Senior Payroll & People Operations Specialist

Solaris is Europe’s leading embedded finance platform, pioneering Banking-as-a-Service to bridge the gap between financial technology and licensed banking. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Berlin, Solaris enables fintechs, digital ecosystems, and multinationals to embed accounts, cards, lending, and payments directly into their own products, creating seamless financial experiences for their users. As a fully licensed German bank, Solaris combines the highest standards of IT security and regulatory resilience with a modular, highly scalable infrastructure. Today, Solaris is driving the next evolution of financial services by transitioning into an AI-native banking platform, ensuring European businesses can deploy secure, adaptable financial products at scale. Why join Solaris? • 🚀 We are fundamentally redesigning banking processes around AI orchestration, standardized modular building blocks, and embedded regulatory compliance. • 🎯 We combine tech and banking in dedicated hubs - driving the technology infrastructure out of Berlin and banking operations out of Frankfurt. • 💡 Through our internal mobility, growth opportunities, and the Solaris Academy, we offer continuous learning tracks, AI ambassador mentorship, and upskilling to keep your skills ahead of the curve. • ⚖️ We foster a workplace rooted in integrity, proactive risk management, and equality actively driving initiatives like DEI initiatives. Role Location: Berlin or Frankfurt | Working Hours: Full-time or Part-time options available Your Role End-to-End Payroll Processing • Process and manage end-to-end monthly payroll for all employees, ensuring full accuracy in salaries, bonuses, overtime, deductions, social security contributions, and tax withholdings within set deadlines, including monthly adjustments in close collaboration with the Tax Advisor. • Manage and process employee leave entitlements (vacation, sick leave, parental leave, maternity protection, and flexible benefits) and ensure all absence data is accurately reflected in payroll systems. • Maintain and update employee payroll records, ensure strict confidentiality of personal data, and maintain clean archiving of all payroll documentation for internal, tax, and regulatory auditing purposes. German Labor Law & Regulatory Compliance • Act as the internal specialist for German wage tax (Lohnsteuer), social security regulations (Sozialversicherungsrecht), and local German labor law (Arbeitsrecht), keeping operational processes fully compliant. • Support internal and external audits (including tax, social security, banking regulatory, and financial audits) by preparing documentation, managing data requests, and serving as a key operational contact. • Provide specialized labor law, exit calculation, and legal compliance support to People Partners for complex lifecycle cases, contract amendments, and severance topics. • Collaborate closely with Finance, Tax Advisors, and HR Governance to ensure correct benefits administration and audit readiness. Second-Level Support & Process Optimization • Respond to complex employee and manager inquiries regarding payroll matters, salary discrepancies, tax withholdings, benefits, and deductions, resolving discrepancies in a timely and professional manner. • Drive continuous process improvement by leveraging modern HR tools, Personio workflows, and AI solutions to eliminate manual administrative friction in payroll operations. We'd love to see Depending on your level of experience, your responsibilities and scope of role will range. We don’t care much about fancy titles, but rather about real personal and professional development, as laid out in our learning framework. Let’s figure together out how you can contribute to our team. • Apprenticeship (kaufmännische Ausbildung / Personalkaufmann/-frau) or university degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Business Law, Finance, or a related field. • 4+ years of progressive HR experience with full ownership of end-to-end German payroll processing and People Operations, preferably within a fast-paced or regulated corporate setting. • Deep expertise in German payroll processing, wage tax laws, social security regulations, and core German labor law frameworks. • High proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word), Personio (or comparable HRIS systems), and payroll reporting tools. • Professional fluency in German (C1/C2 required for legal, tax, and authority interactions) and fluency in English. • High attention to detail and accuracy in processing payroll and financial data. • Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to handle payroll discrepancies efficiently. • Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive employee information. • Engaged team player with a strong drive to create a positive work environment. • Excellent communication skills to effectively liaise with employees and other departments. • Comfortable working with AI tools, thinking critically about AI outputs, and contributing to a culture of responsible AI use. We expect you to demonstrate comfort with AI-assisted workflows and a willingness to continuously develop their AI capabilities as the technology evolves. Benefits • Home office budget. • Learning & development budget of €1000 per year and a transparent growth framework to support your career goals. • Competitive salary and a variable remuneration program. • Monthly meal allowance. • Deutschland ticket subsidy. • 28 vacation days, increasing by 2 days after 2 years and 3 days after 3 years with Solaris. • Opportunity to work abroad for up to 12 weeks per year. While job ads usually paint an ideal picture of a candidate, studies show that most applicants meet an average of 60% of the criteria. Unfortunately, many promising candidates tend to apply only if they meet all the criteria. So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single item in the job description, please contact us anyway. We'd love to talk with you and find out if you might be a good fit for us. At Solaris, we are committed to nurturing an inclusive environment, where all Solarians feel valued, respected and supported. We are dedicated to building a diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of our communities. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of color, ethnicity, religion, sex, origin, disability, marital status, citizenship, or gender identity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Information on data processing: DE: https://www.solarisgroup.com/gdpr_notice_de EN: https://www.solarisgroup.com/gdpr_notice_en The annual gross salary range for this position is: €65.000—€75.000 EUR