Payroll & Benefits Assistant - Growth Path & Study Support

Michael Page Finance; Newton-le-Willows; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Study support

Job summary

Michael Page Finance is seeking a Payroll Assistant / Analyst to support payroll for around 450 staff. You will manage end‑to‑end payroll, analyse variances vs budgets, and build reports for Finance and HR managers.

You’ll also handle onboarding/offboarding and administer employee benefits, with a focus on accuracy and compliance. Ideal candidates have 12 months’ experience in payroll support within accounts or HR, strong Excel skills (VLOOKUPs, Pivot tables) and a proactive, detail‑oriented

Qualifications

• Accurate and detail oriented with strong organisational skills.
• Ability to work to tight timescales and meet deadlines.
• Flexibility to payroll processing schedules (4‑weekly or monthly).
• Strong Excel skills including VLOOKUPs and Pivot tables.
• Professionalism and respectful interaction with staff.

Responsibilities

• Full start to finish payroll processing for ~450 staff.
• Analyse key variances against budgets and forecasts.
• Develop reporting suite for Finance and Operational Managers.
• Collate payroll data from depots and perform data checks.
• Onboard/offboard staff and administer benefit schemes.
• Reconcile payroll using Excel and Sage.
• Process pension submissions and employee benefits.

Skills

VLOOKUPs

Pivot tables

Attention to detail

Time management

Tools

Sage

Excel

Job description

Michael Page Finance is seeking a Payroll Assistant / Analyst to support payroll for around 450 staff. You will manage end‑to‑end payroll, analyse variances vs budgets, and build reports for Finance and HR managers.

You’ll also handle onboarding/offboarding and administer employee benefits, with a focus on accuracy and compliance. Ideal candidates have 12 months’ experience in payroll support within accounts or HR, strong Excel skills (VLOOKUPs, Pivot tables) and a proactive, detail‑oriented