Payroll Manager - 12-Month Fixed-Term Contract
- Contract: 12-month FTC
- Salary: £85,000 basic + benefits (circa £100,000 total compensation)
- Location: Baker Street, London
- Hybrid - 3 days per week in the office
Oakleaf Partnership is working with a leading global professional services organisation to recruit an experienced Payroll Manager on a 12-month fixed-term contract.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead an established UK payroll team of five during a period of transformation. With responsibility for a monthly payroll covering over 3,000 employees across seven pay groups, you will play a key role in ensuring accurate, timely and compliant payroll delivery while driving process improvements and strengthening controls.
You will work closely with senior stakeholders across Finance, HR, Reward and IT, taking ownership of payroll operations and supporting the continued development of systems and processes.
The Role
You will take full responsibility for the end-to-end UK monthly payroll, overseeing delivery, compliance, reconciliations and team performance.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading and developing a team of five payroll specialists, ensuring deadlines and service standards are consistently met.
- Overseeing monthly payroll processing, reconciliations, gross-to-net reviews, BACS files, statutory deductions and HMRC reporting.
- Ensuring compliance with UK payroll legislation, tax regulations, pensions and auto-enrolment requirements.
- Acting as the key point of escalation for complex payroll queries and managing relationships with senior stakeholders and external providers.
- Optimising payroll processes, strengthening controls and reducing manual intervention.
- Supporting the effective use of SAP and Workday, identifying opportunities for automation and improved reporting.
- Partnering with HR Operations, Finance and IT to resolve issues and deliver continuous improvement.
Skills and Experience
- Significant experience leading end-to-end payroll within a large, complex organisation.
- Strong UK payroll knowledge, including tax, statutory deductions, pensions, compliance and reconciliations.
- Experience managing and developing a payroll team.
- Strong systems experience, ideally with SAP Payroll and Workday, or equivalent enterprise platforms.
- A track record of improving payroll processes, controls and systems.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills and the confidence to engage with senior Finance and HR leaders.
- A CIPP qualification or equivalent professional payroll qualification.
Why Work Here?
This is an opportunity to join a well-established international organisation with a strong reputation in its sector and a broad global presence.
You will have the opportunity to lead a high-performing payroll team, make a tangible impact during an important period of transformation, and work closely with senior stakeholders across the business.
The role offers the autonomy to improve processes, enhance system capabilities and strengthen payroll governance, making it ideal for an experienced Payroll Manager who enjoys combining operational leadership with continuous improvement.
If you are an experienced Payroll Manager looking for a 12-month contract where you can make an immediate impact, lead a team and deliver payroll excellence in a complex corporate environment, we would love to hear from you.
