Job: Payroll Manager

Location: East Kent / Hybrid

Employment type: Permanent, Full-time

Salary: £50,000 - £55,000 DOE

Are you a Payroll Manager comfortable operating in complex, multi-site environments? Do you have the credibility to lead both operational delivery and meaningful payroll transformation? Can you simplify legacy processes while improving systems, structure, and team capability?

Sirius Search are partnering with a well-established, purpose-driven, multi-site organisation as they enter a significant phase of payroll and systems transformation.

This is a key hire, offering the opportunity to lead both operational delivery and the modernisation of a long-standing payroll function. Reporting into senior finance leadership, the role will play a central part in shaping a more efficient, system-led payroll operation.

The Payroll Manager Role

You will take ownership of the end-to-end payroll function, ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely delivery across multiple payroll cycles. Alongside this, you will lead transformation activity, reviewing existing processes, simplifying legacy practices, and embedding scalable, efficient ways of working.

Working closely with Finance and HR, you will support system integration and lead a well-established team through a period of change.

Key responsibilities include:

• Ownership of payroll operations across a complex, multi-site environment
• Leading payroll transformation, including process redesign and system optimisation
• Simplifying and consolidating multiple payroll cycles
• Driving improved utilisation of payroll systems and automation
• Partnering with HR to strengthen payroll/HR system integration
• Reviewing and modernising legacy payroll rules and practices
• Leading, developing, and upskilling a payroll team
• Ensuring full compliance with statutory and audit requirements
• Providing payroll insight, reporting, and support to financial planning
• Oversight of pension schemes and auto-enrolment

As Payroll Manager, you will bring:

• Payroll leadership experience within a complex organisation
• Strong systems capability, ideally within cloud-based payroll environments
• Experience managing multiple payroll cycles and legacy structures
• A track record of delivering process improvement or transformation
• Strong stakeholder engagement across Finance, HR, and senior leadership
• Up-to-date knowledge of UK payroll legislation and compliance
• The ability to lead and develop teams through change
• High attention to detail with strong analytical capability
• A pragmatic, solutions-focused approach

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to shape and modernise a critical function within an organisation, investing in change. The role offers genuine scope to influence systems, processes, and team capability, while working closely with senior stakeholders.

If this Payroll Manager role looks of interest and you think you have got what it takes to make a success of the role, please forward your CV today to Cressida Courtney or follow the link and apply online

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we may not be able to respond to every applicant individually. Please know that we carefully review each application and will reach out if your qualifications align with the vacancy. Salary banding - To achieve the top end of the salary range, candidates must meet the minimum experience/qualification level required for the role as set out in the job description.

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