Jaco van der Merwe

Jaco van der Merwe is the Global Payroll Transformation Lead at Kantar. In his current role, van der Merwe is engaged in effectively building, leading, and managing a global payroll review leading to implementation of approved models covering standardization, technology processing, reconciliation and accrual management, resourcing, reporting, and compliance associated with global payroll. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, van der Merwe began his career in payroll almost 15 years ago, where he worked for an outsourced service provider that operated across multiple industries such as consulting, engineering, mining, energy, and hospitality. In 2013, at the age of 27, van der Merwe joined forces with two business partners and co-founded an outsourced service provider that specializes in full-spectrum outsourced HR. During this time, he was also pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University of South Africa while taking weekend classes for a National Diploma in Payroll Administration. Following graduation, he joined Kantar (then Millward Brown), while studying toward an MBA, which he completed in 2018. Van der Merwe managed payroll operations across the Africa and Middle East region while representing payroll on various global projects. Van der Merwe now lives in Toronto, Canada, where he recently gained the Payroll Compliance Practitioner designation from the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA).