’ll build the SOX-ready controls, processes, documentation, and reporting that public-company readiness demands, partner closely with People Operation, Legal, and FP&A, and own the payroll and equity-compensation implications of the company’s path to IPO
- This is a build mandate, not a maintenance role: the EMEA payroll platform is newly in place, the controls work is ahead of you, and leadership is invested in getting it right
- Own and run Strava’s global payroll function end-to-end across the US and EMEA, ensuring accurate pay, tax withholding, and statutory filings in every jurisdiction where Strava operates
- Lead and develop two Senior Payroll Analysts across San Francisco and France, setting clear expectations and supporting their growth across a significant timezone gap
- Build and own SOX-ready payroll controls, processes, and documentation; partnering with the Assistant Controller on audit support and public-company readiness
- Own the payroll side of equity compensation as Strava moves toward IPO, including RSU vesting, ESPP, and mobility/shadow-payroll implications, in partnership with Legal and Equity
- Partner with the GL team on payroll journal entries, accruals, and reconciliations, ensuring a clean and timely month-end close
- Build strong cross-functional partnerships, working closely with People Operations and Legal teams, and managing external payroll vendors, with the judgment to know when to push and when to take a diplomatic approach to keep relationships and outcomes on track
- Communicate with clarity and impact across the function and up to leadership, synthesizing complex payroll matters into clear recommendations, weekly updates, SOX documentation, and standard operating procedures, and representing payroll confidently in both written and verbal settings
- Run payroll as a measured function: build and deliver regular operations reporting (accuracy, cycle time, exceptions, compliance SLAs) to Controllership and Finance leadership
- Drive process improvement and automation across payroll operations, including practical use of AI tooling to improve efficiency and quality
- Manage international payroll vendors and lead system implementations and optimizations as the function scales
Our take
Strava has created an online network where runners, swimmers and cyclists can record fitness activities, and compare and compete with their community. It offers both a free and premium subscription service with added features. The company also partners with local councils and urban planners who purchase valuable journey data from Strava which can be used to map out cities and develop safer cycle paths.
The platform helps members discover and plan workouts, as well as offering a leaderboard which is updated using GPS as users compete for the top spot on particular fitness segments.
With over 125 million athletes and growing, Strava released several new product rollouts in 2024, including an AI-enabled leaderboard. A partnership with the wearable fitness tracker Oura will mean Strava software is available on wearables, taking the company into fresh competition with the likes of Peloton and Apple. In 2025, the company secured new funding in a round led by Sequoia Capital, growing its value to $2.2 billion.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Nov 2020
$110m
SERIES F
Oct 2014
$18m
LATE VC
Total funding: $151.4m
Company benefits
- Competitive base salary & stock options
- 100% company paid benefits for employees and families
- Flexible paid time off
- $2,000 annual professional development stipend
- Paid time off for volunteering
- 401(k) plan - with company matching
- $1000 annual gear stipend
- $500 annual gym or coaching reimbursement
- On-site fitness rooms with showers, lockers, and towel service
- Weekly team workouts – including remote employees
- Safe and secure bike storage on-site
- Weekly all hands meetings
- Employee resource groups
- Anti-racism nonprofit company matching program
- Free lunch on Wednesdays on-site
- Regular team happy hours
- Team offsites and company retreats
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Generous industry discounts on gear and activities
- Race entries to events we sponsor
- Snacks and stocked kitchens on-site
- Strava gear
Company HQ
Mission District, San Francisco, CA
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 20 more jobs at Strava