UK Payroll Manager

William Scott Consulting Ltd; Basildon; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A growing consulting firm is seeking a UK Payroll Manager to oversee payroll operations and manage benefits platforms. The ideal candidate will have strong knowledge of payroll legislation and experience in project management, particularly transitioning payroll systems. This role offers hybrid working, a competitive salary, and numerous benefits including life assurance and private medical insurance.

Benefits

Hybrid working: 2 days in Basildon, 3 from home

25.5 days leave + bank holidays

5% bonus and life assurance

Private Medical Insurance

Pension contributions up to 9%

Qualifications

• Strong operational knowledge of legislation and best practices around Payroll and HR.
• Prior experience with benefits platforms.
• Knowledge of manual payroll calculations and statutory payments.

Responsibilities

• Own the full cycle of payroll operations across the UK and international workforce.
• Carry out project work for transitioning from Oracle to SAP.
• Ensure accurate and compliant payroll while managing post-payroll activities.
• Make decisions and implement ideas autonomously.

Skills

Operational knowledge of payroll legislation

Prior benefits platform experience

Experience with payroll and tax for expats

Proven record in full cycle payroll

Payroll systems experience

Tools

Concur

Barclaycard

Darwin

Job description

UK Payroll Manager

Basildon

GBP54,000–GBP65,000 + benefits

You've probably worn the payroll hat before. But have you ever had to wear it while juggling the benefits platform and being involved in analytical and data collection project work to make necessary improvements? This isn't your run‑of‑the‑mill Payroll Manager role. It's for someone who doesn't just spot problems but fixes them. Someone who can balance payroll precision with the moving parts of a benefits system and organisation transition from oracle to SAP (admittedly at final phase so can lean on others) – and still walk away smiling. You'll lead on both internal and outsourced payroll across the UK and international secondees and fix issues others haven't been able to. You won't be micromanaged, and you'll finally be trusted to run things your way. This is ideal if you're tired of red tape and ready to own your lane.

You'll also get:

• Hybrid working: 2 days in Basildon, 3 from home
• 25.5 days leave + bank holidays, increasing to 27.5 after 5 years' service
• 5% bonus and life assurance (4x salary)
• Holiday Buy and Sell (5 days), plus holiday Carryover (5 days)
• Private Medical Insurance, Health cash plan, dental insurance, critical illness and more
• Pension contributions up to 9% Employer contribution.

You'll have the freedom to:

• Own the full cycle of payroll operations (part in‑house, part outsourced) across a UK and international workforce (around 300 employees).
• Carry out project work (which will involve data collection and analysis) to enable a transition from oracle to SAP with the whole company (final phase so can learn from the existing team).
• Review existing insurance cover – no prior experience required, but you'll use your precision analysis to review what's been done and make improvements in data collection.
• Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll, while also overseeing post‑payroll activities.
• Manage systems like Concur (travel), Barclaycard (company cards), and Darwin (benefits platform).
• Make decisions. Implement ideas. Not ask permission for every little thing.

What you'll need

• Strong operational knowledge of legislation and best practice around Payroll and HR (inc. statutory payments e.g. SMP, SPP and statutory HMRC guidelines, etc); and knowledge of their manual payroll calculations.
• Prior benefits platform experience.
• Experience of payroll and tax for expat and international transfers would be beneficial.
• Proven record in full cycle of payroll.
• Payroll systems experience.

About the company

A 'challenger brand' keen to disrupt the bigger more established brands and a recent 1–billion–euro overhaul of the product range behind you. The business is hungry for growth, has a much–improved product range, and they're able to offer something their competitors don't. They're a financially stable, well established respected brand. You'll get the direction, support, and guidance to not just keep you on track, but develop your toolkit from 'good' to 'great'.

Please click the 'Apply' button. Don't worry if your CV isn't up to date. Just send what you have and we'll deal with that later.