Payroll Delivery Specialist UK

The Role

Every pay day matters - and this role is at the heart of creating a positive, reliable experience for our people.

As our UK Payroll Specialist, you will be a valued part of the team, helping to deliver a smooth, accurate, and trusted payroll experience for around 1,900 UK employees. With support from your colleagues, you will manage the end-to-end monthly payroll cycle, ensuring every pay run is completed on time, accurately, and in line with UK statutory requirements. You will be a trusted and approachable point of contact for employees and stakeholders, supporting payroll, pension, tax, and related queries while helping us strengthen controls, improve processes, and continue delivering a high-quality payroll service.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the monthly payroll lifecycle: Manage and support the full payroll cycles for approximately 1900 UK employees overall, ensuring accurate and timely monthly processing.
• Prepare and validate payroll inputs: Collect, review, and validate payroll data, including new starters, leavers, salary changes, contractual updates, statutory payments, tax code updates, pension changes, and other monthly amendments.
• Process end-to-end payroll: Coordinate payroll calculations, detailed data checks, reconciliations, and statutory payments using internal systems, including SAP SuccessFactors and the payroll solution ADP GlobalView.
• Process international mobility payroll activities: Collect, review and validate payroll input for employees inbound of long term assignments, short term assignment and regular business visitors (shadow payroll), with day-today co-ordination with HR and external tax advisors.
• Complete statutory and compliance checks: Ensure accurate payroll treatment and compliance with PAYE, National Insurance, National Minimum Wage, PSA Agreements, pensions, benefits, statutory returns, year-end processes, and HMRC requirements, including monitoring submissions and supporting reviews or audits.
• Administer pensions and benefits: Understand auto-enrolment, pension contributions, salary sacrifice, benefit-related payroll processes, and day-to-day coordination with pension providers and external advisors.
• Review, reconcile, and report: Prepare payroll reports, journals, reconciliations, variance analysis, cut-off governance, and post-payroll reviews in collaboration with Finance.
• Resolve payroll queries: Respond promptly and professionally to employee queries relating to pay, deductions, pensions, tax codes, benefits, and other payroll matters.
• Collaborate across teams and providers: Work closely with HR, Finance, external providers, and advisors to ensure payroll data is accurate, deadlines are met, and changes are processed smoothly.
• Support transformation and continuous improvement: Contribute to payroll transformation, system improvements, compliance initiatives, PSA, P11D or Payrolling Benefits activity, shadow payrolls, process improvements, and onboarding of new UK entities.
• Maintain strong controls and governance: Follow agreed payroll procedures, strengthen payroll controls, identify opportunities to improve processes, and maintain a strong focus on accuracy, confidentiality, compliance, and service delivery.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Experience: Proven UK payroll expertise, ideally with 10+ years’ hands-on payroll experience, or a combination of payroll and broader industry experience. Experience supporting end-to-end payroll processing is essential.
• Technical knowledge: Strong understanding of UK payroll legislation, HMRC guidance, PAYE, National Insurance, National Minimum Wage, PSA, Payrolling, pensions, benefits, statutory returns, statutory payments, year-end payroll processes, and payroll compliance activities.
• Systems and tools: Hands-on knowledge of SAP payroll processing is required; experience with ADP Payroll using GlobalView is preferred. Intermediate to advanced Excel skills and confident use of Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams, and other payroll or HR systems are expected.
• Controls and compliance: Experience supporting payroll reconciliations, controls, governance frameworks, HMRC reviews, audits, and compliance risk management.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills: Strong analytical capability, high attention to detail, financial awareness, and sound problem-solving skills when managing payroll accuracy, controls, and compliance risks.
• Communication and collaboration: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across HR, Finance, external providers, and advisors while providing a helpful, confidential, and professional service.
• Leadership and judgement: A hands-on problem solver who leads by example, understands the wider payroll landscape, supports and coaches others, and uses sound judgement on when to escalate.
• Ways of working: Highly organised, resilient, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple priorities, work to tight deadlines, remain calm under pressure, and deliver with minimal supervision.
• Professional standards: High levels of integrity, professionalism, accountability, confidentiality, and commitment to company values, procedures, service delivery, and customer expectations.
• Qualifications: CIPP qualification preferred, or equivalent knowledge gained through relevant payroll experience.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree, preferably within Business Studies/Accounting/Human Resources or relevant experience within required area.