Payroll Specialist

Madison Recruitment; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Madison Recruitment is seeking three experienced Payroll Specialists for a 12-month fixed-term role in New Zealand. You will own a broad range of payroll activities, from processing to responding to complex inquiries, while interpreting legislation and supporting wider People and Culture processes.

This hands-on role requires accuracy, confidentiality and timely delivery. You’ll work with PeopleSoft/Oracle systems, manage deadlines and contribute to system improvements, providing expert payroll

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a complex payroll function.
• Experience across leave types, benefits, deductions and payroll/HR systems.
• Strong knowledge of employment legislation and ability to interpret employment agreements.
• Experience testing payroll solutions, system enhancements and fixes.
• Strong reconciliation, reporting and analytical skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; translate tech info clearly.
• High accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong problem-solving skills with practical solutions.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and manage priorities.
• Advanced Excel skills; MS Office proficiency.
• Experience with PeopleSoft/Oracle is advantageous.
• NZQA Level 5 qualification required; NZPPA Payroll Practice desirable.

Responsibilities

• Manage preparation, calculation and processing of payroll and leave payments.
• Ensure payroll documentation meets legislative, audit, confidentiality and delegation requirements.
• Provide accurate payroll advice and respond to employee/manager enquiries.
• Support payroll-related activities including salary reviews, promotions, leave, remuneration and benefits.
• Maintain up-to-date understanding of Collective and Individual Employment Agreements.
• Maintain accuracy and integrity of payroll information in the system.
• Identify payroll risks and advise on legislation, policies and procedures.
• Test payroll system enhancements, fixes and process changes.
• Identify opportunities to improve payroll processes and employee experience.
• Complete reconciliations, reporting and payroll-related analysis.
• Develop and maintain payroll procedures and documentation.

Skills

Payroll processing

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Excel

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Education

NZQA Level 5 qualification or equivalent

NZPPA Certificate in Payroll Practice (desirable)

Tools

PeopleSoft/Oracle

Job description

Payroll Specialist - 12 Month Fixed Term

Are you an experienced payroll professional who thrives on accuracy, problem-solving and delivering exceptional service? An exciting opportunity has arisen for three experienced Payroll Specialists to join a busy and collaborative People and Culture team on a 12-month fixed-term basis. With two full-time positions and one 0.8 FTE position available, this is a great opportunity to bring your payroll expertise into a large, complex organisation where you'll work across a diverse range of payroll matters and play an important role in ensuring employees receive an accurate, timely and high-quality service. The Payroll Specialist provides expert payroll advice and support to staff, particularly People and Culture Business Partners and managers, while helping ensure the efficient, accurate and smooth operation of payroll services.

About the role:

Reporting to the Payroll Manager, you'll take ownership of a broad range of payroll activities, from payroll and leave processing through to responding to complex enquiries, interpreting employment agreements and legislation, and supporting wider People and Culture processes. This is a hands-on role where attention to detail is essential. You'll be working with sensitive information, managing deadlines and contributing to continuous improvement across payroll processes and systems.

What you'll be doing

• Managing the preparation, calculation and processing of payroll and leave payments
• Ensuring payroll documentation meets legislative, audit, confidentiality and delegation requirements
• Providing accurate and timely payroll advice and responding to employee and manager enquiries
• Supporting payroll-related activities including salary reviews, promotions, leave, remuneration and benefits, resignations and retirements
• Maintaining an up-to-date understanding of Collective and Individual Employment Agreements
• Maintaining the accuracy and integrity of payroll information within PeopleSoft
• Identifying payroll risks and providing advice relating to legislation, policies and procedures
• Testing payroll system enhancements, fixes and process changes
• Identifying opportunities to improve payroll processes, systems and the overall employee experience
• Completing reconciliations, reporting and payroll-related analysis
• Developing and maintaining payroll procedures and documentation.

What we’re looking for

You'll be an established payroll professional who is comfortable working within a complex environment and can combine strong technical payroll knowledge with excellent customer service. We're looking for someone who brings:

• Significant experience working within a complex payroll function, ideally within a large organisation
• Experience working across different leave types, benefits, deductions and payroll/HR systems
• Strong knowledge of employment legislation and the ability to interpret and apply employment agreements
• Experience testing payroll solutions, system enhancements and fixes
• Strong reconciliation, reporting and analytical skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to make technical information easy to understand
• A high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving skills and the confidence to recommend practical solutions
• The ability to work effectively to tight deadlines and manage competing priorities
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel
• Experience with PeopleSoft/Oracle systems would be advantageous.
• An NZQA Level 5 qualification or equivalent is required, while an NZPPA Certificate in Payroll Practice is desirable.

Values of Whanaungatanga, Tiakitanga and Manaakitanga guide how people work, make decisions and interact with one another. You'll also be joining an organisation committed to inclusion, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, continuous improvement and creating a positive employee experience.

If you're an experienced payroll professional eligible to work in New Zealand looking for your next fixed-term opportunity and enjoy working in a busy, complex and people-focused environment, we'd love to hear from you!