Head of Payroll & Expenses

KX; Newry; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare package

Employee Assistance Programme

Enhanced maternity and paternity

Job summary

KX is seeking a Head of Payroll & Expenses (VP) to lead the Payroll, Global Mobility, Travel & Expenses team. Reporting to the Group Financial Controller, you will oversee payroll for ~400 staff across 18 locations and drive the transition to a new outsourced model.

The role combines hands-on leadership with strategic oversight, ensuring timely, accurate payroll processing and compliant expenses while partnering with vendors and internal teams.

Qualifications

• A proactive, hands-on leader capable of managing a small payroll team across locations.
• Experience overseeing outsourced payroll providers and SLAs.
• Strong knowledge of payroll, mobility, travel and expenses in a multinational context.

Responsibilities

• Vendor and outsourcing management: own global vendor relations and data accuracy.
• Lead payroll transition between vendors, including data migration and testing.
• Team leadership: manage a three-person team and provide hands-on coverage.
• Act as escalation point for payroll, mobility, travel and expenses queries.
• Payroll review and accuracy of monthly/semi-monthly payrolls; ensure compliance.
• Audit data changes and reconcile payroll items; interface with Treasury for funding.

Skills

Self-starter

Tact and confidentiality

Prioritisation

Process improvement

Global mindset

MS Office

Payroll across countries

Vendor management

Team leadership

Education

CPP certification

Tools

UKG / ADP

SAP Concur

Navan

Job description

KX software powers the time-aware data-driven decisions that enable fast-moving companies to outpace competitors, realizing the full potential of their AI investments. The KX platform delivers transformational value by addressing data challenges related to completeness, timeliness and efficiency, ensuring companies understand change over time and can achieve faster, more accurate insights at any scale, cost-effectively.

KX is essential to the operations of the world's top investment banks, aerospace and defence, high-tech manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, automotive and fleet telematics organizations. The company has established offices and a robust customer base across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Overview Of The Role

KX is hiring a Head of Payroll & Expenses (VP) to lead our Payroll, Global Mobility, Travel & Expenses team. The role sits in Finance and reports to the Group Financial Controller.

The role ensures accurate, timely and compliant payroll and expenses administration for a workforce of c.400 people across 18 locations, including EOR locations. We are in the process of reviewing our outsourced payroll processing model, and this role will lead that transition through to completion, working closely with our vendor(s) to streamline all processing operations. Once complete, the team's focus shifts to providing accurate data to the vendor(s), reviewing and governing vendor-processed output, and handling employee-facing service. Leading a small team of three, the role is expected to be hands-on, providing direct backup cover during absence and peak periods, and to take on cross-functional projects such as payroll integration for newly acquired entities.

Key Responsibilities

• Vendor and outsourcing management: own the end-to-end relationship with our global vendor(s), ensuring data is submitted accurately and on time, and that all vendor-processed output is reviewed rigorously before finalisation.
• Hold vendor(s) to agreed service levels, proactively identifying and driving improvements in vendor-delivered service and process.
• Lead payroll-side activity for our transition between vendors, including coordinating data migration, testing, parallel runs and cutover.
• Team leadership: lead and develop a team of three, acting as a hands-on backup for team members during periods of absence and at peak times, and hire, train and develop team members as required.
• Act as the primary point of escalation for payroll, global mobility, travel and expenses queries from employees, managers and HR.
• Payroll review: review all monthly and semi-monthly payrolls, ensuring all employee data changes are accurate and processed on time.
• Audit data changes and requests to ensure compliance with company policy and relevant local legislation.
• Prepare and review reconciliations of payroll items on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, liaising with the Treasury team on funding of the payrolls.
• Partner with the Financial Reporting team to ensure all payroll-related journals are accounted for correctly.
• Ensure employee share option information is processed correctly through the relevant country payroll.
• Manage annual returns and other statutory filings relating to payroll, payroll taxes and benefits.
• Travel and expenses: review vendor-processed travel and expenses, ensuring all employee data changes are accurate, processed on time, and compliant with company policy and relevant local legislation.
• Global mobility: act as first point of contact for payroll-related global mobility queries raised by the business or HR, including occasional historic assignment queries, liaising with our global mobility vendor on complex cases and reporting.
• Maintain a working awareness of the tax and social security implications for employees on international assignments; day-to-day case management is not a requirement of this role.
• Projects: lead payroll-related integration work for newly acquired entities, including onboarding new acquisitions into group payroll processes.
• Support ad hoc payroll, travel and expenses projects aimed at improving employee experience and process efficiency.

Skills

• A self-starter: proactive, resilient, with a positive, can-do mentality.
• Tact, diplomacy and confidentiality.
• Ability to prioritise workload in a fast-paced environment, delivering accuracy and attention to detail within tight timeframes.
• Ability to identify areas for improvement in processes and procedures, and to drive continuous improvement.
• Flexible, with a global mindset and sensitivity to cultural diversity.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Excel, Outlook and Word.
• Around 5 years' experience processing payroll across multiple countries and entities, including US compensation.
• Experience in a supervisory or management role, with a genuine hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves approach to a small team.
• Strong vendor management experience, including a track record of managing outsourced payroll providers and holding them to service level agreements.
• Good working knowledge of payroll and expenses processing within a multinational environment.

Preferred Qualification

• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or equivalent.
• Experience with UKG and/or ADP.
• Experience with SAP Concur and Navan.
• Some exposure to global mobility, with awareness of the tax and social security implications for employees on international assignment.

Location and Workplace Type

Hybrid working model based out of Newry 2 days per week.

Why Choose KX

Data Driven: We lead with instinct and follow fact.

Naturally Curious: We lean in, listen and learn fast.

All In: We take ownership, take on challenges and give it our all.

• Individually tailored training and skills development
• Private healthcare package and Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced maternity and paternity package