Interim Global Payroll & Benefits Manager

Gofractional; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

IG is seeking a Senior Global Payroll & Benefits Manager to lead payroll and benefits across 14+ countries within the People Services team. You will work with Finance, Tax, and local HR contacts to ensure accurate, timely payroll delivery across both insourced and outsourced models.

You will manage a team of 7+ payroll & benefits specialists, drive process improvements, and ensure compliance with local requirements while maintaining strong controls and reporting for senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing multi-country payroll operations across insourced and outsourced models.
• Experience overseeing benefits administration across multiple countries with brokers, providers and local HR contacts.
• Strong people leadership with managing and developing a payroll team.
• Hands-on experience with ADP in a multi-country payroll environment.
• Understanding of payroll compliance, statutory requirements, and audit/controls across jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

• Lead IG's payroll & benefits function across 14+ countries within the People Services team.
• Accountable for end-to-end payroll delivery in insourced and outsourced models, plus benefits administration.
• Manage a team of payroll & benefits specialists and collaborate with Finance, Tax, and local HR contacts.
• Oversee benefits programmes across 14+ countries, ensuring accurate maintenance and delivery.
• Own payroll calendar and ensure alignment with SLAs and local legislation.
• Establish robust payroll controls, reconciliations, and audit trails for compliance.

Skills

Payroll leadership

Multi-country payroll

Vendor management

ADP experience

Regulatory compliance

Process improvement

People leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Payroll controls

Tools

ADP

Workday

Job description

Who you are

• Proven experience managing multi-country payroll operations, ideally across both insourced and outsourced models
• Experience overseeing benefits administration across multiple countries, including working with brokers, providers, and local HR contacts
• Strong people leadership skills with experience managing and developing a team of payroll professionals
• Hands-on experience with ADP in a multi-country payroll environment
• Solid understanding of payroll compliance, statutory requirements, and audit/controls frameworks across multiple jurisdictions
• Track record of improving payroll processes, controls, and service quality in a complex organisation
• Demonstrated ability to manage and hold to account external payroll vendors against defined SLAs
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, particularly with Finance and Tax stakeholders
• Comfortable operating in an environment where structure and process improvements need to be built, not inherited

Desirable

• Experience working in a fintech, financial services, or similarly regulated industry
• Familiarity with Workday in an HR/payroll or benefits context
• Exposure to benefits benchmarking or renewal processes across multiple geographies
• Exposure to payroll vendor consolidation or re-procurement exercises
• Experience working within a matrix-structured, globally distributed People or HR function
• Knowledge of payroll requirements across European, APAC, or North American jurisdictions

What the job involves

• The Global Payroll & Benefits Manager leads IG's payroll and benefits function across 14+ countries, sitting within the People Services team and reporting to the Head of People Services
• Accountable for end-to-end payroll delivery across insourced and outsourced models, the role also oversees benefits administration in each market
• You'll lead a team of payroll & benefits specialists while working closely with Finance, Tax, and local HR contacts to ensure compliant, accurate, and timely delivery that supports IG's employee value proposition
• Oversee the administration of employee benefits programmes across 14+ countries, ensuring each market's benefits are accurately maintained, communicated, and delivered
• Act as the operational owner of benefits enrolment, renewals, and changes, coordinating with local HR contacts, brokers, and benefits providers to ensure seamless employee experience
• Maintain accurate benefits data and records, ensuring alignment between benefits systems, payroll, and HR platforms
• Support the review and benchmarking of country-level benefits offerings in partnership with the broader People team, ensuring programmes remain competitive and compliant with local requirements
• Manage relationships with benefits brokers and third-party providers, holding them to account on service quality and cost
• Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of payroll across 14+ countries, managing a mix of insourced and outsourced payroll models
• Own the end-to-end payroll calendar, ensuring all country payrolls are processed within defined SLAs and in compliance with local legislation
• Act as the escalation point for complex payroll queries and cross-country issues, driving prompt and effective resolution
• Establish and maintain robust payroll controls, reconciliation processes, and audit trails to ensure data integrity and regulatory compliance
• Lead, develop, and performance-manage a team of 7+ payroll & benefits specialists, building individual capability and overall team effectiveness
• Foster a high-performance team culture focused on accuracy, continuous improvement, and colleague service
• Drive workload planning and prioritisation across the team to ensure resilience and consistent service delivery
• Manage relationships with outsourced payroll vendors, holding them to account against agreed SLAs and quality standards
• Lead or contribute to any vendor review or consolidation activity, including scoping, selection, and transition planning
• Partner closely with Finance and Tax teams to ensure payroll outputs are accurate, well-reconciled, and aligned with statutory obligations
• Identify and drive improvements to payroll processes, controls, and tooling — reducing manual effort, improving accuracy, and increasing scalability
• Lead the stabilisation of current payroll operations, building a clear baseline and roadmap for ongoing improvement
• Leverage ADP and Workday effectively, partnering with HR Technology colleagues to ensure platforms support operational needs
• Ensure all payrolls are processed in line with local legislative requirements, tax obligations, and IG's internal policies
• Maintain a strong controls framework and provide clear, accurate reporting to senior stakeholders on payroll performance and risk
• Support internal and external audits, ensuring documentation and processes meet required standards

Work Arrangement: 3 days a week in office, London

Contract Type: 12 months Fixed Term Contract

Level: Senior and Expert level