Payroll Implementation Project Manager

Retail Human Resources plc; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Retail Human Resources plc in London is seeking an experienced payroll implementation recovery project manager for an immediate-start interim contract. You will stabilise a live payroll programme, drive issue resolution, establish governance and restore confidence across the business.

Ideal candidate has senior project management experience delivering payroll, HRIS or ERP recoveries, with strong stakeholder management, governance, and communication skills, and will lead cross-functional teams

Qualifications

• Extensive project management experience delivering payroll, HRIS or ERP programmes.
• Experience leading implementation recovery, stabilisation or post-go-live remediation projects.
• Strong stakeholder management across technical and business teams.
• Excellent governance, planning and reporting skills.
• Proven root cause analysis and structured problem-solving capability.
• Outstanding communication and facilitation skills.

Responsibilities

• Assess the current state of the programme and validate outstanding issues, risks and impacts.
• Complete structured root cause analysis across technology, processes, controls, training and change.
• Develop and mobilise a prioritised recovery roadmap.
• Coordinate technical, operational, testing, training and communications workstreams.
• Establish governance, reporting, RAID management and escalation processes.
• Support the transition to a stable Business-as-Usual operating model.
• Conduct discovery workshops and stakeholder interviews.
• Review project documentation, risks and open defects.
• Lead root cause analysis and define corrective actions.
• Develop integrated recovery plans, workstreams and milestones.
• Coordinate technical teams, payroll operations, HR, vendors and business stakeholders.
• Manage RAID logs, actions, dependencies and decision registers.
• Prepare executive status reports and steering committee updates.
• Oversee testing, readiness activities and implementation tracking.
• Coordinate training, communications and change management activity.
• Ensure a smooth transition into BAU ownership once stabilisation has been achieved.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Governance & reporting

Root cause analysis

Change management

Communication skills

Education

PRINCE2

PMP

MSP

Agile certification

Job description

We’re recruiting an experienced payroll implementation recovery project manager for an immediate-start interim contract based in London.

This is an excellent opportunity for a senior project professional with a proven track record of recovering complex payroll, HRIS or ERP implementations. You’ll take ownership of stabilising a live payroll programme, driving issue resolution, establishing effective governance, and restoring confidence across the business.

The Role

• Assessing the current state of the programme and validating outstanding issues, risks and impacts
• Completing structured root cause analysis across technology, processes, controls, training and change
• Developing and mobilising a prioritised recovery roadmap
• Coordinating technical, operational, testing, training and communications workstreams
• Establishing governance, reporting, RAID management and escalation processes
• Supporting the transition to a stable Business-as-Usual operating model

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct discovery workshops and stakeholder interviews
• Review project documentation, risks and open defects
• Lead root cause analysis and define corrective actions
• Develop integrated recovery plans, workstreams and milestones
• Coordinate technical teams, payroll operations, HR, vendors and business stakeholders
• Manage RAID logs, actions, dependencies and decision registers
• Prepare executive status reports and steering committee updates
• Oversee testing, readiness activities and implementation tracking
• Coordinate training, communications and change management activity
• Ensure a smooth transition into BAU ownership once stabilisation has been achieved

What We’re Looking For

We’re interested in candidates who can demonstrate:

• Extensive Project Management experience delivering payroll, HRIS or ERP programmes
• Previous experience leading implementation recovery, stabilisation or post-go-live remediation projects
• Strong stakeholder management across technical and business teams
• Excellent governance, planning and reporting skills
• Proven root cause analysis and structured problem-solving capability
• Outstanding communication and facilitation skills

Desirable experience includes:

• UK payroll operations knowledge
• Vendor management experience
• PRINCE2, PMP, MSP or Agile certification
• Change management experience or qualifications

The Opportunity

• Immediate start
• Interim / Temporary Contract
• Liverpool-based
• Opportunity to make a significant impact by restoring payroll stability and operational confidence

If you’ve successfully turned around challenging payroll or HR technology implementations and are available to start immediately, we’d love to hear from you.