Payroll Manager

Derby City Council; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 51,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS pension

Team Derby Rewards

Tusker Car Benefit Scheme

Generous annual leave

Flexible & hybrid working

Learning and development

Job summary

Derby City Council is looking for a Payroll Manager to lead payroll, pensions and employee benefits within the HR Shared Services team. Based at the Council House in Derby, you will manage a 12-strong payroll team and drive end-to-end payroll delivery across thousands of staff.

The role is permanent, 37 hours per week, and involves developing efficiencies, staying current with payroll legislation and strengthening the organisation’s reward offering.

Qualifications

• Experience of managing end-to-end payroll processing in a large/complex organisation.
• Skilled in interpreting and applying payroll, pensions and benefits legislation.
• Motivational people leader with ability to develop skills and drive performance.
• Project management skills and ability to influence a wide range of stakeholders.
• Good IT skills to analyse and interpret data.
• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills for managing sold-services.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multi-disciplined team of 12 across Payroll, Pensions and Employee Benefits.
• Ensure accurate and timely end-to-end payroll processing, including BACS production and RTI submissions.
• Manage the Council’s employee benefits contracts to deliver best-value.
• Develop sold services, such as with schools that utilise the Council’s Payroll service.
• Identify and initiate projects to deliver savings and efficiencies across the function.
• Update policy and process updates across the team and organisation when required.
• Stay up-to-date with payroll, pensions and benefits legislation.
• Upskill the team to maintain a high level of service.

Skills

Payroll management

People leadership

BACS RTI

Stakeholder engagement

Data analysis

Customer service

Job description

Job description

Salary: £47,665 - £50,908 a year
Location: The Council House
Hours: 37 Hours a week
Closing Date: 15th November 2026
DBS Requirement: No
Contract Type: Permanent

Derby City Council is looking for a Payroll Manager to lead three key functions within the Council’s HR Shared Services team; these are payroll, pensions and employee benefits. The role is critical to ensuring that the Council’s employees and sold-service customers are paid on time.

Based at the Council House in Derby, the role presents an opportunity to make a real impact within the organisation by identifying and leading projects to deliver efficiencies across the Council’s processes and systems.

This is a varied role: the Councils pays 6570 people across 17 payrolls, administers 3 pension schemes and manages several employee benefits contracts.

The Opportunity

In the role of Payroll Manager , here’s an example of what you’ll be doing to make an impact:

• Effectively leading a multi-disciplined team of 12 across Payroll, Pensions and Employee Benefits, embedding a culture of high performance and building resilience across the teams
• Ensuring accurate and timely end-to-end payroll processing, compliant with legislation and Council policies – this includes full accountability for the end-to-end payroll cycle, BACS production, RTI submissions and finance interfaces
• Managing the Council’s employee benefits contracts to deliver best-value whilst helping to strengthen the organisation’s reward offering
• Maintaining and developing sold services, such as with schools that utilise the Council’s Payroll service
• Identifying and initiating projects to deliver savings and efficiencies across the function
• Updating and delivering policy and process updates across the team, to the organisation or externally when required
• Staying up-to-date with payroll, pensions and benefits legislation and relevant employment law
• Proactively developing and upskilling the team to build resilience and ensure the function maintains a high level of service provided to the organisation

About you

To be successful in this role, you’ll ideally have...

• Experience of managing end-to-end payroll processing in a large/complex organisation (including running payroll, BACS production, RTI submissions and costing ledger interfaces)
• Skilled in interpreting and applying payroll, pensions and benefits legislation
• A motivational people leader that can develop skills and drive performance within the team
• Project management skills and the ability to influence and a wide range of stakeholders
• Good IT skills, with the ability to analyse and interpret data
• The excellent interpersonal and customer service skills that are essential to successfully managing sold-services

Who We Are

At Derby City Council, we're proud to deliver over 250 essential services that support our residents, communities and businesses. Guided by our vision to create an Inclusive, Green, Growing and Vibrant City, we put people at the heart of everything we do.

Our values shape how we work every day. We believe in Great People, One Team, we're Bold in embracing change, Strong in delivering for our communities, and We Care about making a positive difference.

Join us and you'll be part of an ambitious, collaborative organisation where you can develop your career while helping to shape Derby's future.

Why join Derby City Council?

At Derby City Council, you'll have the opportunity to make a real difference while building a rewarding career in an organisation that values, supports and invests in its people.

Alongside the opportunity to help shape the future of Derby, you'll benefit from a comprehensive range of employee benefits, including:

Financial Benefits

• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – a secure, defined benefit pension with life cover
• Team Derby Rewards – discounts across a wide range of retail, leisure and lifestyle brands
• Tusker Car Benefit Scheme – a salary sacrifice scheme for leasing a brand-new, fully maintained and insured vehicle

Work-Life Balance

• Generous annual leave, starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days after five years' service (plus bank holidays, depending on your contract)
• The option to purchase additional annual leave
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements for many roles
• Flexible retirement options, where eligible
• Support for colleagues with caring responsibilities

Learning and Development

• Learning and development opportunities, with regular career conversations to support your growth
• Leadership and management development programmes, mentoring and professional qualifications
• Modern workspaces designed to support collaboration, productivity and wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Programme, wellbeing support and a year-round wellbeing calendar
• Free annual flu vaccinations
• Cycle2Work Scheme and free cycle training

Community and Inclusion

• Up to 15 hours of volunteering leave each year
• Recognition through initiatives including the Here for Derby Awards and Long Service Awards
• The opportunity to join one of our Employee Networks, including LGBTQ+, Disabled Employees and Carers, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Employees, and Neurodiversity

At Derby City Council, we believe our people are our greatest strength. Whatever stage you're at in your career, you'll be joining an inclusive organisation where you'll be supported to develop, feel valued and make a meaningful difference to the communities we serve.

Some benefits are dependent on your role, contract or length of service.