Payroll Manager

Harrods; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Harrods is seeking a Payroll Manager to lead the end-to-end delivery of payroll across the Group, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely payments. You will own schedules, controls and reporting while driving improvements across HR, Finance and external providers.

The role demands strong leadership, UK payroll expertise, and a track record of delivering a high-quality payroll service within a luxury retail environment. This is a permanent, on-site position at Harrods in London.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading in-house payroll operations within the UK.
• Strong understanding of payroll controls, governance and compliance.
• Proven ability to drive continuous improvement and data integrity.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payroll delivery across the Group, on time and accurately.
• Oversee payroll systems, audits, reporting and regulatory compliance.
• Lead a high-performing payroll team and manage stakeholder relationships.

Skills

End-to-end payroll

Stakeholder management

People management

UK payroll legislation

Process improvement

Data reporting

Education

CIPP qualification

Tools

Workday

ResourceLink

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Payroll Manager to join our HR team here at Harrods. You will be accountable for the operational delivery of payroll across the Group, ensuring colleagues are paid accurately, compliantly and on time.

About the Role

The Payroll Manager is responsible for the successful end-to-end delivery of payroll services across the Group, ensuring all payrolls are processed accurately, compliantly, and within agreed deadlines. This role owns payroll schedules, operational timetables, controls, reconciliations, funding activities, payment processes, and statutory reporting requirements, while maintaining a strong focus on risk management and payroll governance. Acting as the key escalation point for complex payroll matters, the postholder ensures issues are resolved effectively and that payroll processes, procedures, and controls remain robust and fit for purpose. The role also oversees payroll systems, reporting, audits, legislative compliance, and the delivery of continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operational efficiency and data integrity. In addition, the Payroll Manager leads and develops a high-performing payroll team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. They are responsible for delivering an excellent payroll service experience across all colleague and manager touchpoints, ensuring service levels are achieved and stakeholder expectations are met. Working closely with HR, Finance, Reward, Systems teams, and external providers, they build strong relationships to ensure payroll processes remain aligned, effective, and responsive to business needs. The role provides operational insight, technical expertise, and strategic support through performance reporting, change initiatives, process optimisation, and the implementation of legislative and regulatory requirements.

About You

We are looking for an experienced payroll leader with strong end-to-end payroll expertise and a passion for delivering exceptional service through high-performing teams. You will be equally comfortable leading day-to-day operations, providing technical payroll guidance, and developing colleagues, while effectively managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. As a proactive and solutions-focused professional, you will bring strong stakeholder management skills, a commitment to continuous improvement, and the ability to build collaborative relationships across the business. The successful candidate will have significant experience leading in-house payroll operations, with a strong understanding of UK payroll legislation, compliance requirements, and payroll controls. You will possess excellent people management, analytical, reporting, and organisational skills, alongside proven experience managing payroll systems, upgrades, testing, audits, and change initiatives. Experience with systems such as Workday and ResourceLink is highly desirable, and a CIPP qualification, or equivalent professional certification, would be an advantage.

About Us

Harrods is one of the world’s leading luxury department stores and we’re becoming a destination for top designers, and the most sought-after brands from around the globe. Our combined mission is to make visiting our iconic Knightsbridge store one of the world’s most inspiring shopping experiences. Our Promise to You Help us make the impossible possible for our customers and we’ll do something remarkable for you. As well as offering a friendly environment to inspire your best work, we provide abundant opportunities and support to build an exceptional career across the varied specialisms of our business. Uniquely You Whilst our job adverts outline the ideal qualities, skills, and prior experience for the role, we believe in the potential for growth and value individual strengths. If you can demonstrate the majority of skills and strong experience to thrive in this role, we would encourage you to apply. At Harrods we believe the personality and authenticity of our people sets us apart. We celebrate and invite applications from all cultures, backgrounds, tastes, and experiences and are proud of our culture where people from all walks of life can grow and thrive. What makes you unique makes us exceptional. If you want to know more about life at Harrods, search #TogetherHarrods on LinkedIn, or follow us on Instagram @togetherharrods.

Additional Information

Time Type: Permanent Department: Payroll (Sophia Baker)

As one of the world’s most prestigious brands, and a highly sought-after employer within luxury retail, we aim to provide a working environment in which we can exceed both our customers’ expectations and the expectations of each other. To maintain our high standards, we invest as heavily in our people as we do in our products and store. As well as offering an unforgettable experience for our customers, we offer an exciting, challenging and motivating environment for our employees. We demonstrate how we value our team through an extensive pay and benefits package, as well as through a number of programmes that reward and recognise employees for exceptional performance. Our employees can also accelerate their careers through opportunities to work with talented people, development training and chances to raise their profile in the luxury retail sector.