UK Payroll Specialist - Open to All Industry Backgrounds

Job Description

UK Payroll Specialist

Location: London

Salary: Contract to Perm - Urgent Hire

The Opportunity

A leading financial services organisation is seeking an experienced UK Payroll Specialist to take ownership of the end-to-end payroll process for its UK employee population.

This is a hands-on role requiring a payroll professional who has operated payroll directly rather than solely managing an outsourced provider. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring payroll is processed accurately, compliantly and on time, while partnering with HR, Finance and external stakeholders where required.

Key Responsibilities

1. Manage and process monthly UK payroll from start to finish.
2. Maintain payroll records and ensure all employee data is accurate and up to date.
3. Process salary changes, bonuses, benefits, pensions, statutory payments and deductions.
4. Calculate and validate payroll data, ensuring accuracy prior to payroll submission.
5. Reconcile payroll reports and resolve any discrepancies.
6. Manage payroll-related queries from employees and stakeholders.
7. Ensure compliance with UK payroll legislation, including PAYE, National Insurance, Pensions Auto-Enrolment, HMRC reporting and statutory requirements.
8. Produce payroll journals and support month-end finance processes.
9. Liaise with HR and Finance teams to ensure accurate employee and compensation data.
10. Support year-end payroll activities including P60s, P11Ds and audit requirements.
11. Identify opportunities to improve payroll controls, processes and reporting.
12. Assist with system enhancements, testing and payroll-related projects.

Required Experience

1. Proven experience running end-to-end UK payroll within a medium to large organisation.
2. Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation and HMRC requirements.
3. Experience processing payroll internally rather than purely managing an outsourced payroll relationship.
4. Strong reconciliation, reporting and problem-solving skills.
5. Ability to work accurately under pressure and meet strict payroll deadlines.
6. Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Technical Skills

1. Strong experience using Oracle Payroll/Oracle HCM.
2. Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including:
3. VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP
4. Pivot Tables
5. Complex formulas and reconciliations
6. Data manipulation and validation
7. Experience working with payroll interfaces, reporting tools and large employee datasets.