Senior Payroll & Systems Specialist- North Dublin

Morgan McKinley; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Bonus 10%

Pension 10%

Share options

Annual leave 23 days

Maternity/paternity top up

On-site parking

Job summary

Morgan McKinley is seeking a skilled Payroll professional to manage end-to-end IRL and UK payrolls from our North Co. Dublin base. You will partner with HR, Finance and IT to ensure accurate, compliant payroll processing and strong data analytics across multiple entities.

The role features hybrid working (3 days in office), a competitive package with bonus and pension, and exposure to leading payroll systems. 4–5 years of payroll experience and strong Excel skills are ideal.

Qualifications

• Minimum 4-5 years' payroll experience across Irish payroll within a large organisation.
• Experience with UK payroll desirable.
• Strong knowledge of Irish and UK payroll legislation, including PAYE, USC, PRSI, National Insurance, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience with payroll and HR systems such as Workday, Access PeopleXD, Corepay, SAP or similar enterprise platforms.
• Advanced Excel skills and data analysis capabilities.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end weekly and monthly payrolls across ~10 entities for Irish and UK.
• Administer payroll components like BIK, bonuses, and pension payroll schemes.
• Deliver payroll reports including gender pay gap and ad-hoc metrics.
• Support payroll data integrity, audits, and analytics.
• Assist with pension administration, reconciliations, and reporting.
• Act as SME for payroll systems across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Investigate and resolve complex payroll and system issues; identify root causes.
• Analyse payroll data, interfaces, and outputs to spot discrepancies.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, IT to improve payroll systems.
• Ensure compliance with Irish and UK legislative requirements.
• Identify opportunities for automation and continuous improvement.

Skills

Payroll processing

Data analysis

Excel advanced

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Systems awareness

Tools

Workday

Access PeopleXD

Corepay

SAP

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for a strong IRL & UK Payroll professional with a leading FMCG name in North Co. Dublin.

• Hybrid working- 3 days in office
• 10% bonus, 10% pension, share options, 23 AL, maternity and paternity top up
• On site parking with easy access to M1 and bus routes, along with easy access for commuters in North Co Dublin, Meath and Louth

This is a pivotal role sitting within a payroll team of 4, reporting to the payroll manager. This would be an ideally opportunity for a strong payroll professional looking to combine their strong Irish and UK payroll processing knowledge with expertise in payroll systems, data analysis, process improvement & problem solving.

The successful candidate will be responsible for processing end to end payrolls for their assigned entities as well as acting as a link between Payroll, HR, Finance, IT. Ensuring payroll systems and processes operate efficiently, accurately and are in compliance with Irish and UK legislative requirements.

This role also focuses on systems analysis, root cause investigation, reporting, pioneering continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate as an integral part of the payroll team to end-to-end process weekly and monthly payrolls across approximately 10 company entities, covering both Irish (IRL) and a smaller UK jurisdiction.
• Administer payroll components, including Benefit-in-Kind (BIK), performance bonuses, and company pension payroll schemes.
• Prepare and deliver comprehensive payroll reports, including statutory requirements like the gender pay gap report, alongside ad-hoc metrics and analytics for the senior leadership team.
• Support payroll reporting, analytics, audits and data integrity initiatives.
• Assist with payroll-related pension administration, reconciliations and reporting.
• Act as Subject Matter Expert for payroll systems and processes across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Investigate and resolve complex payroll and system-related issues, identifying root causes and recommending sustainable solutions.
• Analyse payroll data, reconciliations, interfaces and system outputs to identify discrepancies, trends and control weaknesses.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, IT to improve payroll system functionality and performance.
• Ensure payroll systems and processes remain compliant with Irish and UK legislative requirements.
• Identify opportunities for automation, process optimisation and continuous improvement across payroll operations.

Person Specification & Qualifications

• Minimum 4-5 years' payroll experience across Irish payroll within a large organisation
• Experience with UK payroll desirable
• Strong knowledge of Irish and UK payroll legislation, including PAYE, USC, PRSI, National Insurance, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience with payroll and HR systems such as Workday, Access PeopleXD, Corepay, SAP or similar enterprise platforms.
• Proven payroll systems analysis, troubleshooting and root cause investigation skills.
• Strong analytical, reconciliation and reporting capabilities with advanced Excel skills.
• Experience working with payroll integrations, interfaces and large datasets.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Pension administration experience would be advantageous but is not essential.
• Ability to drive process improvements and deliver practical, data-led solutions