Payroll Assistant

Confidential; Southend-on-Sea; Remote; GBP 26,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential in Southend-on-Sea is seeking an experienced Payroll Assistant to support end-to-end processing across three payrolls for around 900 staff. The role blends remote working with occasional office visits and a February system migration from Sage 50 Payroll to IRIS.

You will handle starters, leavers, variations, overtime, stat pay, deductions, pensions, and year-end checks, while ensuring HMRC compliance and timely reporting.

Qualifications

• Experience processing high-volume payrolls.
• End-to-end payroll knowledge and accuracy.
• Experience with overtime, statutory payments and deductions.
• Pension schemes knowledge incl. auto-enrolment requirements.
• Confident handling payroll queries from employees and managers.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.

Responsibilities

• Assist with end-to-end processing of three payrolls for ~900 employees.
• Process starters, leavers, changes and contractual amendments.
• Calculate overtime, additional hours, sickness, statutory payments and deductions.
• Administer pension schemes, enrolments, opt-ins/outs, refunds as required.
• Process salary adjustments, retro payments and payroll corrections.
• Maintain payroll data accurately and update timely.
• Support Payroll Manager with checks, reconciliations and reporting.
• Liaise with employees and managers to resolve payroll queries.
• Assist with year-end procedures and statutory reporting.
• Support migration from Sage 50 to IRIS payroll system.

Skills

Payroll processing

High-volume payrolls

End-to-end payroll

Pension knowledge

Payroll queries handling

Attention to detail

Organisational skills

Tools

Sage 50 Payroll

IRIS Payroll

Job description

Payroll Assistant

Location: Southend-on-Sea (Predominantly Remote) Salary: Competitive (dependent on experience) Hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm, Monday to Friday (30-minute unpaid lunch) Working Pattern: Flexible on working days with only two office visits per month required.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced Payroll Assistant to join a busy payroll team, working closely alongside the Payroll Manager to support the end-to-end processing of three payrolls covering approximately 900 employees.

This is an excellent opportunity for a payroll professional who can confidently manage all aspects of payroll administration and processing, while supporting an upcoming system migration from Sage 50 Payroll to an IRIS payroll platform in February.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with the end-to-end processing of three payrolls for approximately 900 employees.
• Accurately process starters, leavers, employee changes and contractual amendments.
• Calculate and process overtime, additional hours, sickness, statutory payments and deductions.
• Administer pension schemes, including enrolments, opt-ins, opt-outs and pension refunds where required.
• Process salary adjustments, retro payments and payroll corrections.
• Ensure payroll data is maintained accurately and updated in a timely manner.
• Support the Payroll Manager with payroll checks, reconciliations and reporting.
• Liaise with employees and managers to resolve payroll-related queries.
• Assist with year-end procedures and statutory reporting requirements.
• Support the transition from Sage 50 Payroll to the new IRIS payroll system, helping to ensure a smooth implementation.
• Maintain compliance with HMRC legislation, pension regulations and company policies.
• Produce payroll reports and assist with audit requests when required.

Person Specification

Essential Skills & Experience

• Previous experience working within a payroll position processing high-volume payrolls.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end payroll processes.
• Experience calculating overtime, additional hours, statutory payments and payroll adjustments.
• Knowledge of workplace pensions, including pension refunds and auto-enrolment requirements.
• Confident handling payroll queries from employees and managers.
• Excellent attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.