Payroll Team Leader

JGA Recruitment; Catford; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

JGA Recruitment Group Ltd in Catford, London, is hiring a Payroll Team Leader to oversee a high-volume payroll operation for a large public sector client. You will lead a team of Senior Payroll Officers and manage end-to-end payroll for 6,500+ employees and pension payrolls.

This hybrid role requires strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, PAYE, pensions, and statutory payments, with a focus on accuracy, service quality and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a high-volume payroll team.
• Experience processing payrolls of 1,000+ employees.
• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, PAYE and pensions.
• Experience with LGPS desirable but not essential.
• Excellent Excel, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Confident managing deadlines and complex payroll issues.
• Customer-focused with accuracy and efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support a team of Senior Payroll Officers.
• Oversee the end-to-end payroll for 6,500+ employees and high-volume pension payrolls.
• Resolve complex payroll, pension and statutory payment queries.
• Ensure compliance with HMRC, payroll legislation and audit requirements.
• Build strong relationships with schools and internal stakeholders.
• Monitor payroll performance, improve processes and maintain service standards.
• Support workflow planning, reporting and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Payroll leadership

High-volume payroll

Stakeholder management

Deadline management

Tools

Excel

Payroll software

Job description

Payroll Team Leader

Salary: £52,000 - £54,000

Location: Catford, London

Hybrid: 2 days office / 3 days home

The Role

A fantastic opportunity to lead a high-volume payroll team delivering payroll for a large public sector organisation, including council employees, schools and pensioners. You'll oversee the end-to-end payroll cycle while driving service quality, compliance and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support a team of Senior Payroll Officers.
• Oversee the end-to-end payroll for 6,500+ employees and high-volume pension payrolls.
• Resolve complex payroll, pension and statutory payment queries.
• Ensure compliance with HMRC, payroll legislation and audit requirements.
• Build strong relationships with schools and internal stakeholders.
• Monitor payroll performance, improve processes and maintain service standards.
• Support workflow planning, reporting and continuous improvement initiatives.

Ideal Candidate

• Proven experience leading or supervising a high-volume payroll team.
• Experience processing payrolls of 1,000+ employees is essential.
• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, PAYE, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience supporting pension processing (LGPS desirable, not essential).
• Excellent Excel, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Confident managing deadlines, stakeholders and complex payroll issues.
• Customer-focused with a passion for delivering an accurate, efficient payroll service.

A great opportunity for an experienced Payroll Team Leader or Senior Payroll professional looking to manage a large-scale payroll operation in a flexible hybrid role.

JGA Recruitment Group Ltd ("We") are committed to equality of opportunity for all applications regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. We are also committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.