Senior Payroll Specialist

Macildowie Recruitment and Retention; Leicester; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 days in office

1 day from home

Flexible start/finish times

Potential permanent role

Job summary

Macildowie Recruitment and Retention in Leicester is seeking a Senior Payroll Specialist for a nine-month temporary assignment. You will own day-to-day payroll delivery and work closely with an outsourced provider, ensuring accurate, compliant and timely processing while supporting HR and Finance.

There is a genuine opportunity for this role to become permanent, with potential progression into a Payroll Team Leader position within a large international business.

Qualifications

• Strong UK payroll experience.
• Experience working with outsourced payroll providers.
• Experience reviewing and checking payroll, not only processing.
• Good knowledge of UK payroll legislation, tax and compliance.
• Strong Excel skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and stakeholder confidence.
• Experience in large or complex organisations is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Take day-to-day ownership of payroll delivery.
• Review and validate payroll data and outputs.
• Check payroll reports, reconciliations and gross-to-net calculations.
• Collaborate with outsourced payroll provider to resolve discrepancies.
• Investigate payroll errors and ensure timely resolution.
• Ensure payroll compliance with legislation and internal policies.
• Support employees and managers with payroll and benefits queries.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance and other stakeholders.
• Support statutory reporting and audit requirements.
• Manage payroll data for starters, leavers, salary changes, deductions and benefits.
• Assist with payroll projects and process improvements.

Skills

UK payroll experience

Outsourced payroll experience

Payroll reconciliation

Payroll reporting

Excel

Stakeholder management

Attention to detail

Tools

ADP

SAP

Job description

Senior Payroll Specialist

Leicester 9-Month Temporary Role £35,000-£45,000 equivalent

Temporary with genuine opportunity to become permanent

4 days office / 1 day home Flexible start and finish times

Macildowie are working with a large, well-established international business in Leicester to recruit an experienced Senior Payroll Specialist for an initial nine-month temporary assignment.

This is much more than a straightforward payroll processing role. You'll take ownership of a sizeable UK payroll operation, work closely with an outsourced payroll provider and act as a key point of contact across Payroll, HR and Finance.

There is also a genuine opportunity for the role to become permanent, with longer-term progression potentially available into a Payroll Team Leader position.

The Role

You’ll be responsible for ensuring payroll is delivered accurately, compliantly and on time, while working closely with an external payroll provider who manages much of the core processing.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Taking day-to-day ownership of payroll delivery

• Reviewing and validating payroll data and outputs

• Checking payroll reports, reconciliations and gross-to-net calculations

• Working closely with an outsourced payroll provider to resolve discrepancies

• Investigating payroll errors and ensuring issues are resolved quickly and accurately

• Ensuring payroll remains compliant with relevant legislation and internal policies

• Supporting employees and managers with payroll and benefits queries

• Working closely with HR, Finance and other internal stakeholders

• Supporting statutory reporting and audit requirements

• Managing payroll data relating to starters, leavers, salary changes, deductions and benefits

• Supporting upcoming payroll and benefits projects

• Assisting with bonus processing and wider payroll improvement activity

The role offers a good mix of BAU payroll ownership, stakeholder management, outsourced payroll management and project work.

What We're Looking For

We’re looking for an experienced payroll professional who is comfortable taking accountability and working with a high level of autonomy.

You’ll ideally have:

• Strong UK payroll experience

• Previous experience working with an outsourced payroll provider

• Experience reviewing and checking payroll rather than solely processing it

• Good knowledge of UK payroll legislation, tax and statutory compliance

• Strong payroll reconciliation and reporting experience

• Strong Excel skills

• Excellent attention to detail

• Confidence dealing with stakeholders across HR, Finance and the wider business

• Experience within a large or complex organisation would be advantageous

• ADP and/or SAP experience would be beneficial

The underlying role also places importance on payroll compliance, reconciliations, reporting, audit support and working closely with HR and Finance.

What's on Offer

• Initial 9-month temporary assignment

• Salary equivalent of approximately £35,000-£45,000, depending on experience

• Flexibility to consider stronger interim payroll specialists

• Genuine opportunity to become permanent

• Potential longer-term progression into a Payroll Team Leader role

• 4 days per week in the Leicester office

• 1 day working from home

• Flexible start and finish times

• Exposure to a large, international business

• Opportunity to get involved in payroll projects and process improvements

Please note: Due to the payroll calendar and existing team commitments, candidates will need to be available throughout December outside of the company's normal Christmas closure days.