Paymaster

St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel, London; Greater London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel, London is seeking a senior payroll professional to manage monthly/weekly payroll for both hotels, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and strict confidentiality. You will handle starters, leavers, contractual changes and complex pay items with ADP and Excel tools.

You will own RTI submissions, auto-enrolment responsibilities, year-end activities, and service-charge distributions in line with UK law. A proactive, meticulous approach and collaboration with HR are essential.

Qualifications

• Solid UK payroll experience at senior officer/manager level.
• Current knowledge of UK payroll legislation, pensions and minimum wage rules.
• Experience with high-volume payroll in hospitality or similar sector.
• Meticulous, calm under deadline and trusted with confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Run monthly/weekly payroll using ADP for both hotels, incl starters, leavers and changes.
• Validate time and attendance data ahead of cut-off and resolve exceptions with Heads of Department.
• Calculate overtime, variable pay and holiday pay, incl irregular hours and part-year workers.
• Process statutory payments: sick pay and family leave pay.
• Administer tronc and service charge distributions per the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.
• Manage RTI submissions, PAYE, NI, student loans and attachments of earnings orders.
• Ensure NMW compliance and understand salary sacrifice impact.
• Own auto-enrolment cycle from assessment to declaration; reconcile contributions.
• Deliver year end, P11D and benefits in kind; prepare for mandatory payrolling of benefits from April 2027.
• Prepare payroll journals and accruals; reconcile PAYE, pension, tronc and net pay control accounts.
• Maintain controls and audit trails; support internal and external audits.
• Provide labour cost, overtime and headcount reporting to Finance and Exec Committee.
• Assist month-end closing activities and journal postings; prepare monthly financial reports.
• Balance sheet reconciliations; be first point of contact for pay queries; align payroll data with HR.

Skills

UK payroll compliance

Confidential data handling

Deadline-driven

Tools

ADP

Excel

Job description

• Run the [monthly/weekly] payroll on ADP for both hotels, including starters, leavers, contractual changes and final pay
• Validate time and attendance data ahead of each cut off, resolving exceptions with Heads of Department
• Calculate overtime, variable pay and holiday pay, including for irregular hours and part year workers
• Process statutory payments: sick pay and family related leave pay
• Administer tronc and service charge distributions in line with the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and its Code of Practice

Compliance

• Manage RTI submissions, PAYE, National Insurance, student loans and attachment of earnings orders
• Safeguard National Minimum and Living Wage compliance, including the effect of deductions and salary sacrifice
• Own the full auto enrolment cycle, from assessment to declaration of compliance, reconciling contributions deducted against contributions remitted every month
• Deliver year end, P11D and benefits in kind, and prepare for mandatory payrolling of benefits from April 2027

Finance and controls

• Prepare payroll journals and accruals; reconcile PAYE, pension, tronc and net pay control accounts
• Maintain robust controls and audit trails, and support internal and external audits
• Produce labour cost, overtime and headcount reporting for Finance and the Executive Committee
• Assist with month end closing activities and journal postings.
• Assist in preparation of monthly financial reports.
• Balance sheet reconciliations.
• Be the first point of contact for pay queries, handled with clarity, speed and discretion
• Partner with HR to keep HR and payroll data aligned

Qualifications

• Solid UK payroll experience at [senior officer / manager] level, ideally in hospitality or another high volume, variable pay environment
• Strong, current knowledge of UK payroll legislation, pensions and minimum wage rules
• ADP experience desirable; confident with Excel
• Meticulous, calm under deadline, and trusted with confidential information