Country Payroll Lead

Johnson Matthey; England; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading sustainable technology company is seeking a Country Payroll Lead to oversee payroll delivery across the UK. This role involves managing payroll operations, mentoring team members, and ensuring compliance with global standards. Candidates should have solid experience in UK payroll and be effective in managing workloads and deadlines. Familiarity with HR systems and advanced Excel skills are important. The company offers various benefits, including retirement savings and medical plans, and encourages early applications.

Benefits

Retirement savings

Share plans

Life insurance

Medical plans

Fitness discounts

Qualifications

• Solid experience in UK payroll operations, ideally with multi-country exposure.
• Experience in coaching and developing team members.
• Strong ability to manage deadlines and ensure accurate delivery.
• Familiarity with payroll platforms such as CloudPay is advantageous.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.

Responsibilities

• Ensure efficient payroll delivery across all UK entities.
• Act as the payroll subject matter expert for compliance.
• Lead and coach payroll analysts, providing performance guidance.
• Manage vendor performance to ensure adherence to SLAs.
• Handle complex payroll cases and conduct root cause analysis.

Skills

UK payroll operations experience

People leadership

Time management

HR systems familiarity

Advanced Excel proficiency

Effective teamwork

Attention to detail

Excellent communication skills

Business English proficiency

Tools

Workday

CloudPay

Job description

Royston, UK or London, UK (hybrid)

Overview

World-changing careers, enabled by Johnson Matthey. With more than 200 years of history, we invite you to join us and accelerate the transition to net‑zero. As a Country Payroll Lead, you will drive JM’s mission as a world leader in sustainable technology, transforming energy and reducing carbon emissions for a cleaner, brighter future.

The role

• Ensuring efficient and effective Payroll Service delivery across all entities in UK.
• Playing a role in actual payroll run: data validation, controls, sign off’s.
• Acting as the subject matter expert (SME) for UK payroll delivery and compliance requirements.
• Leading and coaching payroll analysts, providing training and guidance to improve performance and capability.
• Building strong partnerships with HR, Finance, Compliance, and Country/Site Managers.
• Managing vendor performance in relation to UK service delivery; overseeing daily operations, resolving performance issues, and ensuring adherence to SLAs.
• Handling complex payroll cases and escalations, conducting root cause analysis, and implementing corrective actions.
• Ensuring compliance with global standards, SOPs, and audit requirements, maintaining accurate documentation and controls.
• Supporting continuous improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities for process optimisation, and contributing to regional projects and knowledge sharing.

Key skills that will help you succeed in this role

• Solid experience in UK payroll operations, ideally combined with exposure to payroll processing across multiple countries or jurisdictions.
• People leadership experience, including coaching and developing team members to achieve objectives.
• Strong ability to prioritise workload and manage deadlines to ensure timely and accurate delivery.
• Familiarity with HR systems (ideally Workday) and payroll platforms (ideally CloudPay) would be an advantage.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a global team, demonstrating collaboration and adaptability.
• High attention to detail and a proactive approach, including initiating action, planning, and organising to deliver results efficiently.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to respond clearly to customers and stakeholders and build collaborative relationships.
• A good standard of business English, written and verbal, and fluency in English to enable global collaboration.

What we offer

• Retirement savings
• Share plans
• Saving accounts
• Life and disability insurance
• Medical plans / health assessments
• Fitness discounts

Closing date for applications

This job advertisement will be posted for a minimum of 2 weeks, early application is advised.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Johnson Matthey Plc is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.