Payroll Advisor

James Gray Associates; Aberdeen City, Glasgow; Hybrid; GBP 22,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

James Gray Associates is seeking an experienced Payroll Advisor to manage a portfolio of payrolls across Aberdeen, Glasgow or Stirling in a hybrid role. You will act as a technical payroll contact, stay updated on UK legislation and ensure accurate, timely delivery of payroll services.

The ideal candidate will have 3–4+ years in payroll, strong end-to-end knowledge, and experience supporting junior staff, with familiarity in BrightPay preferred.

Qualifications

• 3–4+ years of payroll experience, ideally gained within a bureau environment.
• Strong end-to-end payroll knowledge and experience managing a portfolio of clients.
• STAR experience is essential.
• Experience working with BrightPay is desirable.
• Good understanding of UK payroll legislation, compliance and best practice.
• Comfortable handling complex payroll queries and working to tight deadlines.
• Previous experience reviewing work or supporting junior payroll staff.
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail and problem-solving ability.
• Confident communicator who can build strong relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Self-motivated and able to work independently while contributing effectively as part of a team.

Responsibilities

• Manage and process a portfolio of complex client payrolls, ensuring everything is accurate and delivered on time.
• Act as a technical point of contact for payroll queries, providing guidance and practical solutions.
• Keep up to date with UK payroll legislation and ensure processes are updated when requirements change.
• Carry out payroll checks, controls and BACS payments in line with audit requirements.
• Support junior team members with day-to-day queries, reviewing their work and helping develop their technical skills.
• Monitor team workloads and ensure payroll deadlines and administrative tasks are consistently met.
• Maintain accurate payroll procedures and client process documentation.
• Get involved in process improvements and technical projects to improve the overall payroll service.
• Build strong relationships with clients and identify opportunities to improve the service provided.

Skills

Payroll experience

End-to-end payroll

Client portfolio management

STAR method

Communication

Team support

BrightPay

Tools

BrightPay

Job description

Payroll Advisor

Salary: Up to £37,000

Location: Aberdeen, Glasgow or Stirling

Working Pattern: Hybrid - ideally 3 days office / 2 days home

Type: Permanent, Full-Time

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and process a portfolio of complex client payrolls, ensuring everything is accurate and delivered on time
• Act as a technical point of contact for payroll queries, providing guidance and practical solutions
• Keep up to date with UK payroll legislation and ensure processes are updated when requirements change
• Carry out payroll checks, controls and BACS payments in line with audit requirements
• Support junior team members with day-to-day queries, reviewing their work and helping develop their technical skills
• Monitor team workloads and ensure payroll deadlines and administrative tasks are consistently met
• Maintain accurate payroll procedures and client process documentation
• Get involved in process improvements and technical projects to improve the overall payroll service
• Build strong relationships with clients and identify opportunities to improve the service provided

Ideal Candidate

• 3-4+ years of payroll experience, ideally gained within a bureau environment
• Strong end-to-end payroll knowledge and experience managing a portfolio of clients
• STAR experience is essential
• Experience working with BrightPay is desirable
• Good understanding of UK payroll legislation, compliance and best practice
• Comfortable handling complex payroll queries and working to tight deadlines
• Previous experience reviewing work or supporting junior payroll staff
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail and problem-solving ability
• Confident communicator who can build strong relationships with clients and colleagues
• Self-motivated and able to work independently while contributing effectively as part of a team

A great opportunity for an experienced bureau payroll professional looking to take on more technical responsibility, client ownership and team support within an established payroll function.

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, HR & Reward 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.