Assistant Payroll Manager

End-to-end payroll delivery

• Support the delivery of accurate and timely end‑to‑end payroll processing, ensuring all statutory, contractual, and internal deadlines are met.
• Remain hands‑on in payroll processing activities, particularly during peak periods or where additional support is required.
• Act as a point of escalation for complex payroll queries, resolving issues efficiently and professionally.

Team management and support

• Line manage a small payroll team, providing day‑to‑day supervision, coaching, and support.
• Allocate work effectively across the team to balance payroll processing, query volumes, and operational priorities.
• Support development of team capability, knowledge‑sharing, and consistency of payroll practice.

Stakeholder & customer service focus

• Build strong working relationships with HR, Finance, managers, and employees, acting as a trusted payroll contact.
• Balance customer service expectations with the operational realities and controls required for accurate payroll delivery.
• Communicate clearly and confidently with stakeholders, explaining payroll outcomes, issues, and constraints in plain English.

Compliance, tax & governance

• Ensure payroll activity complies with relevant legislation and internal controls.
• Apply working knowledge of payroll tax, statutory deductions, and reporting requirements (with support from specialists where needed).
• Support audits, reconciliations, and year‑end activities (e.g. P60s, P11Ds), escalating risks where identified.

Continuous improvement

• Actively identify opportunities to improve payroll processes, controls, and ways of working.
• Contribute to payroll change initiatives, system improvements, and process simplification.
• Support the embedding of consistent, efficient payroll processes that reduce rework, errors, and manual intervention.

Essential

• Proven experience delivering end‑to‑end payroll in a medium to large organisation.
• Strong operational payroll knowledge, with confidence handling complex or non‑standard scenarios.
• Experience managing or supervising a small payroll team.
• Comfortable working to tight deadlines in a high‑volume payroll environment.
• Confident stakeholder communicator, able to balance service delivery with operational control.
• Strong attention to detail, problem‑solving skills, and a practical mindset.
• Working knowledge of payroll tax and statutory reporting.
• Strong Excel skills.

Desirable

• Experience supporting payroll audits and compliance activity.
• Exposure to payroll process improvement or systems change initiatives.
• Relevant payroll qualification (e.g. CIPP) or working towards.