Jonathan Goldsmith is this year’s recipient of the Global Payroll Titan Award, presented by PayrollOrg. Goldsmith is the General Manager and Vice President at Remote where he combines his 30 years of payroll experience with a visionary approach to payroll transformation. His leadership at Remote took payroll from a back-office function to a strategic, tech-enabled cornerstone of global business operations.

Receiving such recognition from his peers was overwhelming for Goldsmith.

“Is this real? Am I dreaming?” Goldsmith remembers asking himself. “Yes, I teared up.”

The Global Payroll Titan award program celebrates, empowers, and recognizes payroll professionals who are responsible for processing multi-country payrolls. A titan is a positive influence in the industry who demonstrates innovative thinking and above-and-beyond commitment to the profession.

Goldsmith is a visionary leader with a passion for payroll. Under his direction, Remote has expanded its payroll services from a single country to more than 60 countries while keeping operations fully in-house. By combining compliance expertise with smart automation, he has streamlined processes, reduced administrative burdens, and improved overall accuracy.

“The recognition of my peers with this award means so very much to me,” Goldsmith said. “But more importantly, it's about the vocal support of how I have recognized the importance of payroll organizations around the world.

“For too many years, payroll has been treated like a back-office function by many organizations. Payroll and the teams that support it make it possible for people to put food on their tables, go on holidays, and send their kids to school. We focus on accuracy, integrity, and timeliness to empower workers to choose the adventure they desire in their lives. I don’t think there can be a more important and integral part for the building of culture, team spirit, and success in an organization.”

Goldsmith is also a committed advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He built a female-led leadership team in a traditionally male-dominated tech space by focusing on talent over titles and leveraging Remote's global model to foster a high-performing and inclusive payroll organization trusted by companies worldwide.

As this year’s Global Payroll Titan, he receives free education from PayrollOrg, a special citation, and a digital badge to include on his LinkedIn profile and email signature. He already has plans for how to make use of the pulpit this award offers.

“I want to further the focus on compliance, integrity, and disruption to a market that has needed it for so long,” he said. “Employees and employers have been asking for a new way of payroll processing and service, access to expertise from around the globe, and a focus on the customer and their needs, not scale initiatives that treat them like just another number.

“Too often, payroll providers that have entered the market recently forget that it's about the employees and not about maximizing their revenue or angling to ‘win.’ [Payroll should be about a] desire to continue to drive the importance of payroll leaders and contributors in a company's organization and its ability to retain employees, recognize their accomplishments, and be integral to a company's culture.”

From 6 February-18 March 2025, payroll professionals worldwide had the chance to nominate the Global Payroll Titan in their lives. Nominees for consideration must have worked in some capacity in the global payroll industry and have a minimum of three years of payroll processing experience. All eligible nominees were channeled to the “People’s Choice” public voting portion of the program, followed by an anonymous peer review of nominees by a panel of global payroll professionals, concluding the decision-making process.

See previous recipients of the Global Payroll Titan award.

Sean Tait Bircher is the Writer and Editor of Membership Publications for PayrollOrg.