Senior Vendor Relationship Manager

✨ 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

Two of those rankings measured our business impact from the outside. One measured how our own people feel about working here. They landed in the same place ~ because at Oyster, culture and performance aren't separate conversations. They're the same one.

And we're just getting started. If you want to do the best work of your career alongside people who care as much as you do, we'd love for you to apply.

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.

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 that enable our customers to hire anyone, anywhere. You’ll combine commercial acumen, operational excellence, regulatory monitoring, and strong relationship management to drive vendor performance, execute risk assessments, resolve complex payroll escalations, and continuously strengthen our global partner ecosystem. From leading commercial negotiations, compliance tracking, and governance frameworks to identifying new partner opportunities and ensuring alignment with local legal and statutory payroll standards, you’ll play a critical role in shaping how Oyster delivers global employment solutions at scale.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys solving complex operational challenges, and can confidently influence stakeholders internally and externally. You are commercially minded, data-driven, solutions-oriented, and energized by building strong partnerships that create long-term business impact.

Key Responsibilities

Act as the Subject Matter Expert and primary operational and commercial owner for Oyster's strategic multi-country payroll partners worldwide.

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

Partner with internal Pay & Payroll operations teams to monitor partner SLA compliance, data payload delivery, and payroll cut-off adherence

Proactively evaluate vendor capacity, operational readiness, and processing controls ahead of peak payroll cycles and expansion into new markets

Define partner strategy, governance, scorecards, review cadences, escalation thresholds, and improvement plans

Hold partners accountable for payroll accuracy, timeliness, statutory compliance, compliance tracking, responsiveness, controls, and customer outcomes

Manage the full vendor relationship lifecycle, from partner selection and onboarding through transition, consolidation, or exit decisions

Evaluate partner capabilities, market coverage, operational maturity, security/compliance posture, and scalability

Build and maintain expertise in multi-country payroll delivery, regulatory dependencies, and contractual trade-offs

Vendor Performance & Governance

Establish baselines and monitor vendor performance through KPIs, SLAs, scorecards, and remediation plans

Lead recurring executive business reviews and performance discussions with partner leadership teams

Translate payroll-partner performance data into recommendations for Operations, Product, Finance, Legal, Customer teams, and leadership

Monitor operational performance and proactively identify service risks or quality concerns

Conduct structured vendor compliance audits, risk assessments, and operational reviews across the partner ecosystem

Drive consistent governance standards, regulatory alignment, and operational excellence across vendors

Lead ongoing regulatory monitoring, risk assessments, and compliance tracking to ensure there are no gaps in compliance across all payroll and compliance vendor operations and local legal standards across all operating regions

Commercial & Partnership Management

Build trusted, long-term relationships with external partner leadership teams

Lead or materially shape commercial negotiations, contract renewals, pricing, remedies, and service changes

Strengthen strategic partnerships to support business growth and customer outcomes

Lead complex, multi-market payroll escalations through root-cause analysis, recovery, prevention, and executive communication

Collaborate cross-functionally and externally to resolve sensitive operational challenges

Support customer and internal stakeholder conversations requiring partner expertise

Identify and source new partners to strengthen global coverage and capabilities

Vendor Ecosystem Development

Identify operational or geographic gaps within the vendor ecosystem

Evaluate and onboard new partners to strengthen Oyster’s global coverage

Recommend improvements to ecosystem strategy, scalability, and service quality

Partner cross-functionally to evolve how Oyster leverages and manages external vendors

Drive initiatives that improve partner consistency, efficiency, and customer experience

Strategic Business Partnership

Advise internal teams on vendor capabilities, strengths, and operational considerations

Guide partner selection decisions based on customer needs and business priorities

Share insights from vendor trends, escalations, and operational performance data

Partner with Go-To-Market teams to support deal strategy and customer solutions

Enable scalable and commercially sound global employment solutions

Proactively partner with internal teams including HRBPs, Employee Lifecycle Teams, and Payroll/Pay teams to align vendor capabilities with employee support and operational workflows

Escalation Leadership

Maintain secondary oversight (~20%) of specialized Health & Safety and Compliance vendor relationships, ensuring partner capabilities and SLAs support local statutory requirements

Lead high-impact escalations across external partners and internal teams with limited direction

Coordinate cross-functional and cross-partner responses to critical operational issues

Protect customer experience while balancing operational and commercial priorities

Identify root causes and recurring trends across escalations

Drive preventative improvements and operational maturity across the partner ecosystem

Lead in escalations on calls to get to root cause, find solutions, and manage end-to-end resolution.

Continuous Improvement & High Performance

Continuously audit and refine workflows and ways of working to reduce response times and elevate service quality.

Build scalable processes, knowledge, automation, and AI-enabled reporting while protecting payroll and personal data.

Analyze recurring ticket trends and received queries to identify systemi