Senior Vendor Relationship Manager - Oyster

✨ 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

Location: While this position is posted in a specific region, all of Oyster’s positions are fully remote, and you can work from home. Forever. Global candidate-location options available.

About the Role

In this highly strategic and cross-functional role, you’ll own and evolve Oyster’s global network of external payroll partners and core compliance providers that underpins end-to-end payroll delivery across our markets. Operating with a primary focus (~80%) on core multi-country payroll delivery, vendor accuracy, calendar adherence, and operational controls, alongside secondary oversight (~20%) of specialized Compliance vendors, you’ll ensure our partners deliver scalable, high-quality, and fully compliant solutions.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys solving complex operational challenges, and can confidently influence stakeholders internally and externally.

Key Responsibilities

• Vendor Ownership: Act as the Subject Matter Expert and primary operational and commercial owner for Oyster's strategic multi-country payroll partners worldwide.
• Operational Mastery: Maintain deep operational mastery of end-to-end payroll delivery workflows, cut-off calendars, variance analysis, Gross-to-Net (GTN) calculations, statutory filings, and failure modes across key markets.
• SLAs & Performance: Partner with internal Pay & Payroll operations teams to monitor partner SLA compliance, data payload delivery, and payroll cut-off adherence.
• Capacity Planning: Proactively evaluate vendor capacity, operational readiness, and processing controls ahead of peak payroll cycles and expansion into new markets.
• Governance: Define partner strategy, governance, scorecards, review cadences, escalation thresholds, and improvement plans.
• Lifecycle Management: Manage the full vendor relationship lifecycle, from partner selection and onboarding through transition, consolidation, or exit decisions.
• Commercial Negotiations: Lead or materially shape commercial negotiations, contract renewals, pricing, remedies, and service changes.
• Escalation Leadership: Lead complex, multi-market payroll escalations through root-cause analysis, recovery, prevention, and executive communication.
• Ecosystem Development: Identify operational or geographic gaps within the vendor ecosystem and evaluate/onboard new partners.
• Compliance & Audits: Conduct structured vendor compliance audits, risk assessments, and operational reviews across the partner ecosystem.

Core Requirements

• 5+ years of direct experience managing multi-country Payroll Vendors and Compliance/Health & Safety partners in a global environment.
• Strong technical understanding of end-to-end payroll processing cycles, Gross-to-Net (GTN) calculations, statutory filings, and payroll controls.
• Significant experience owning strategic payroll and compliance vendor relationships in a global or multi-country environment.
• Deep understanding of payroll operations, compliance tracking, risk assessments, statutory controls, regulatory monitoring, and global legal standards.
• Evidence of improving vendor performance and regulatory alignment through KPIs, SLAs, vendor compliance audits, governance, remediation, and executive business reviews.
• Commercial negotiation and contract-management capability, including pricing, service levels, remedies, renewals, and trade-offs.
• Highly strategic thinker with the ability to balance operational detail with long-term business goals.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data to drive decisions and improvements.
• Exceptional relationship-building and influencing skills across internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal.
• Collaborative and cross-functional by nature, with experience partnering across Operations, Legal, Support, Sales, and Customer-facing teams.
• Fluent English language and a reliable home internet connection.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience working with global vendors across multiple regions (APAC, EMEA, LATAM, AMER).
• Experience building or scaling vendor governance programs and operational frameworks.
• Additional languages.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, scaling startup or global tech environment.
• Experience implementing AI tools or automation workflows to improve workflows and vendor management.