Payroll Manager

Aster Group; England; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Wellbeing programme

Career development

Pension and life cover

Volunteering

Job summary

Aster Group is seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to lead the payroll function across the Group, ensuring timely and accurate pay while driving improvements in processes and controls.

You will manage a small team, deliver end-to-end payroll services, ensure HMRC compliance, and collaborate with HR and Finance to enhance systems and reporting in a hybrid Dorset-based role.

Qualifications

• Significant payroll management experience within a complex organisation (5+ years).
• Experience delivering end-to-end payroll operations, including varied contracts (e.g., zero-hour).
• Strong knowledge of payroll legislation, PAYE, NI, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience leading, developing and motivating payroll teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication, including with senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of payroll services across the Group.
• Provide expert payroll leadership and compliance with legislation.
• Oversee payroll reconciliations, audits and management reporting.
• Ensure accurate processing of salaries, deductions and statutory payments.

Skills

Payroll management

End-to-end payroll

Stakeholder management

Legislation knowledge

Team leadership

Process improvement

Education

MCIPP or payroll qualification

Tools

Dayforce

Job description

Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 subject to experience

Location: Dorset

Hours: 37 hours per week

Are you an experienced payroll professional with a passion for accuracy, compliance, customer service and continuous improvement? We're looking for a talented Payroll Manager to lead our payroll function, ensuring colleagues are paid correctly and on time while driving excellence across systems, processes and controls.

This is an exciting opportunity to take ownership of a critical business function, lead a dedicated payroll team, and play a key role in shaping a modern, efficient and compliant payroll service.

The Role

As Payroll Manager, you will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of payroll services across the Group. You'll provide expert technical leadership, ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, and work closely with colleagues across HR, Finance and the wider business to deliver an outstanding payroll experience.

You'll lead a small team of payroll professionals, champion continuous improvement, and ensure payroll systems and processes evolve to meet changing business and legislative requirements.

As Payroll Manager, you will:

• Lead the accurate and timely delivery of payroll processing across multiple payrolls and pay groups.
• Ensure salaries, allowances, deductions and statutory payments are processed correctly and on schedule.
• Oversee payroll reconciliations, audit requirements and management reporting.
• Ensure full compliance with HMRC, PAYE, National Insurance, pension and employment legislation.
• Manage statutory reporting, year-end activities and third-party payments.
• Maintain robust payroll controls and lead payroll audit activities.
• Oversee payroll systems administration, testing and implementation of legislative and system updates.
• Provide expert payroll guidance and technical advice to leaders and stakeholders.

About You

You'll be a highly organised and detail-focused payroll leader with the confidence to influence stakeholders and drive continuous improvement.

Essential experience and skills

• Significant payroll management experience within a complex organisation, 2000+ headcount (5+ years).
• Proven experience managing end-to-end payroll operations, preferably with demonstrable experience with zero-hour contracts, sleep in roles, overtime and out of hours.
• Strong knowledge of payroll legislation, PAYE, National Insurance, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience leading, motivating and developing payroll teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including experience working with senior leaders.
• A proactive mindset with a track record of improving payroll processes and systems.

Desirable

• MCIPP membership or a recognised payroll qualification.
• Experience within the housing sector.
• Experience of using Dayforce as a payroll/HR system

This is a hybrid role, enabling you to base yourself from home. You will come together with the wider Finance Team twice a month in the Wareham office, so you'll be within a commutable distance. There may also be occasional additional travel requirements so being happy to travel is important.

What's in it for me

We invest in our colleagues because we know if they have a better day at work, the service our customers receive will be better. The Aster Offer is our offer to our colleagues to ensure they have a great day at work and includes things like:

• Flexible working – whilst some roles need to be carried out in a specific place at a specific time, where possible we encourage our colleagues to work to their own schedule at a location that suits them, their team and our business’ needs
• A focus on colleague wellbeing – workshops, an employee assistance programme offering counselling and support, mental health training and a health cash plan
• We invest in colleagues’ careers and development through our leader and colleague development frameworks
• Defined Contribution Pension and attached life assurance
• Volunteering hours available to all colleagues to enable them to give back
• Savings at cinemas, gyms, holidays, days out, various shops and eateries and lots more
• Enhanced leave
• We celebrate colleagues who go above and beyond with a range of personalised recognition initiatives

We create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity and believe that creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do.

All offers of employment are subject to the successful candidate providing proof of their right to work in the UK. Aster Group and its subsidiary brands do not hold a sponsor licence and are therefore unable to provide visa sponsorship.

Download Documents

• The Aster Way Culture Handbook
• Payroll Manager Role Profile.pdf