Payroll Manager

Lucy Walker Recruitment; Leeds; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A respected recruitment agency in Leeds is seeking an experienced Payroll Manager to oversee the full payroll cycle and team management. The ideal candidate will have a CIPP qualification and proven experience in a complex environment, ensuring compliance with UK payroll legislation. This role involves leading payroll improvements and providing insightful reports to senior leadership.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience managing end-to-end payroll within a complex organisation.
• In-depth knowledge of UK payroll legislation and HMRC regulations.
• Demonstrable track record of leading payroll improvement projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end payroll process.
• Ensure compliance with UK payroll legislation.
• Manage payroll inputs and report generation.

Skills

End-to-end payroll management

Strong MS Excel skills

Team management

Knowledge of UK payroll legislation

Education

Degree in Finance, Accounting, HR, or Business Administration

CIPP qualification (or equivalent)

Tools

Payroll systems

Job description

We are working with a respected and renowned organisation with offices in Leeds who are seeking to appoint an experienced Payroll Manager to not only support and manage the whole pay life cycle but manage a wider team. Playing a key leadership role, the successful candidate will manage the full payroll cycle ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant delivery of payroll for all employees across the organisation.

The Payroll Manager plays a pivotal role in building a strong culture of service excellence within the payroll team, ensuring employees receive a consistently positive experience while also enabling the business with accurate data, reporting, and financial forecasting. The role is vast, but core tasks involve:

• Lead the end-to-end payroll process,
• Manage payroll inputs including new hires, terminations, salary adjustments, promotions, benefits, overtime, bonuses, commission, and statutory deductions.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant UK payroll legislation
• Monitor changes in legislation and case law
• Act as the escalation point for complex payroll queries
• Lead the submission of statutory reporting to HMRC and pension providers
• Deliver year-end processes including P60s, P11Ds, and reporting for audit and compliance purposes.

• Own and administer the payroll system,
• Implement robust reconciliation processes between payroll, HRIS, and finance systems.
• Conduct monthly payroll audits to identify discrepancies
• Provide monthly, quarterly, and ad-hoc payroll reports to the Head of HR Operations, Finance, and senior leadership teams.
• Produce reports and analyse trends to provide insights

• Lead, manage, and mentor the payroll team, ensuring they are motivated, high-performing, and aligned with organisational objectives.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and well-respected payroll manager to join and lead this team, the successful applicant will be;

• Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) qualification (or equivalent).
• Hold extensive, proven experience managing end-to-end payroll within a complex, multi-site or multinational organisation.
• In-depth knowledge of UK payroll legislation, HMRC regulations, pensions (including auto-enrolment), and benefits processing.
• Strong experience managing and optimising payroll systems
• Demonstrable track record of leading payroll improvement, automation, and digital transformation projects.
• Proven experience managing and developing a payroll team.
• Advanced MS Excel skills with ability to manipulate and analyse large data sets.

• Degree in Finance, Accounting, HR, or Business Administration (desirable)
• Exposure to multi-country payroll and international tax requirements.

If you hold the above skills and experiences and are looking for a challenging opportunity where your extensive payroll management experience will align, please your CV for confidential review. Due to high applications, if you do not hear from us within 7 days your application has not been successful.