Head of Payroll - Remote Opportunity in Warrington

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced payroll professional to take ownership of an established payroll operation and play a key role in its future growth. Following the acquisition of an established payroll business, a leading accountancy practice is looking to appoint a Head of Payroll to oversee a portfolio of approximately 300 clients, generating annual payroll fee income of around £350,000.

You will inherit an experienced team of home-based payroll professionals and take responsibility for the day-to-day management, technical oversight and longer-term development of the payroll function. Importantly, because the existing payroll team operates remotely, this position could also be offered on a fully remote basis, making it an excellent opportunity for an experienced Payroll Manager looking for genuine flexibility alongside a senior leadership role. There will be an expectation to meet the team in the Head office in the Warrington area on the odd occasion so you must be UK based and willing to be a part of a larger accountancy practice.

Rather than simply managing payroll processing, you will be given the opportunity to shape how the department operates, develop the team and help drive the continued growth of the payroll business.

Duties and responsibilities

As Head of Payroll your responsibilities will include:

• Taking overall responsibility for the payroll department and helping to develop and deliver its future strategy
• Managing the transition of the payroll operation following the acquisition of the existing business
• Leading and supporting a team of experienced remote payroll professionals
• Overseeing weekly and monthly payroll processing across a portfolio of approximately 300 clients
• Ensuring payrolls are completed accurately and within required deadlines
• Ensuring compliance with UK payroll legislation, HMRC requirements and Real Time Information reporting
• Overseeing year-end payroll submissions
• Acting as a senior point of contact for more complex payroll and client queries
• Supervising, training, developing and mentoring payroll team members
• Supporting the recruitment and continued development of the payroll team as the department grows
• Reviewing processes and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and service delivery
• Helping to grow the payroll business through strong client relationships and wider business development activity
• Contributing towards marketing initiatives and content where appropriate

Experience and qualifications

This role would suit an experienced Senior Payroll Manager or payroll professional who is ready to take on broader responsibility for an established payroll function. You should have:

• Strong experience managing payroll within an outsourced or payroll bureau environment
• Excellent knowledge of UK payroll legislation and HMRC requirements
• Experience overseeing weekly and monthly payrolls for multiple clients
• Previous experience supervising, managing or developing payroll staff
• The confidence to deal directly with clients and resolve more complex payroll queries
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple deadlines
• An interest in improving processes and helping to develop and grow a payroll function
• The ability to successfully manage and motivate a predominantly remote team
• Previous experience of managing a sizeable client payroll portfolio would be particularly relevant.

Most importantly, this business is looking for somebody who wants to take real ownership of the department rather than simply manage the existing workload.

Benefits

£60,000 – £70,000 salary, depending on experience

• Firm-wide annual bonus of up to 10% of salary, subject to performance and KPIs
• Fully remote working potentially available
• Flexible working with core hours of 10am–3pm
• 27 days' annual leave
• Your birthday off
• Christmas Eve off
• Bank holidays in addition to annual leave
• Option to purchase up to five additional days' holiday after 12 months
• Life assurance at four times annual salary
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Active social committee and calendar
• Option to sacrifice an element of the annual bonus towards pension contributions or additional holiday

Company culture

This is a particularly exciting time to join the business. You will be joining at the point where an established payroll operation is being brought into the wider firm, giving you the opportunity to influence how the department develops from the outset. There is already an experienced team and substantial existing client base in place, but there is also a clear ambition to continue growing the payroll offering. The business offers a genuinely flexible working environment and is comfortable managing a dispersed team, meaning the successful candidate will be trusted to manage their own workload and lead the department effectively without needing to be permanently office-based. For somebody looking for a senior payroll position offering autonomy, flexibility, team leadership and the opportunity to build and develop a payroll function, this represents a particularly attractive opportunity.