Assistant Payroll Manager

Driven by a passion for creating unique home-grown food concepts, Independent Food Company is a UAE-based hospitality group behind the region's most beloved brands - SALT, Parker's, Somewhere, Public, Kumo, and Shalwa. Each concept is a testament to our commitment to innovative experiences, community connection, and high standards of service.

We are seeking to appoint an Assistant Payroll Manager to join our HR team, reporting directly to the Head of HR Operations. In this role, the selected candidate will own the end-to-end payroll function across our UAE operations, ensuring every payroll cycle is accurate, timely, and fully compliant with UAE Labour Law, MOHRE regulations, and the Wages Protection System (WPS). This role will be a key partner to a high-volume, multi-location workforce spanning restaurants, kitchens, outlets, and warehouses.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage end-to-end monthly payroll operations for head office and operational staff across restaurants, kitchens, outlets, and warehouses, ensuring accurate processing of salaries, overtime, public holiday pay, deductions, penalties, and final settlements.
• Ensure payroll practices comply with UAE Labour Law, MOHRE regulations, and WPS requirements, including timely salary disbursement, accurate EOS calculations, leave entitlements, Ramadan working hours, and lawful deductions.
• Oversee payroll integration with attendance and roster systems, validate overtime approvals, investigate payroll variances, and maintain payroll SOPs, internal controls, reporting, reconciliations, and GL coordination with Finance.
• Act as the main point of contact for payroll-related matters across HR, Finance, and Operations, while ensuring confidentiality, data protection compliance, proper documentation, and e-archiving systems.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, or a related field.
• 5 – 7 years of payroll experience in the UAE.
• Minimum 3 years in a supervisory capacity is preferred.
• Strong experience in F&B, hospitality, retail, or other high-volume operational environments.
• Hands-on experience with WPS and UAE labour compliance.