Payroll Officer

North East Learning Trust; Peterlee; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full-time and part-time options

NJ C Green Book terms

Local Government Pension Scheme access

32 days annual leave + 8 holidays

Wellbeing day

Free on-site car parking

Gym membership discounts

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

North East Learning Trust is seeking a proactive Payroll Officer to support the delivery and improvement of a reliable payroll service across the Trust. You will manage payroll across two payrolls, handle term-time calculations, pensions, and statutory payments within a complex education environment.

This role also focuses on embedding employee and manager self-service, improving workflows and ensuring accurate, timely payroll processing for schools and staff.

Qualifications

• Bring strong payroll experience, ideally in education, schools, local government or another complex public sector setting.
• Understand education payroll, including term-time calculations, statutory payments, pensions, payroll compliance and differing terms and conditions.
• Confidently process, check and reconcile payroll data across two payrolls.
• Use payroll and system knowledge to improve processes and support effective employee and manager self-service.

Responsibilities

• Process, check and reconcile payroll data across two payrolls.
• Improve payroll processes and support employee and manager self-service.
• Communicate clearly with employees, schools, HR, Finance, pension providers and external contacts.
• Support onboarding of transferring schools and integration of staff records and pension arrangements.

Skills

Payroll experience

Education payroll familiarity

Customer service

Public sector payroll

Tools

Payroll software

Job description

Working for North East Learning Trust means joining one of the most successful and ambitious education trusts in the country and one of the largest school networks in the region. Our shared vision is that every child experiences excellence every day. As a growing Trust of 15 schools, supporting around 1,300 staff through two payrolls, our central services play a vital role in ensuring schools are well supported and staff receive an accurate, timely and responsive payroll service.

We are seeking a proactive, technically confident and customer-focused Payroll Officer to support the delivery and continuous improvement of a reliable, compliant and modern payroll service across the Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to apply payroll expertise in a complex education setting, supporting schools with differing support staff and teacher terms and conditions, term-time working calculations, statutory and occupational payments, and Local Government Pension Scheme and Teachers’ Pension Scheme requirements.

The Trust is continuing to modernise its payroll services, with employee and manager self-service helping to streamline workflows, reduce manual processes and make payroll information more accessible. The Payroll Officer will help embed and improve these ways of working, using payroll knowledge, system confidence and strong customer service to make payroll easier, clearer and more responsive for schools, staff and managers.

This role will also support the Trust’s managed growth strategy, including the onboarding of transferring schools and the smooth integration of staff records, payroll data, pension arrangements and local working practices into Trust systems. It offers a unique challenge for someone who understands the specialist nature of education payroll and wants to contribute to services that support education, school leadership and staff wellbeing.

We welcome applications from candidates seeking full-time or part-time working arrangements. Our priority is to appoint the right person with the payroll expertise, accuracy and customer focus needed for the role. Working patterns can be discussed at interview, subject to payroll deadline cover, service continuity and effective support for schools and employees.

You will join:

• A growing Trust with a clear vision for education, school improvement and managed growth
• A central team that values accurate, responsive and customer-focused support for schools and staff
• A positive and caring ethos where colleagues are valued and supported
• A team of hardworking, dedicated and friendly staff committed to making a difference

We can offer:

• Full-time, part-time and flexible working options considered, subject to payroll service needs.
• National Terms and Conditions of Employment — NJC Green Book
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 32 days, plus 8 public holidays
• One paid wellbeing day per year
• Free on-site car parking
• Lifestyle savings and discounts from leading retail brands
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme offering free confidential advice and counselling services for staff and family members

You will:

• Bring strong payroll experience, ideally in education, schools, local government or another complex public sector setting.
• Understand education payroll, including term-time calculations, statutory payments, pensions, payroll compliance and differing terms and conditions.
• Confidently process, check and reconcile payroll data across two payrolls.
• Use payroll and system knowledge to improve processes and support effective employee and manager self-service.
• Communicate clearly with employees, schools, HR, Finance, pension providers and external contacts, taking a proactive and customer-focused approach.

Deadline: 12th October 2026 (9am)

The job description and person specification for this position is available to view on the NELT Careers Website (listed at the end of job advert).

North East Learning Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. This post is subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including enhanced DBS disclosure, medical clearance, references and any other checks required in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education and the Trust’s Safeguarding Policy, which is available on our website.

Health and safety:

All employees are responsible for taking reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their actions at work. This includes cooperating with the Trust, following health and safety procedures, maintaining a safe working environment and reporting defects, risks or potential hazards promptly.

Safeguarding:

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff are expected to share this commitment, comply with the Trust’s safeguarding policies and procedures, attend appropriate training, report concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead and record safeguarding concerns appropriately.

References:

References will be requested prior to interview, except for non-teaching roles where there are exceptional circumstances, and the applicant does not give consent to do so on the application form. Offer of employment will be subject to receipt of satisfactory references.

DBS:

North East Learning Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

An application for a DBS certificate will be submitted for all candidates once they have been offered the position. For posts in regulated activity, the DBS check will include a barred list check. During the recruitment process, any offences, or other matters relevant to the position will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Any offer of employment will be subject to receipt of a satisfactory DBS Enhanced Disclosure.

Pre-occupational health:

Pre-occupational health checks are an essential part of the selection and recruitment process to assess if any reasonable adjustments are required.

Equal opportunities:

We are an equal opportunity employer. We want to develop a more diverse workforce, and we positively welcome applicants from all sections of the community.

Applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview, in line with the Trust’s recruitment commitments