Payroll Manager

Focus Group; Sevenoaks; Hybrid; GBP 33,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Focus Group is seeking a experienced Payroll Manager to lead end-to-end payroll across our fast-growing group. You will be the subject matter expert for payroll, ensuring accurate processing and 100% statutory deadline compliance, while managing a small team.

You will oversee system administration, upgrades and testing, and drive changes to improve processes. This role requires hands-on leadership in a high-paced environment with a focus on accuracy and compliance.

Qualifications

• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to plan workload for you and your team.
• Strong numeracy and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Experience liaising with senior stakeholders, HMRC and external providers.

Responsibilities

• Own the professional management of payroll across the group for multiple cycles and schemes.
• Lead the payroll system administration, upgrades and testing, and migrate systems as needed.
• Manage end-to-end monthly payroll: starters, leavers, changes, variable pay and deductions.
• Process pension and employee benefits deductions and ensure compliance across reporting.
• Act as main point of contact with HMRC and pension providers; maintain internal controls.

Skills

Organisational skills

Numeracy

Problem-solving

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

CIPP or equivalent qualification

Tools

CIPHR

Sage

Job description

Payroll Manager

Hybrid - Shoreham

Up to £55,000

About Focus Group

Focus Group is a £300m-revenue, 1,400-person technology services company backed by Hg Capital. Following our $1bn valuation in 2024, we're scaling rapidly and investing in AI to transform how we operate and how we serve our 30,000 SME customers. As we continue to expand our portfolio and scale our operations, we're committed to setting new industry standards in managed service excellence. Our growth trajectory and strategic acquisitions position us as an organisation ready to redefine what world-class technical support means in today's rapidly evolving technology landscape.

The role

We're looking for an experienced Payroll Manager to lead the end-to-end payroll function across our fast-growing group of companies. This is a genuinely hands-on and high-impact role: you'll be the subject matter expert for payroll across the business, responsible for the accurate and timely processing of multiple payrolls, while making sure compliance is watertight across payroll and pension administration. You'll manage a small payroll team (currently one direct report) and work closely with stakeholders across the group, including payroll teams within recently acquired businesses. Focus Group continues to grow through acquisition, so you'll play a key role in bringing new payrolls into the fold as we integrate new companies into the group. This role suits someone who's comfortable operating at pace, driving change, and taking a forward-thinking approach to compliance and process improvement.

What you'll be doing

• Owning the professional management of payroll across the group (predominantly CIPHR, with some instances of Sage), maintaining accurate pay data and 100% compliance with statutory deadlines
• Owning and maintaining the payroll system, including administration, upgrades and testing of process or system changes, and leading a project to migrate payroll systems in the near future
• Managing end-to-end monthly payroll processing, including starters, leavers, changes, variable pay (overtime, commission, on-call and other allowances), absence pay, statutory payments and deductions
• Processing deductions for employee benefits including pension, company cars, healthcare, cycle to work and the legacy childcare voucher scheme
• Acting as the main point of contact with HMRC and pension providers, ensuring full compliance across all reporting requirements
• Owning payroll reconciliations, investigating discrepancies and maintaining strong financial controls
• Managing year-end payroll processes, including P60s, P11Ds and PAYE Settlement Agreements
• Keeping on top of payroll legislation changes (National Minimum/Living Wage, holiday pay, statutory payments) and communicating the impact of changes such as the transition to mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind
• Providing clear, accurate and timely advice to staff and managers on payroll queries, acting as the escalation point for more complex issues
• Working with the People team to develop and automate processes such as starter/leaver workflows and source data changes
• Managing pension auto-enrolment and triennial re-enrolment, liaising with the pension provider as needed
• Leading, managing and developing the payroll team, including workload planning, training, coaching and performance management

What you'll bring

• Experience running the complete payroll process for a similar-sized, multi-entity group, including operating separate PAYE schemes concurrently
• Previous experience setting up a payroll from scratch and migrating acquired businesses onto a group payroll
• Awareness of, or experience managing, the transition to mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind
• Strong system skills, including exposure to payroll system transitions
• Up-to-date knowledge of UK payroll legislation, including SSP, NMW, statutory payments, NI categories and thresholds
• Experience managing statutory reporting, including RTI/FPS submissions and year-end P60/P11D processes
• Hands-on experience of auto-enrolment and pension administration, including contract-based schemes and TPR compliance
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to plan workload for yourself and your team and manage multiple, competing priorities to strict deadlines
• Exceptional attention to detail, strong numeracy and problem-solving skills, and the confidence to use your own initiative
• A confident communicator, comfortable liaising with senior stakeholders, HMRC and external providers
• CIPP or an equivalent qualification

It would also be great if you had:

• Experience within a PE-backed group or holding company structure
• Project or change management experience
• Exposure to M&A payroll integration (TUPE)
• Line management experience
• Data analysis skills
• Experience with CIPHR and/or Sage payroll software

Why Focus Group?

We're growing fast, and that means genuine scope to shape how payroll works across the group as new businesses join us. You'll have real ownership, a direct route to senior stakeholders, and the chance to lead meaningful change rather than just keep the lights on. This role is hybrid, based out of our Shoreham office, with a salary of up to £55,000 depending on experience.