Payroll and Benefits Specialist

We are looking for an experienced payroll and benefits professional who can bring strategic thinking alongside strong technical knowledge.

You may currently be working as a Payroll & Benefits Manager, Payroll Manager with significant benefits exposure, or in a similar senior payroll/total rewards position.

You'll ideally have:

• Strong UK payroll knowledge and experience managing an outsourced payroll.
• A good understanding of UK pension rules and legislation.
• Experience managing benefits across a complex or multi-site organisation.
• The ability to manage external providers and challenge them effectively.
• Experience reviewing and improving payroll and benefits processes.
• Strong commercial awareness and an eye for efficiency and cost savings.
• A genuine interest in technology, systems, automation and AI.
• The confidence to work autonomously and operate as the subject matter expert.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• A proactive, improvement-focused mindset rather than simply maintaining the status quo.

Experience within healthcare, NHS-linked environments or organisations with multiple sites would be advantageous, particularly where you have exposure to different pension arrangements, but it is not essential.

Current Benefits

The existing package includes:

• Salary: £55,000-£65,000 DOE
• Bonus: TBC
• Working hours: 37.5 hours per week, 9am-5pm, with flexibility
• Mainly home working
• Holiday: 25 days + bank holidays
• Pension: Employer contribution approximately 3.5% / employee contribution 5.5%
• Shopping vouchers
• Free on-site parking
• Death in Service
• Staff discount

Summary

• Payroll and Benefits Specialist £55k to £65k
• Warrington - Liverpool - Manchester - Hybrid working mainly

About Our Client

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys being hands-on but, importantly, can look beyond the day-to-day administration and identify how payroll and benefits can be improved, streamlined and modernised.

The benefits landscape is also an area with significant opportunity. The organisation has grown through acquisitions, you will have the opportunity to review these arrangements, understand what colleagues actually value, assess the market and identify opportunities to improve both cost efficiency and the employee proposition.

This is a standalone specialist role.

Job Description

Payroll management

• Take full ownership and accountability for the end-to-end monthly payroll process for approximately
• Act as the organisation's payroll subject matter expert and primary point of contact for all payroll-related matters.
• Ensure payroll is processed accurately, compliantly and on time each month.
• Lead detailed payroll checks, audits, reconciliations and approval processes before submission and payroll release.
• Work closely with Finance to ensure payroll accuracy, effective financial controls, appropriate segregation of duties and senior stakeholder sign-off.
• Maintain compliance with UK payroll legislation, EU pay transparency, HMRC requirements, pension regulations and statutory obligations.
• Lead annual payroll activities including P60s, P11Ds, year-end processing and statutory reporting.
• Maintain payroll policies, procedures, audit documentation and evidence of controls.
• Keep abreast of legislative changes and implement required process updates.

Pay review, reward and job architecture

• Manage the annual pay review process, including data preparation, manager guidance, modelling, governance, approvals and payroll implementation.
• Support bonus, incentive and recognition processes, ensuring accurate administration and alignment with payroll requirements.
• Maintain and support the governance of the organisation's job architecture framework, including job families, role levels, grading structures and role data.
• Support job evaluation, role mapping and pay governance activity to improve consistency, internal equity and transparency across the organisation.
• Produce salary benchmarking, pay positioning and market analysis to inform reward decisions and organisational planning.
• Provide recommendations on reward trends, pay governance and workforce cost implications to the People Leadership Team and senior stakeholders.
• Ensure pay, role and reward data is maintained accurately across HR, payroll and reporting systems.

Benefits management

• Manage the administration and continuous improvement of the organisation's employee benefits portfolio.
• Act as the primary relationship manager for benefits brokers, payroll system providers and external benefit suppliers.
• Administer benefits including Private Medical Insurance, Life Assurance, pension schemes, Cycle to Work Scheme, Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme and wellbeing or reward benefits.
• Coordinate annual benefit renewals, market reviews, provider meetings and supplier negotiations.
• Analyse benefits utilisation, colleague feedback and market trends, making recommendations to improve the employee value proposition.
• Ensure benefits are administered accurately and integrated effectively with payroll processes.
• Provide expert advice and support to colleagues regarding payroll, reward and benefits queries.

Reporting, governance and compliance

• Own the production, accuracy and governance of payroll, reward, benefits and people-related reporting across the organisation.
• Produce regular reporting on headcount, turnover, absence, payroll costs, salary movements, benefits utilisation, workforce trends and other key People metrics.
• Develop and maintain executive dashboards and reporting packs for senior leaders, ensuring insight is clear, timely and action orientated.
• Lead annual Gender Pay Gap reporting and provide supporting analysis, commentary and recommendations.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and workforce planning through accurate workforce cost data and analysis.

Systems and continuous improvement

• Maximise the effectiveness of HR, payroll, benefits and reporting systems to improve efficiency, colleague experience and data accuracy.
• Act as a key stakeholder in payroll, benefits, HRIS and reward systems enhancement projects.
• Support the implementation of new payroll systems, ensuring effective planning, testing, data migration, stakeholder engagement and transition into business-as-usual processes.
• Identify opportunities to streamline, automate and simplify processes across payroll, benefits, reward and reporting.

The Successful Applicant

We are looking for an experienced payroll and benefits professional who can bring strategic thinking alongside strong technical knowledge.

You may currently be working as a Payroll & Benefits Manager, Payroll Manager with significant benefits exposure, or in a similar senior payroll/total rewards position.

You'll ideally have:

• Strong UK payroll knowledge and experience managing an outsourced payroll.
• A good understanding of UK pension rules and legislation.
• Experience managing benefits across a complex or multi-site organisation.
• The ability to manage external providers and challenge them effectively.
• Experience reviewing and improving payroll and benefits processes.
• Strong commercial awareness and an eye for efficiency and cost savings.
• A genuine interest in technology, systems, automation and AI.
• The confidence to work autonomously and operate as the subject matter expert.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• A proactive, improvement-focused mindset rather than simply maintaining the status quo.

Experience within healthcare, NHS-linked environments or organisations with multiple sites would be advantageous, particularly where you have exposure to different pension arrangements, but it is not essential.

What's on Offer

Current Benefits

The existing package includes:

• Salary: £55,000-£65,000 DOE
• Bonus: TBC
• Working hours: 37.5 hours per week, 9am-5pm, with flexibility
• Mainly home working
• Holiday: 25 days + bank holidays
• Pension: Employer contribution approximately 3.5% / employee contribution 5.5%
• Shopping vouchers
• Free on-site parking
• Death in Service
• Staff discount