Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Location: Heathrow
Contract: Interim - 3 months initially
Working pattern: 3 days per week
Pay rate: £20-£22 per hour + holiday pay

The Opportunity:

We are currently recruiting for an experienced Payroll & Benefits Specialist to join a busy team on an initial 3-month interim contract based in Heathrow, working 3 days per week.

This is a varied role covering end-to-end payroll, pensions and employee benefits administration across multiple entities in the UK and Ireland. You will act as the key point of contact for payroll and benefits, ensuring processes are accurate, compliant and delivered within agreed deadlines.

Working closely with HR, Finance and external providers, you will play an important role in maintaining payroll accuracy, supporting employees with queries and ensuring the smooth administration of a broad range of employee benefits.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the end-to-end payroll process across multiple UK and Ireland entities, ensuring accurate and timely processing.

• Liaise with external payroll providers and internal stakeholders to coordinate payroll activities.

• Prepare, validate and reconcile monthly payroll data, reviewing payroll outputs and processing employee changes.

• Manage payroll year-end activities, statutory reporting and regulatory submissions.

• Oversee pension administration, auto-enrolment requirements and submissions to pension providers.

• Administer employee benefits, including private medical insurance, salary sacrifice vehicle schemes, cycle to work and pensions.

• Coordinate benefits renewals, liaise with providers and ensure employee benefits are accurately maintained.

• Ensure compliance with payroll legislation, statutory requirements and internal controls.

• Maintain accurate payroll records and audit trails, supporting internal and external audit requests.

• Act as the main point of contact for payroll and benefits queries, providing timely guidance to employees and managers.

• Support payroll system improvements, new provider implementations and initiatives to improve data quality and reporting.

Skills & Experience Required:

• Significant payroll administration experience, ideally within a multi-entity environment.

• Proven experience managing multiple payrolls simultaneously across different business units.

• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, statutory requirements and year-end processes.

• Experience administering employee benefits, including pensions and auto-enrolment.

• Experience working with external payroll providers and benefits vendors.

• Experience using ADP platforms, including iHCM, is essential.

• Advanced Excel skills and strong systems capability.

• Excellent attention to detail, numerical accuracy and organisational skills.

• The ability to manage competing priorities and strict deadlines independently.

• Strong communication skills and the confidence to liaise with employees, managers and external providers.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience supporting Irish or international payrolls.

• Experience working within a multinational or global organisation.

• CIPP qualification or equivalent payroll accreditation.

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