Interim People Services Manager

Macmillan Davies; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Macmillan Davies is recruiting an interim People Services Manager for a West London-based role. Hybrid working with 2 days on site, focusing on HR operations and payroll within the education sector.

You will lead the People Services function, ensuring efficient payroll delivery, process improvements, and strong team development in a busy environment.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering day-to-day People Services, with payroll focus in education.
• Ability to oversee payroll processes and work with external providers.
• Experience managing a People Services/HR team in a busy environment.

Responsibilities

• Manage and support a People Services/HR team.
• Oversee day-to-day HR operations and payroll processes.
• Supervise payroll activity, coordinating with external payroll provider.
• Ensure payroll accuracy, timeliness and HR perspective.

Skills

HR/payroll experience

Education payroll

Managed payroll service

iTrent experience

Tools

iTrent

Job description

Location: West London - easily accessible from Hammersmith
Day Rate:£300-£350 per day via Umbrella
Duration: Immediate start to January 2027
Working Pattern: Hybrid - 2 days per week on site
Contract: Interim

We are currently working with an established organisation within the education sector to recruit an experienced People Services Manager on an interim basis.

This is an opportunity for an experienced HR/People Services professional to join a busy environment and take responsibility for the effective delivery of day-to-day People Services, with a particular focus on HR operations and payroll.

The Role

You will be responsible for managing and overseeing the People Services function, ensuring that HR processes and payroll activities are delivered effectively and to a high standard.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing and supporting a People Services/HR team
• Overseeing day-to-day HR operations and processes
• Supervising and overseeing payroll activity, working with an external payroll provider
• Ensuring payroll is accurate, timely and well managed from an HR perspective
• Supporting and developing team members, including training where required
• Setting clear priorities, expectations and standards across the team
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes and ways of working
• Providing a proactive and responsive People Services function to the wider organisation
• Working effectively in a busy and fast-paced environment

About You

We are looking for someone with:

• Previous HR/payroll experience within education or an education charity - essential
• Good understanding of educational payroll
• Experience working with or overseeing a managed payroll service
• Experience overseeing payroll for approximately 300-500+ employees
• Strong understanding of payroll from an HR/People Services perspective
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities
• A proactive approach and strong attention to detail
• Experience of improving processes and ways of working
• iTrent experience would be desirable but is not essential.

You do not need to be a payroll specialist or have managed an in-house payroll function. The key requirement is a strong understanding of payroll from the HR side, together with experience of overseeing the process and managing a People Services team.

We would also be interested in candidates who have started their career in payroll within education before progressing into HR and People management, as this background could be particularly relevant.

If you have the relevant education HR/payroll and people management experience and are available for an interim assignment, we would be keen to hear from you.