Payroll Officer

Barbell Foods; Canberra; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Barbell Foods seeks an HR and Payroll Coordinator to own the end-to-end payroll and HR administration for a fast-growing food manufacturer. You will ensure accuracy for Fair Work compliance and manage both payroll tasks and HR records.

You'll report to the Head of HR with no direct reports. The role covers multiple Modern Awards and contracts, across full-time, part-time, and casual staff, and involves engaging with managers on compliance matters.

Qualifications

• 2+ years owning end-to-end payroll and HR administration.
• Experience applying Modern Awards to payroll scenarios and ensuring compliance.
• End-to-end HR administration: onboarding, offboarding, and HRIS records.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll processes including timesheets, STP lodgement, termination pays, EOFY reconciliations, and out-of-cycle payments.
• Interpret and apply Modern Awards to payroll scenarios and advise managers on compliance.
• Manage Employment Hero configurations, workflows, leave settings, and records.
• Draft employment letters, variations, and HR documents from templates; manage role changes and casual conversions.
• Assist recruitment: job postings, candidate coordination, and issue offers.
• Execute onboarding and offboarding administration and maintain payroll/HR file setup.
• Serve as first point of contact for payroll and HR inquiries from employees and managers.
• Coordinate staff recognition and culture activities in line with plan.

Skills

Award interpretation

End-to-end payroll

HRIS administration

Compliance reasoning

HR correspondence

Attention to detail

Warmth

Self-management

Discretion

Integrity

Tools

Employment Hero

Job description

Candidates with 2+ years running end-to-end payroll — not supporting someone who runs it, actually owning it. You can read a Modern Award, apply it to real payroll scenarios, and flag anything that doesn't look right before it becomes a problem. Ideally, you've also managed HR administration end-to-end — employment correspondence, onboarding and offboarding, and HRIS record-keeping.

You understand that getting payroll and HR administration right is an act of respect — accuracy here isn't just a compliance obligation, it's how employees experience whether the company takes them seriously. You care about getting it right because it matters to people, not only because it's your job.

Who shouldn't apply

Candidates who've processed payroll as part of a broader finance or admin role without really owning it. This isn't a shared-responsibility position. If you need to be walked through Award interpretation, or if compliance feels like a box to tick rather than something you genuinely care about, this isn't the right fit. Equally, if being the person employees come to with questions, issuing contracts, and keeping records holds no interest for you and you'd rather stay purely in payroll, this role won't be the right fit either. If the framing above doesn't resonate with you, this probably isn't your role.

Why join Barbell

We make no bullsh#t meat snacks for people who care about their health. We're growing fast — and the People & Culture function is being built to match. This role sits at the centre of that: you'll have real operational ownership of payroll and HR administration in a business where getting it right keeps the company compliant and makes people feel looked after.

The Role

As HR and Payroll Coordinator, you'll run the operational backbone of the People & Culture function — end-to-end payroll and HR administration that keeps a fast-growing food manufacturing business on the right side of Fair Work, and the culture touchpoints that make people feel looked after.

You'll report to the Head of HR. No direct reports.

We operate across three Modern Awards and individual contracts, with full-time, part-time, and casual employees across the business. It's an interesting puzzle to get right — and this role is where it gets resolved.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll — timesheet review, STP lodgement, termination pays, EOFY reconciliations, and out-of-cycle payments
• Interpret and apply Modern Awards to payroll scenarios; advise managers on compliance and flag anything that doesn't look right
• Own Employment Hero — system configuration, workflows, approvals, leave settings, accurate records, and the documents and templates that sit inside it
• Issue employment letters — contracts, variations, and HR correspondence; process role changes, casual conversions, and restructures from end to end
• Assist in the recruitment process — job postings, candidate coordination, and offer letters once decisions are made
• Execute onboarding and offboarding administration — HR and payroll file setup, system access, inductions, and exit administration
• First point of contact for employee inquiries — for payroll and HR questions from employees and managers across the business
• Coordinate logistics for staff recognition and culture touchpoints — birthday recognition, team barbecues, fruit boxes, and gym inductions — in line with an agreed plan or as directed.

Skills

• Award interpretation — can read a Modern Award, identify applicable clauses, and apply them correctly to real payroll scenarios; escalates when genuinely ambiguous, never guesses
• End-to-end payroll processing — has owned a full pay cycle including STP lodgement, termination pays, and leave calculations; must have run it, not supported someone else running it
• HRIS administration — can maintain records, process changes, and run reports in a comparable system
• Compliance reasoning — knows when something doesn't look right, knows what to check, and knows when to elevate
• HR correspondence — can draft compliant employment contracts, variation letters, and standard HR documents from templates (desirable)
• Thorough — catches errors before anyone else does; double-checks before processing; doesn't assume
• Warm — makes people feel good about asking payroll and HR questions, even the awkward ones
• Self-managing — knows what's due when without a reminder; doesn't need to be chased
• Discreet — handles sensitive matters without discussing them with the wrong person
• Honest — spots a payroll error and names it; owns mistakes without defensiveness

The opportunity

Barbell is one of the fastest-growing salty snack brands in Australia. The People & Culture function is young and being built properly — which means this role has real weight, and the work you do here will be visible.

For the right person, there's real room to grow into a deeper compliance and payroll specialism as Barbell scales — more complex Award work, broader ownership, and the chance to shape how this function matures.

If you want to be genuinely good at your craft in a business that moves fast and actually cares about its people, this is the right place to do it.