Payroll Manager

N Brown Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Annual bonus

Company pension with employer contrib.

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Volunteer time

Job summary

N Brown Group is seeking a Payroll Manager to lead the delivery of accurate, compliant payroll for UK and Ireland. You will manage five payrolls and over 1,000 colleagues, ensuring timely payments, tax compliance and strong controls.

The role combines operational excellence with leadership and transformation, reporting to the Finance Shared Services Manager within a hybrid working environment at the Manchester Head Office.

Qualifications

• CIPP qualified or equivalent payroll qualification.
• Strong understanding of UK payroll legislation and tax rules.
• Advanced knowledge of manual payroll calculations (Tax and NI).
• Experience managing complex payroll operations.
• Experience leading payroll professionals and teams.
• Experience implementing payroll process improvements and transformations.
• Experience with payroll reconciliations, reporting and audits.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end UK and Irish payrolls ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Coach and develop the payroll team.
• Partner with Finance, People Services and operations to drive data quality and efficiency.
• Own monthly payroll reconciliations and balance sheet reviews.
• Ensure payroll governance and statutory compliance across UK&I.

Skills

Payroll leadership

UK payroll knowledge

Manual payroll calculations

Payroll reconciliations

Process improvements

Education

CIPP qualified

Job description

Role: Payroll Manager

Salary: Up to £50,000 DOE, plus benefits

Department: Finance

Location: Manchester Head Office

Direct Reports: x2 (Payroll Team Leader and Payroll Administrator

Reporting to: Finance Shared Services Manager

Job Purpose:

As the Payroll Manager, you will lead the delivery of accurate, compliant and timely payroll services across our UK and Irish operations. This is an influential role which combines operational excellence, people leadership and business transformation. You will be responsible for responsible for all our payroll processes, ensuring colleagues are paid accurately and on time and that we comply with our legislative and statutory requirements. Acting as the organisation's payroll subject matter expert, you will work closely with Finance, People Services and operational stakeholders to ensure payroll and expense processes support the wider business strategy and deliver an exceptional employee experience for over 1,000 colleagues across five payrolls in the UK and Ireland.

Key Accountabilities:

• * Payroll Operations & Compliance* - Lead and oversee the end-to-end delivery of UK and Irish payrolls, ensuring accuracy, compliance with statutory requirements, robust financial controls and adherence to internal policies and reporting deadlines.
• * Team Leadership and Development* - Lead, coach and develop the team, creating a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• * Business Partnership and Continuous Improvement* - Build strong, collaborative relationships across the business and with external partners to improve data quality, operational efficiency and employee experience. Deliver continuous improvement of our payroll operations through process optimisation, enhanced controls, automation and improve reporting capability.

Core Activities & Responsibilities:

• * Lead the accurate and timely payment of salary, taxes and statutory deductions, ensuring compliance with statutory and business requirements.
• * Ensure effective operations of payroll controls allowing efficient authorization and submission of pay runs and tax payments to agreed timetables.
• * Ensure compliance with payroll legislation, tax regulations and employment laws; accurately calculate salaries, overtime, bonuses, commissions, and deductions and maintain accurate payroll records and employee compensation data. Resolve colleague payroll queries professionally and efficiently.
• * Act as the Payroll Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the business, providing guidance on taxation, National Insurance, benefits, expenses and payroll legislation.
• * Lead, motivate and develop direct reports (Payroll Team Leader and Payroll Administrator).
• * Work with internal and external stakeholders to deliver continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to automate manual processes, streamline workflows and improve payroll accuracy and efficiency, including maximising functionality of our payroll system (People XD) and contributing to business transformation initiatives.
• * Build and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders ensuring employee data is accurately maintained; employee experience is enhanced, including provision of payroll drop-in services at our warehouse hub in Shaw, Oldham, and payroll considerations are highlighted for business decisions and projects.
• * Own monthly payroll reconciliations, balance sheet reviews and control processes, ensuring reconciling items are identified and resolved in line with financial reporting deadlines and the function is audit-ready at all times.
• * Review and approve National Minimum Wage, PSA and P11D(b) submissions, ensuring compliance with UK legislation.
• * Develop and maintain payroll policies, procedures and operating standard, ensuring best practice and robust governance.

Education & Experience Requirements:

• * CIPP qualified (or equivalent payroll qualification).
• * Strong understanding of UK payroll legislation, taxation and statutory requirements.
• * Advanced knowledge of manual payroll calculations, including Tax and National Insurance.
• * Experience managing complex payroll operations.
• * Experience leading and developing payroll professionals.
• * Experience implementing payroll process improvements and transformation initiatives.
• * Significant experience within a Payroll Manager, Senior Payroll Manager or Payroll Team Leader role.
• * Experience managing payroll operations within a medium to large, complex organisation.
• * Strong experience managing payroll reconciliations, reporting and audit requirements.
• * Experience managing payroll governance, control and compliance requirements.

What's in it for you:

• * 24 days holiday + bank holidays
• * Hybrid working (2-3 days in the office per week)
• * Annual bonus scheme
• * Company pension with up to 8% employer contribution
• * Private Medical Insurance and Life Assurance
• * Enhanced maternity and adoption leave.
• * Mental Health Support both internally and externally.
• * A range of financial wellbeing support.
• * Stream - a tool that helps you track your pay and access earnings early.
• * Colleague discount across all N Brown brands.
• * Onsite café with subsidised rates
• * Paid volunteer time - all colleagues can take a full day paid to volunteer for a charity of their choice.

N Brown - who we are and why work for us:

N Brown is a leading UK digital retail platform for clothing, footwear, home and technology, headquartered in Manchester and employing over 1,000 people nationwide. Through our strategic retail brands JD Williams, Jacamo and Simply Be and our unique payments offering, we exist to champion inclusivity and serve the underserved. Our customers are our passion, and we take great pride in delivering products that ensure they can look and feel amazing, without compromising on choice, value and accessibility.

We are committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment that values equality for all. Our vision is that by championing inclusion, N Brown will become the UK's most loved and trusted consumer platform, shaping the future of financial empowerment and personal expression. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging are therefore at the heart of our culture.

In May 2024 we were delighted to be named one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work. We work hard to create a happy and inclusive culture for everyone and we're proud to have been recognised by our colleagues.

Ways of Working:

We offer hybrid working which varies across the business depending on the role you're in. Our Head Office is located in the Northern Quarter in Manchester City Centre.

Our working hours are 36.17 per week Monday to Friday.

We believe AI will become a standard part of modern professional practice. We are therefore looking for individuals who are open to learning, testing and responsibly adopting AI tools to improve efficiency, insight and impact in their role.

Our Promise to You:

We're an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability status.

What happens when you apply to a role at N Brown?

As soon as we receive your application, we'll send you an email to let you know. We always aim to come back to you as soon as possible with an update, and we really appreciate you taking the time to apply for a role with us.