Payroll Manager

Mimecast Services Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Benefits package

Incentive plans

Job summary

Mimecast Services Ltd is seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to lead UK and European payroll operations within our Global Payroll team. You will own payroll delivery, compliance, and manage a payroll specialists team, partnering with HR, Finance, Legal and external providers to ensure accurate, timely payroll across jurisdictions.

The ideal candidate has 5–7 years of payroll experience, including 2+ years in people management, deep knowledge of UK/European requirements, hands-on ADP/Vistra,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5–7 years of payroll experience, including at least 2 years in a people management or team lead capacity.
• Deep knowledge of UK and broader European statutory payroll requirements; multi-jurisdiction experience preferred.
• Hands-on ADP experience; Vistra experience strongly preferred.
• Workday HRIS experience strongly preferred.
• Experience managing processes controlled under SOX and supporting external audits.
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships and hold third parties accountable to service levels.
• Strong people leadership, stakeholder management, and ability to work with senior leaders across HR, Legal, Finance.

Responsibilities

• Own the monthly payroll cycle for UK and European entities from start to finish; ensure timely and accurate delivery across jurisdictions.
• Review and approve work by Payroll Specialists on starters/leavers and changes in ADP and Vistra.
• Develop team capability through coaching, workload distribution, and backup planning.
• Approve payroll journals, vacation accruals, and pension contributions before month-end close.
• Act as control owner for payroll SOX compliance and segregation of duties.
• Lead quarterly and annual audit deliverables; primary contact for auditors on UK and European payroll matters.
• Ensure statutory, tax, and local filing compliance across jurisdictions; track regulatory changes and deadlines.
• Escalate complex employee, HMRC, and tax authority inquiries as needed.
• Manage relationships with ADP and Vistra; monitor service levels and escalation procedures.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Legal, and Treasury on payroll-adjacent matters; support cross-functional projects.
• Push standardization and automation across UK and European payroll processing.
• Maintain and update SOPs reflecting actual practice; support audit readiness.
• Identify and mitigate payroll risk with proposed solutions.

Skills

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Advanced Excel

Audit/SOX experience

Vendor management

ADP

Vistra

Workday HRIS

Process improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

ADP

Vistra

Workday

Job description

Payroll Manager, UK & Europe

About the Position

We are seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to lead UK and European payroll operations within our Global Payroll team. The Payroll Manager owns payroll delivery and compliance across multiple jurisdictions, manages a team of payroll specialists, serves as the primary escalation point for payroll issues, and partners with HR, Finance, Legal, and external payroll providers to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations.

What You’ll Do:

• Own the monthly payroll cycle for UK and European entities from start to finish, ensuring timely and accurate delivery across all jurisdictions.
• Manage, review, and approve work prepared by Payroll Specialists, including new starter and leaver processing, changes, and employee record maintenance on ADP and Vistra.
• Build team capability through coaching, workload distribution, and backup coverage planning to avoid single points of failure during leave, turnover, or peak periods.
• Serve as the final review and approval point for payroll journals, vacation accruals, and pension contribution submissions before month end close.
• Controls, Compliance, and Audit: Act as the control owner for payroll processes subject to Sarbanes Oxley compliance, maintaining segregation of duties between preparation and approval.
• Lead quarterly and annual audit deliverables, serving as primary point of contact for internal and external auditors on UK and European payroll matters.
• Ensure statutory, tax, and local filing compliance across jurisdictions, partnering with payroll providers and HR Business Partners to track regulatory changes and filing deadlines.
• Own escalation and resolution of complex employee, HMRC, and tax authority inquiries that specialists cannot resolve independently.
• Stakeholder and Vendor Management: Serve as primary payroll relationship owner for ADP and Vistra, managing service levels, escalating production issues, and holding vendors accountable to their commitments.
• Partner with HR Business Partners, Finance, Legal, and Treasury on payroll adjacent matters such as terminations, severance, benefits changes, and entity restructuring.
• Represent payroll on projects that span multiple functions and affect UK and European employees, including system implementations, M&A integration, and policy changes.
• Process Improvement and Risk Management: Evaluate and strengthen payroll policies, processes, and controls, proactively identifying gaps and recommending improvements rather than waiting for audit findings.
• Push forward standardization and automation across UK and European payroll processing.
• Maintain and update SOPs for the team, ensuring process documentation reflects actual practice and supports audit readiness.
• Identify and mitigate risk in payroll processing, flagging issues along with recommended solutions, not just problem statements.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum 5 to 7 years of payroll experience, including at least 2 years in a people management or team lead capacity.
• Deep knowledge of UK and broader European statutory payroll requirements, multi-jurisdiction experience strongly preferred.
• Hands on ADP experience required, Vistra experience strongly preferred.
• Workday HRIS experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing processes controlled under SOX and supporting external audits.
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships and hold third parties accountable to service levels.
• Strong people leadership skills, including coaching, performance management, and workload planning.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to navigate conversations with senior leaders, HR, Legal, and Finance with discretion and confidentiality.
• Advanced Excel skills, comfort working with payroll system reporting and reconciliation.
• Demonstrated ownership mindset, able to drive recurring deadlines and ad hoc projects through to completion without close oversight.
• Thrives in a fast paced, deadline driven, multi entity environment.

Join our Finance team to accelerate your career journey. You will be immersed in a dynamic environment that recognizes and celebrates your achievements. Mimecast offers formal and on-the-job learning opportunities, maintains a comprehensive benefits package that helps our employees and their family members to sustain a healthy lifestyle, and importantly - working in cross functional teams to build your knowledge!

Our Hybrid Model:

We provide you with the flexibility to live balanced, healthy lives through our hybrid working model that champions both collaborative teamwork and individual flexibility. Employees are expected to come to the office at least two days per week, because working together in person: Fosters a culture of collaboration, communication, performance and learning Drives innovation and creativity within and between teams Introduces employees to priorities outside of their immediate realm Ensures important interpersonal relationships and connections with one another and our community!

The base salary range for this position is £60,000 to £90,000 plus benefits. This range represents the minimum and maximum new hire compensation for this role. The position may also be eligible for incentive plans and additional benefits, in accordance with company policy and local regulations. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location with individual compensation also dependent on factors such as qualifications, experience, and skills. Final offers will reflect these considerations and may vary accordingly.

#LI-CS1 Belonging at Mimecast Cybersecurity is a community effort. That’s why we’re committed to building an inclusive, diverse community that celebrates and welcomes everyone – unless they’re a cybercriminal, of course. We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affiative Action Employer, and we’d encourage you to join us whatever your background. We particularly welcome applicants from traditionally underrepresented groups. We consider everyone equally: your race, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, marital status, nationality, or any other protected characteristic won’t affect your application. Due to certain obligations to our customers, an offer of employment will be subject to your successful completion of applicable background checks, conducted in accordance with local law. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. We save companies the embarrassment of awkward data slip ups by disrupting cybercriminal activity. We think fast, go big and always demand more. We work hard, deliver – and repeat. We grow with meaningful determination. And put success well within our reach. We empower each other, live by our values, and always deliver on our purpose. We push each other to be better and expect to be pushed back. This is a community of respect. Where everyone is counted.