Payroll Specialist - Shanghai

As an international architectural firm, UNS is active in the broadest fields of architecture. Our project portfolio covers every aspect of architecture, ranging from small to large-scale projects, research, and theory. The atmosphere within each of our offices is international, multidisciplinary, design-oriented, and ambitious, but also open, non-hierarchical, team-based, and friendly, with attention to personal well-being, knowledge development, and career planning.

We are currently looking for a Payroll Specialist to join our team, responsible for payroll operations across our Shanghai and Hong Kong offices . The ideal candidate should have solid experience in multi-jurisdictional payroll processing with advanced Excel models, a strong understanding of local labour laws and tax regulations in both regions, and a high level of accuracy, confidentiality, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Monthly Payroll Processing: collect, validate, and consolidate all monthly payroll inputs from involved teams using structured Excel templates

Excel-Based Calculations: maintain complex payroll calculation sheets to compute gross-to-net salaries, final payments, bonuses, and leave pay. Ensure zero-error output for gross-to-net validation and payslip generation

Social Insurance & Housing Fund: manage monthly declarations and payments for social insurance and housing fund for local employees. Handle enrollment, termination, and annual base adjustment processes related to compensation

MPF / Cross-Border Schemes (if applicable): coordinate MPF contributions for Hong Kong-based staff, ensuring timely remittance and compliance with respective ordinances

Individual Income Tax (IIT): calculate monthly IIT for local employees and expatriates, including the handling of special tax schemes (e.g., tax equalization, non-taxable fringe benefits, annual bonus preferential tax policy). Prepare and reconcile annual IIT filing data

Expatriate Payroll & Tax Scheme: support the administration of expatriate compensation packages; apply tax treaty benefits, split-payroll considerations, and hypothetical tax calculations as directed

Leave Management: maintain the leave tracking master file in Excel; validate leave balances, monitor accruals, and process paid/unpaid leave deductions accurately in payroll

External Agency Coordination: act as daily contact for the outsourced providers. Provide complete and clean data files, verify calculations, and obtain the final payroll report

Payslip Distribution: ensure accurate and timely distribution of electronic payslips and handle all Tier-1 employee questions regarding tax deductions, social insurance, or net pay discrepancies

Compliance & Filing: maintain meticulous digital records. Support internal and external audits by providing payroll data and reconciliation schedules. Stay updated on changes to local labour, tax, and social insurance laws

Perform ad hoc duties as assigned to support HR and finance operations across the two offices

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, HR, or related field

3-5 years of hands-on payroll experience, ideally within a multinational company environment

Proven experience processing both Chinese local and expatriate payroll is a strong advantage

Solid working knowledge of Shanghai social insurance, housing fund, and PRC IIT laws

Sound knowledge of Hong Kong Employment Ordinance, MPF regulations

Advanced Excel Mastery (a must): demonstrable expertise in VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, pivot tables, and data validation to manage thousands of records without error

Zero-error mindset with extreme attention to numerical detail and a commitment to data confidentiality

High proficiency in payroll software and Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, etc.)

Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and integrity

Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to meet strict monthly deadlines

Good command of English and Chinese, both written and spoken

Prior experience in a multinational or professional services environment is a plus

Contact

Working conditions are according to local legislation in Shanghai. Benefits are consistent within UNS Shanghai office. Applications consisting of a short motivation letter, C.V., and relevant certificates can be sent digitally (PDF, max. 10MB) to Feely Pan at hr.asia@unstudio.com .

What we offer

You will work on high-profile, challenging global projects

You will be part of an innovative, dynamic, professional, and academic work environment

Your experience is highly valued, but your innovation and proactivity matter most

You will work in an ambitious, collaborative, and socially responsible international team across all levels

You will learn through exploration and grow your knowledge continuously