Payroll Lead

Jobtailor; Guildford; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Healthcare

Life insurance

Wellness programme

Birthday off

Extra day between Christmas and New-yr

Gym membership

Cycle to work

Holiday buy/sell

Social events

Referral bonus

Job summary

Workman LLP is seeking a Payroll Lead to manage end-to-end payroll for over 1000 employees across Workman LLP and Workman Facilities Management. The role ensures compliance with payroll legislation, tax rules, benefits administration and data integrity.

You will lead monthly payroll, review data, maintain controls, reconcile accounts, and drive system improvements, including potential Opera and SAP Concur usage. A CIPP/CPP is preferred, with Excel expertise and strong stakeholder collaboration.

Qualifications

• Proven experience overseeing end-to-end payroll processes.
• CIPP, CPP or equivalent certification preferred.
• Experience supervising or coaching junior team members.
• Experience posting journals onto Opera or a similar accounting software; SAP Concur experience preferable.
• Competent in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables and VLOOKUP; ability to work with large datasets.
• Ability to meet strict deadlines and prioritise tasks.
• Maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Lead monthly payroll for all employees.
• Review payroll data including salaries, bonuses, overtime, allowances and deductions.
• Maintain payroll controls and approvals.
• Reconcile payroll accounts, benefits, tax deductions and pension contributions.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies and employee queries.
• Coordinate with Finance on payroll journals and month-end reporting.
• Ensure compliance with laws, tax, pension requirements and deductions.
• Maintain payroll records in line with data protection regulations.
• Coach and support the Payroll and Benefits Administrator; prioritise workload.
• Oversee expense claim checks for Payroll & Benefits Admin; ensure policy compliance.
• Support group insurance renewals (medical, life, income protection).
• Lead payroll-related projects including system upgrades and new software.
• Monitor shared inboxes and resolve queries promptly.

Skills

End-to-end payroll

Team leadership

Journals and accounting

Excel (Pivot/VLOOKUP)

Data handling

Deadline management

Confidentiality

Payroll software knowledge

Education

CIPP/CPP preferred

Tools

Opera

SAP Concur

Job description

About the role

As the Payroll Lead, you will be responsible for managing and overseeing the end-to‑end payroll operations for over 1000 employees across our two entities: Workman LLP and Workman Facilities Management.

The role ensures compliance with payroll legislation, tax regulations, benefits administration, and company policies while driving payroll process improvements and maintaining data integrity.

Day to day you'll

• Lead and manage the monthly payroll process for all employees.
• Review and validate payroll data, including salaries, bonuses, overtime, allowances, and deductions.
• Ensure appropriate payroll controls and approvals are in place.
• Reconcile payroll accounts, benefits, tax deductions, and pension contributions.
• Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies and employee queries.
• Coordinate with Finance regarding payroll journals and month‑end reporting.
• Ensure compliance with employment laws, tax regulations, pension requirements, and statutory deductions.
• Maintain employee payroll records in accordance with data protection regulations.
• Coach and support the Payroll and Benefits Administrator, including prioritising workload and reviewing output across expenses and benefits administration.
• Oversee the Payroll and Benefits Admin’s expense claim checks, ensuring compliance with internal policy criteria.
• Support group insurance renewals for private medical insurance, life assurance, and group income protection.
• Lead payroll‑related projects and initiatives, including system upgrades, process improvements and new payroll software implementation.
• Monitor relevant shared inboxes and ensure queries are resolved promptly.

What we expect of you

• You should have proven experience overseeing the end‑to‑end payroll process and the administration that accompanies it.
• CIPP, CPP or equivalent is preferred.
• Experience supervising or coaching junior team members is beneficial.
• Experience posting journals onto Opera or a similar accounting software would be beneficial; experience using SAP Concur is preferable but not essential.
• You should be a competent Microsoft Excel user, including pivot tables and VLOOKUP. Experience working with large volumes of data is crucial.
• A proactive, practical and positive approach to work is required.
• You should be able to work to strict deadlines and prioritise tasks.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.

What matters most in this role

Accuracy, judgement and attention to detail are crucial in this role. You will oversee accurate payroll payments, review the Payroll and Benefits Admin’s expenses activity for compliance, and approve payroll journals before they are posted to Opera.

You should be experienced in leading the payroll process for a medium‑large enterprise, with the confidence to review work, resolve queries and support continuous improvement.

Your ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with internal teams and stakeholders is essential. Clear communication and accurate advice are very important.

Why Workman?

• Hybrid working to offer you a great work‑life balance, with a minimum of three days in the office.
• Core working hours to allow for added flexibility and help ease your commute to the office.
• Discretionary annual bonus and salary reviews.
• Healthcare, life insurance & wellness programme.
• Birthday off and an extra day between Christmas and New Year.
• Lifestyle benefits to suit you: gym membership, cycle to work, buy and sell holiday to name just a few.
• Social events throughout the year including a firm‑wide Christmas party.
• Generous referral bonus.

Our core belief

Great Workmanship starts with getting the fundamentals right.

Even though we're in the property business, we're all about the people.

Everything we do is built on collaboration, empowerment, autonomy, and integrity – not just words, but how we actually work.

About Workman

As the UK’s leading independent commercial property management specialist, Workman has an enviable position within the property industry.

We are proud of our longstanding relationships with many of our clients, some of whom we have worked with for more than 25 years. Our clients include leading institutional and sector‑specialist investors, private property companies, public sector bodies and a growing number of overseas investors.

Equal opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer, and it is our policy to recruit a diverse workforce and follow the guidelines of the Equality Act 2010.