Trainee Payroll Officer | East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Preston; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is recruiting a Trainee Payroll Officer to join our Employee Business Services. You will input pay data into the ESR system, run PAYE, NI, SMP and SSP calculations, and ensure accurate deductions and entries under strict deadlines.

The role is office-based and includes a payroll qualification. You will work within a collaborative NHS environment across Lancashire and South Cumbria and contribute to improving service quality for ~20,000 employees.

Qualifications

• Must have strong telephone and customer service skills.
• Excellent administrative and IT proficiency is required.
• Attention to detail is essential to ensure accurate payroll processing.

Responsibilities

• Input a range of pay-affecting data into the National ESR Payroll system.
• Perform calculations including PAYE, National Insurance, SMP and SSP.
• Ensure accurate statutory deductions and correct entries in ESR.

Skills

Telephone manner

Administrative and IT skills

Attention to detail

Customer service

Education

Payroll qualification

Tools

ESR system

NHS Pension scheme

Agenda for Change

Job description

Trainee Payroll Officer | East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Would you like the opportunity to join a progressive and forward thinking Payrolland Pensions service?

Our friendly and thriving Employee Business Services currently has 6 clients. Providing a high quality payroll and pension service to approx. 20,000 employees which equates to producing in excess of 300,000 payslips annually whilst consistently delivering accuracy rates of 99%.

We are looking to recruit a Trainee Payroll Officer, who has a passion for helping us provide an excellent customer experience to our clients, has an excellent telephone manner and excellent administrative and IT skills. The candidate must demonstrate attention to detail and a commitment and enthusiasm to contributing to service improvement and development. The candidate must have knowledge of the ESR system, Agenda for Change and NHS Pension scheme whilst working under pressure and adhering to strict deadlines.

The role involves inputting a range of pay-affecting data into the National ESR Payroll system and performing various calculations, such as PAYE, National Insurance, Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

The work is carried out to strict deadlines, with a strong focus on accuracy and attention to detail. In addition, the role includes taking appropriate recovery action based on individual circumstances and advising employees in accordance with departmental procedures. Corrective actions are undertaken in the ESR system to ensure accurate calculations of statutory deductions and that correct entries are made

This role is fully office based and you will be required to undertake a payroll qualification.

Our Partnership brings together the five NHS provider Trusts with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) in Lancashire and South Cumbria to improve health and healthcare. The organisations across Lancashire and South Cumbria involved in the collaboration are Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.This is about working together as equal partners to make sure patients, their families and communities benefit across the whole of the area.

The aim is to reduce health inequalities and improve services, outcomes and people’s experiences of accessing healthcare. Our partnership also aims to ensure that Lancashire and South Cumbria is a great place to work.

We want to further improve quality by sharing skills and best practice, pooling our resources and standardising the way we work where possible to reduce unnecessary duplication. To achieve this we have created One LSC, which will oversee all corporate services for Lancashire and South Cumbria.

This is an exciting time to join a new collaboration, which is focused on a system-wide approach to better outcomes for patients and opportunities for staff.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you'll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that you're even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you'll need to take time to read the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others.

This advert closes on Wednesday 4 Nov 2026

Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust