Senior Payroll Specialist

Sona; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working (London)

Share options

Pension contributions matching up to 5

Health insurance

Parental leave & pay

Equipment budget for home office

Professional development budget

Annual team retreats

MacBook and devices budget

Job summary

Sona is seeking a Senior Payroll Specialist to own payroll processing for a growing portfolio of frontline customers. You will be part of a fast-moving startup that pushes AI-driven improvements beyond a standard bureau, with ownership of processes and client relationships.

The role offers a hybrid London-based schedule, working with cross-functional teams and contributing to AI-enabled payroll innovations while ensuring compliance and high-quality service.

Qualifications

• Hands-on bureau payroll experience for multiple clients.
• Strong knowledge of PAYE, RTI, pension auto-enrolment, and statutory payments.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent payrolls across cycles.
• Excellent client relationship skills and trusted advisor.
• Self-sufficient, proactive in improving processes.
• Bonus: CIPP qualification or progress; experience with payroll tools and AI.

Responsibilities

• Run end-to-end payrolls for enterprise clients with various cycles.
• Own client relationships and act as primary contact.
• Identify and implement process improvements, including AI opportunities.
• Support sales as payroll expert to explain bureau operations.
• Collaborate with Implementation, Product, Customer Success.
• Learn HR and WFM integration with payroll.
• Monitor KPIs, SLAs and compliance.
• Stay updated on payroll legislation and trends.

Skills

Client relationship management

UK payroll knowledge

Multi-client payroll handling

Problem solving

Self-starting attitude

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Payroll software

Job description

3 billion people across the world work in frontline jobs. Yet, despite rising costs and staff shortages, frontline organisations are still left to choose between paper, Excel, and WhatsApp, or decade-old workforce management solutions to take care of the most important part of their businesses - their people.

Enter Sona: the next generation of AI-native, frontline workforce management. We’ve built an end-to-end platform covering Scheduling, HR, Payroll, and Communications that gives the largest frontline organisations everything they need to staff more intelligently and empower their teams.

In under 5 years, we've already made a deep impact on the lives of over 100k frontline workers and the operation of their organisations, grown the team to 160+, and secured over $100M in funding from notable VC's, including our Series B led by N47 alongside Felicis, Northzone, and Gradient Ventures (Google).

It’s a hugely exciting time to be joining the team as we’re still small enough that you’ll have a significant impact on the company’s growth trajectory and culture, yet large enough to have a great structure, experienced leaders and world-class benefits in place.

About the Role

We're growing our payroll bureau fast, and hiring Senior Payroll Specialists to own payroll processing and the customer relationship end-to-end for a portfolio of Sona's frontline customers.

This isn't a conventional bureau role. We're a fast-moving startup where everyone has a hand in building our processes, tools, and ways of working, and we're already more AI-forward in how we run payroll than any other bureau we know. You'll help push that further, not just keep up with it.

If you want a highly structured environment with the playbook already written, this likely isn't the fit. If you're energised by building, and by figuring out where AI genuinely helps rather than just following a process, you'll have real ownership and real opportunity as the bureau scales.

Responsibilities

• Run end-to-end payrolls for a growing portfolio of enterprise customers with complex requirements, spanning hourly rates, overtime, and weekly, fortnightly or monthly cycles
• Own your client relationships as their primary point of contact, giving them confidence in our service
• Identify opportunities to improve how we work, including where AI can help, and help put those improvements into practice
• Act as a payroll expert in support of sales, helping prospective customers understand how our bureau operates
• Collaborate across Sona, from Implementation and Product to Customer Success and Support
• Develop a strong working knowledge of our HR and WFM platform and how it connects to payroll
• Monitor KPIs, SLAs and compliance to ensure we deliver the highest standard of service
• Stay current on the legislation, tools and trends that shape how we run payroll

Requirements

• Hands‑on bureau payroll experience, processing for multiple clients rather than running a single in‑house payroll
• Strong working knowledge of UK payroll legislation: PAYE, RTI, pension auto‑enrolment, and statutory payments
• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent payrolls at volume and across different pay cycles
• Assured and expert with clients, operating as a trusted advisor on payroll matters
• Genuinely curious and self‑sufficient: you research, question inefficiencies, and bring ideas rather than needing a playbook handed to you
• Genuinely motivated by a startup environment where you help build the processes, not just follow them
• Bonus: CIPP qualified (or working towards it), high‑volume or multi‑sector bureau experience, and any experience building or improving payroll tools and processes, including with AI. A little Ireland payroll exposure is a nice‑to‑have, not a requirement.

Benefits

• Salary: £45,000 - £55,000
• Hybrid working - 2+ days/week in our London office (Soho)
• Share options
• 35 days annual leave (25 days standard plus 10 flexible public holiday days)
• Extra day of leave for every year of service
• Pension contributions matched up to 5%
• Comprehensive health insurance
• Enhanced parental leave & pay
• Salary sacrifice childcare scheme (Workplace Nursery)
• Annual all expenses paid team retreats
• The latest Macbook and equipment budget for your home office
• Professional development budget
• Unlimited free books

Note: this represents a typical benefits package for a UK‑based, full‑time employee. Exact details may vary based on location and employment type but we try to be as fair as possible to all of our team members. Please ask your contact in the Talent team to clarify the available benefits for you.