Payroll Lead

About the role As the Payroll Lead, you will be responsible for managing and overseeing the end-to-end payroll operations for over 1000 employees across our two entities; Workman LLP and Workman Facilities Management. The role ensures compliance with payroll legislation, tax regulations, benefits administration, and company policies while driving payroll process improvements and maintaining data integrity. Day to day you'll Lead and manage the monthly payroll process for all employees. Review and validate payroll data, including salaries, bonuses, overtime, allowances, and deductions. Ensure appropriate payroll controls and approvals are in place. Reconcile payroll accounts, benefits, tax deductions, and pension contributions. Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies and employee queries. Coordinate with Finance regarding payroll journals and month-end reporting. Ensure compliance with employment laws, tax regulations, pension requirements, and statutory deductions. Maintain employee payroll records in accordance with data protection regulations. Coach and support the Payroll and Benefits Administrator, including prioritising workload and reviewing output across expenses and benefits administration. Oversee the Payroll and Benefits Admin’s expense claim checks, ensuring compliance with internal policy criteria. Support group insurance renewals for private medical insurance, life assurance and group income protection. Lead payroll-related projects and initiatives, including system upgrades, process improvements and new payroll software implementation. Support group insurance renewals for private medical insurance, life assurance and group income protection. Monitor relevant shared inboxes and ensure queries are resolved promptly. What we expect of you You should have proven experience overseeing the end-to-end payroll process and the administration that accompanies it. CIPP, CPP or equivalent is preferred Experience supervising or coaching junior team members is beneficial . Experience posting journals onto Opera or a similar accounting software would be beneficial. Experience using SAP Concur is preferable but not essential. You should be a competent Microsoft Excel user, including pivot tables and VLOOKUP. Experience working with large volumes of data is crucial. A proactive, practical and positive approach to work is required. You should be able to work to strict deadlines and prioritise tasks. Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion What matters most in this role Accuracy, judgement and attention to detail are crucial in this role. You will oversee accurate payroll payments, review the Payroll and Benefits Admin’s expenses activity for compliance, and approve payroll journals before they are posted to Opera. You should be experienced in leading the payroll process for a medium-large enterprise, with the confidence to review work, resolve queries…