Senior Payroll Manager

Role Purpose

Senior Payroll Manager is accountable for the end-to-end payroll operations across Ireland and the UK within the Group. This role provides strategic and operational leadership to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely pay processes across weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly payroll cycles, while delivering an excellent experience for clients, contractors, flexible talent and internal stakeholders.

The role plays a critical leadership position at the intersection of operations, finance, compliance, technology, and client delivery, driving continuous improvement, scalability, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Governance

• Provide overall leadership and direction for Payroll operations across Ireland and the UK, ensuring alignment with business strategy and growth plans
• Establish and maintain strong governance, controls, and risk management frameworks across all payroll and billing activities
• Act as the senior subject matter expert on payroll within the organisation

Operational Excellence

• Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of all payroll cycles, including weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly payrolls
• Ensure end-to-end integrity of time capture, payroll processing
• Drive standardisation, automation, and continuous improvement across Payroll processes and systems

·        Lead the resolution of complex payroll issues, driving timely and accurate solutions.

People Leadership

• Lead, develop, and performance-manage payroll personnel of approximately 15 colleagues, including 2 Senior Managers and 1 Manager
• Build a high performing, engaged, and resilient team with clear accountability, capability development, and succession planning
• Foster a culture of accuracy, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement

Compliance & Risk

• Ensure full compliance with all relevant payroll, tax, employment, and regulatory requirements across Ireland and the UK
• Partner with Group Finance, legal, people experience, and compliance teams to manage audits, inspections, and regulatory change
• Monitor and mitigate operational and compliance risks, ensuring robust controls are in place

Stakeholder & Client Engagement

• Act as a senior internal stakeholder, partnering closely with Finance, Sales, Operations, HR, Technology, and Leadership teams
• Build trusted relationships with key clients, providing assurance, insight, and resolution on payroll and billing matters
• Support client onboarding, contract changes, TUPE, and complex commercial arrangements from a Pay & Bill perspective

Systems, Data & Reporting

• Own Payroll systems, data integrity, and reporting, ensuring accuracy and transparency
• Provide meaningful operational and performance reporting to senior leadership
• Lead system enhancements, upgrades, or implementations in line with business needs

Financial & Commercial Oversight

• Ensure payroll activities support commercial outcomes and contractual commitments
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and cost control for the Payroll function

Experience & Capability Requirements

Essential

• Significant senior leadership experience in payroll
• Minimum 7 years of payroll experience
• Proven experience managing multi-jurisdictional payroll (Ireland and UK)
• Strong knowledge of international payroll regulations and compliance requirements.
• Excellent project management, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills.
• Experience with payroll platforms is highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly payroll cycles
• Strong stakeholder management and client-facing experience
• Track record of driving operational improvement, scale, and process optimisation

Desirable

• Experience leading system implementations or payroll transformation programmes
• An understanding of contingent workforce models (temporary, contract, MSP, RPO)
• Experience working in a high-growth or complex matrix organisation

Key Competencies

• Strategic and commercial mindset with hands on execution capability
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Operational excellence and attention to detail
• Strong leadership presence and decision-making
• Risk-aware and compliance-focused
• Clear communicator with strong influencing skills

For more information, please contact [email protected]

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