Payroll & Finance Officer – AR

Carrington Blake Recruitment; Coventry; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Coventry City Council is seeking an experienced Payroll & Finance Officer to join its Payroll Bureau. This hands-on role focuses on payroll administration, balancing and reconciliation, with additional support for finance processes and maintaining accurate records.

The successful candidate will have payroll processing experience, strong numerical and analytical skills, and excellent Excel knowledge, with the ability to investigate and resolve discrepancies.

Qualifications

• Previous experience in a payroll processing role.
• Strong experience with payroll reconciliation and balancing.
• Ability to identify, investigate, and resolve payroll discrepancies.
• Excellent Excel skills.
• Experience using payroll and finance systems.

Responsibilities

• Process and validate payroll data accurately and on time.
• Undertake payroll balancing and reconciliations.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies.
• Support BACS payments and payroll-related transactions.
• Maintain accurate payroll and financial records.
• Assist with payroll audits and year-end activities.
• Provide support for budgetary reporting and financial control.
• Collaborate with payroll and finance colleagues for service delivery.

Skills

Payroll reconciliation

Payroll balancing

Numerical analysis

Excel proficiency

Payroll systems

Attention to detail

Tools

ResourceLink

Unit4 / Business World

Job description

Payroll & Finance Officer

Client: Coventry City Council
Location: Coventry – Hybrid
Contract: 3 Months+
Rate: £17.47 PAYE
Hours: 37 hours per week
Start Date: ASAP
Working Arrangement: 2 days per week onsite in Coventry

About the Role

Coventry City Council is seeking an experienced Payroll & Finance Officer to join and support its Payroll Bureau function.

This is a hands‑on role focused primarily on payroll administration, payroll balancing and reconciliation, with additional responsibility for supporting finance processes and maintaining accurate financial records.

The successful candidate will have previous payroll processing experience, strong numerical and analytical skills, excellent Excel knowledge and the ability to investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies.

Key Responsibilities

• Process and validate payroll data accurately and within required deadlines.
• Undertake payroll balancing and reconciliations.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies and errors.
• Support BACS payments and payroll‑related financial transactions.
• Ensure statutory deductions and payroll processes are completed accurately and compliantly.
• Maintain accurate payroll and financial records.
• Support payroll audits and year‑end payroll activities.
• Assist with budgetary, reporting and financial control activities.
• Provide support and guidance to internal and external stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively with payroll and finance colleagues to ensure accurate and efficient service delivery.

Essential Experience & Skills

• Previous experience working in a payroll processing role.
• Strong experience of payroll reconciliation and balancing.
• Ability to identify, investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies.
• Strong numerical and analytical skills.
• Excellent Excel skills.
• Experience using payroll and finance systems.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to manage deadlines and work effectively under pressure.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a wider team.

Desirable Experience

• Previous Payroll Bureau experience.
• Local Government or wider public‑sector payroll experience.
• Pensions administration experience.
• Experience using ResourceLink payroll system.
• Experience using Unit4 / Business World finance system.
• Knowledge of IR35 processes.
• Experience with P11D processes.
• Experience supporting payroll audits and year‑end activities.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be an experienced Payroll Officer, Payroll Administrator, Payroll Specialist or Payroll & Finance Officer who is confident processing payroll and, importantly, carrying out payroll reconciliations and balancing.

Previous council or public‑sector experience would be advantageous, particularly where the candidate has worked within a large or complex payroll environment.

You should be confident working with figures, highly accurate, comfortable using Excel and able to investigate and resolve discrepancies independently.