International Payroll Manager

JGA Recruitment Group | B Corp™; Reading; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private health cover

Enhanced pension

27 days leave (+5 buy option)

On-site restaurant

Gym classes

Job summary

JGA Recruitment Group is seeking an International Payroll Operations Manager for a 14-15 month FTC. You will coach a team of 8, provide final payroll sign-off, and act as escalation point for discrepancies while shaping international payroll processes across multiple markets.

The role focuses on leadership over processing, vendor management, and partnering with stores on new payroll implementations, with guaranteed Friday 2pm finish and strong benefits.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years' experience managing EMEA payrolls and payroll systems.
• Experience coaching and developing teams in a fast-paced environment.
• CIPP qualified or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 8 payroll specialists and advisors.
• Final review and sign-off on payrolls in line with compliance and control standards.
• First escalation point for payroll discrepancies and team queries.
• Process improvement and project mapping across international payroll operations.
• Coordinating and supporting specialists who lead on in-country projects, keeping oversight without taking over.
• Day-to-day relationship management with payroll vendors, escalating poor performance where needed.
• Leading on new market and new store payroll implementations, and stabilising them into BAU.

Skills

Team leadership

EMEA payrolls

Payroll systems

CIPP qualified

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

Vendor management

Project mapping

Confidential data handling

Tools

Payroll software

Job description

International Payroll Operations Manager | 14-15 Month FTC (Mat Leave)

This is a people-first leadership role, not a processing one. You won't be running payroll day-to-day, you'll be the escalation point, coach and quality gate for a team of 8 international payroll specialists and advisors, working alongside a second Operations Manager to keep multiple EMEA payrolls running to a high standard.

Ask yourself:

• Can you lead a team through pressure without losing sight of their development?
• Are you comfortable stepping back from the keyboard to review, sign off, and mentor rather than process?

If you've managed EMEA payroll teams and you'd rather build capability in others than do it all yourself, this is built for you.

What you'll own:

• People management and mentoring for a team of 8, building a high-performing, well-supported function
• Final review and sign-off on payrolls in line with compliance and control standards
• First escalation point for payroll discrepancies and team queries
• Process improvement and project mapping across international payroll operations
• Coordinating and supporting specialists who lead on in-country projects, keeping oversight without taking over
• Day-to-day relationship management with payroll vendors, escalating poor performance where needed
• Leading on new market and new store payroll implementations, and stabilising them into BAU

What you'll need:

• Minimum 7 years' experience managing EMEA payrolls and payroll systems
• Demonstrable experience managing, coaching and developing teams in a fast-paced environment
• CIPP qualified or equivalent
• The ability to influence and build relationships across internal and external stakeholders
• Confidence handling sensitive, confidential information with sound judgement

Worth knowing:

• Guaranteed 2pm finish every Friday
• Strong benefits - private health cover, enhanced pension, 27 days' leave (+5 buy option), subsidised on-site restaurant and gym classes
• A genuinely business-critical role covering an extended period of leave, with real scope to shape process and mentor a growing team

Two-stage interview process, moving quickly.

JGA are dedicated to delivering the best possible candidate experience. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we are not always able to respond to every individual applicant. If your application is shortlisted, a member of our team will be in touch. Thank you for your understanding.

JGA Recruitment Group Ltd ("We") are committed to equality of opportunity for all applications regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. We strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply.

We are also committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are a specialist Payroll and HR recruitment agency and recruitment business as defined in the Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (our business). These statements together with our privacy notices set out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us.