Hiring my first remote team member outside my country as a SaaS founder

I’ve worked with remote contractors before, and that was fine when the work was clearly project-based. Pay the invoice, give feedback, move on. But now I’m looking at hiring someone abroad who would be much more involved in the business.

They would own part of the product/customer workflow, join regular meetings, have access to internal docs, and probably stay with us long term if things go well. The part I’m trying to understand is the admin side. How do you handle contracts, payroll, taxes, benefits, and local employment rules when the person is in another country? I know some founders keep everyone as contractors for as long as possible, but I’m not sure that is always smart once the role becomes core to the company.

I’ve been reading about employer of record services and came across Globalization Partners. From what I understand, the idea is that they help you hire in other countries without opening your own local entity, and they deal with the employment paperwork, payroll, taxes, and compliance side.

For those who have hired internationally before, what did you do for your first real remote employee?