Senior Payroll and Pensions Specialist

Macmillan Davies; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading rail operations company is seeking an experienced Senior Payroll and Pension Specialist to manage payroll and pensions effectively. The role involves end-to-end payroll processing, pension administration, and compliance with statutory regulations. Candidates should have a strong payroll background, particularly in the rail industry, along with excellent leadership and communication skills. This hybrid position offers a robust benefits package, including free travel and strong pension options, requiring presence in the office three days a week.

Benefits

Free travel

Strong pension offering

Qualifications

• Proven experience in payroll administration, including end-to-end processing.
• Strong understanding of pension administration and auto-enrolment legislation.
• Excellent attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and lead a team effectively.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of all payrolls.
• Manage the full administration of Pension Schemes.
• Supervise workflow and support colleagues in payroll tasks.

Skills

Payroll administration

Pension administration

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Team leadership

Job description

Macmillan Davies is delighted to be partnered with a leading rail operations company seeking an experienced and detail-driven Senior Payroll and Pension Specialist.

The ideal candidate will have experience working in the rail industry within payroll.

This hire will take ownership of payroll, IR35 Off-Payroll workers payroll, and the administration of the Pension Schemes and employee benefits. The Senior Payroll and Pension Specialist will ensure all payroll and pension activity is delivered accurately, efficiently, and in line with statutory regulations and internal policies.

As the lead specialist within the team, you will supervise workflow, support colleagues, and act as the central point of contact for all payroll and pension-related queries for the business.

Payroll Management

• Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of all payrolls, ensuring full end-to-end processing including data input, audit checks, reconciliations, problem resolution, statutory filings and reporting in line with GDPR.
• Collaborate with the HR Administration team to ensure all employee lifecycle changes (joiners, leavers, sickness, etc.) are processed correctly.
• Liaise with the payroll bureau to ensure reports are received, verified, signed off and returned within deadlines, and that all BACS payments are made on time.

Pension & Benefits Administration

• Manage the full administration of Pension Schemes, including new joiners, salary changes, opt-outs, leavers and auto-enrolment.
• Reconcile and upload all required contribution files to the Employer portal and work with Finance to ensure payments are processed accurately.
• Complete and submit annual returns to pension scheme administrators within required timeframes.

About You

You will be an organised, solutions-focused payroll professional with experience managing complex payrolls and pension schemes. You'll be confident supervising others, comfortable working to tight deadlines, and have strong knowledge of statutory payroll and pension regulations. You will come from a rail operations background ideally.

You’ll bring:

• Proven experience in payroll administration, including end-to-end processing.
• Strong understanding of pension administration and auto-enrolment legislation.
• Excellent attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and lead a team effectively.
• Strong communication skills with the confidence to act as the subject matter expert for payroll and pensions.

This role will give you the opportunity to play a key part in one of the leading transport businesses in the UK. It also comes with a strong benefits package that includes free travel and a great pension offering.

The Senior Payroll and Pensions Specialist role is hybrid and you will be expected in 3 days per week.