Global Reward & Payroll Manager in London

As our Global Reward & Payroll Manager, you will be key to delivering timely and accurate payroll, reward and benefit operations across our global business. You’ll support over 250 employees across the US, Europe, and Asia, with a focus on strong controls, accurate data, clear reporting, and a great employee experience.

You will be our IRIS Cascade guru and Superuser, leading the way on system configuration, design, workflows, data integrity, reporting, automation, process documentation and continuous improvement. This is not just a system administration responsibility, it is central to how we support our business strategy, improve decision-making, simplify processes and build a more scalable People function.

Working closely with the Global Head of Reward, you’ll manage global payroll and reward operations, while providing leadership, coaching and line management support to our People & Reward Administrator, ensuring work is prioritised effectively, development opportunities are provided and administrative activity is delivered to a high standard.

We're looking for someone who is organised, proactive and detail-oriented, with the confidence to work independently while building strong relationships across the business. If you enjoy solving problems, improving processes and delivering a great employee experience, we'd love to hear from you.

The Responsibilities:

• Global Payroll Management & Governance:
• Manage and oversee our payrolls across all relevant countries, ensuring employees are paid accurately, compliantly and on time.
• Own the entire payroll cycle, including payroll inputs, data validation, provider instructions, payroll output reviews, approval coordination, funding requirements and post-payroll reporting.
• Maintain a control framework for payroll, including checklists, approval evidence, audit trails, reconciliation routines and exception reporting.
• Act as the contact for outsourced payroll providers, ensuring service quality, clear accountability and timely resolution of issues.
• Partner with Finance to ensure payroll funding, journals, cost reporting and reconciliations are completed accurately and within agreed deadlines.
• Manage payroll administration for starters, leavers, contractual changes, one-off payments, deductions, statutory payments and final payments.
• Lead year-end and statutory payroll activity, including P11D data coordination, pension checks, audit support and country-specific provider requirements.
• Recommend improvements to any risks, gaps, and weaknesses you identify.
• Maintain awareness of payroll legislation, tax, social security and compliance requirements across jurisdictions, working with providers and advisers where needed.
• Provide support for complex payroll queries, sensitive employee cases and urgent payroll matters.
• HRIS ownership, Cascade Superuser leadership and process excellence:
• You’ll be our Superuser and escalation point for IRIS Cascade, ensuring the system’s data is accurate, processes are efficient and provide strong business decision making.
• Lead configuration and continuous improvement of Cascade.
• Own data standards and governance, including regular data checks, clean-ups, issue analysis and resolutions.
• Develop and maintain accurate reporting, dashboards and management information for People, Finance, Leaders and external reporting.
• Translate business needs into solutions, identifying opportunities for automation, reduce rekeying, improve controls and simplify the employee experience.
• Lead testing for all upgrades and process changes, ensuring these are properly documented and communicated.
• Create and maintain clear process guides, and training materials for our People Team, and employees.
• Partner with IT, Finance, People Partners and external providers to improve systems connectivity, data flows and reporting accuracy.
• Use insight to support broader People strategy, workforce planning, reward analysis, compliance and employee experience improvements.
• Reward, Benefits & Employee Experience:
• Manage the delivery of FitFlop benefits, including UK benefits through the Howden My Benefits platform and relevant international arrangements.
• Oversee benefit enrolment and changes, monthly reconciliations, provider files and payroll inputs to ensure records remain accurate and current.
• Support the Global Head of Reward with annual benefit renewals, provider reviews, new launches, market benchmarking and employee communications.
• Manage pension administration processes, including UK compliance checks, contribution files and provider coordination.
• Oversee US 401(k) contribution uploads and related checks, working with providers to maintain compliance and accuracy.
• Support family leave pay schedules, payroll briefings and complex reward or benefit queries, ensuring employees receive clear and supportive guidance.
• Lead benefit communications and education activity throughout the year, helping employees understand and use the support available to them.
• Monitor benefit processes and employee feedback, identifying ways to improve service levels, reduce effort and strengthen engagement.
• Contribute to reward projects, policy updates and process improvements that support a fair, consistent and engaging employee experience.
• Leadership, Stakeholder Management and Continuous Improvement:
• Provide confident day-to-day leadership across payroll, reward, benefits and HRIS activity, acting as a trusted partner to the Global Head of Reward.
• Train and manage our People & Reward Administrator, setting priorities, allocating work, and providing coaching for their development.
• Ensure administrative activity across the department is completed accurately and delivered on time.
• Review and check key administrative activities, providing guidance, feedback and support where required.
• Set clear standards for administration, documentation, controls, service levels and employee support within the reward and payroll function.
• Build strong working relationships with People, Finance, IT, managers, employees and external providers.
• Manage competing priorities and deadlines across multiple countries, ensuring high-risk or time-critical work is planned and escalated appropriately.
• Use insight from payroll, benefits and HRIS data to identify trends, risks, issues and improvement opportunities.
• Lead process improvement activity, moving work away from manual, repetitive administration and towards scalable, controlled and technology-enabled ways of working.
• Support audits, compliance reviews, provider reviews and internal governance requirements with accurate evidence and clear explanations.
• Act professionally and with discretion when handling confidential employee, payroll and business information.

The Person:

• Significant payroll experience (qualified or working towards qualification) with the confidence to manage global or multi-country payroll operations through outsourced providers.
• Strong knowledge of UK payroll compliance, with the ability to work effectively with advisers and providers on international payroll requirements.
• Deep HRIS experience and genuine enthusiasm for systems, data, workflow, reporting and process improvement.
• Advanced IRIS Cascade experience is highly desirable; equivalent HRIS Superuser knowledge gained through another system will also be considered where the candidate can adapt quickly to Cascade.
• Experience managing benefits platforms, pension administration, provider files, reconciliation processes and employee benefit queries.
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills, including reconciliations, lookups, pivot tables, data validation and exception reporting.
• Able to move between detail and bigger-picture thinking, maintaining accuracy while improving how processes work.
• Confident stakeholder manager with the ability to influence, challenge, explain and build trust across People, Finance, IT and external providers.
• Clear communicator who can simply explain complex payroll, reward, benefits and system information.
• Professional, trustworthy, highly organised, calm under pressure and able to manage multiple deadlines across countries and time zones.
• Proactive, curious and improvement-focused, with the confidence to make recommendations and follow through.
• Able to work independently, take ownership and make sound decisions while collaborating closely with the wider team.
• Previous experience of managing or supporting junior team members is desirable but not essential.
• Experience working with shared administrative resources or coordinating work across a People Team would be advantageous.

We recognise that not everyone will meet every requirement. If you’re excited about this role and feel like you could add value, we’d love to hear from you.

The Benefits:

• Product Allowance
• Hybrid and flexible working hours
• Summer Fridays (6 ½ days in July and August on Fridays)
• A day off for your Birthday
• 25 days holiday + Bank Holidays
• Work from anywhere for 2 weeks
• WorkPlace Nursery (salary sacrifice scheme to save money on your nursery fees)
• Wellbeing Program – Retail Trust, Sanctus Coaching and Calm App
• Career development allowance (Personal allowance to use on career development)
• Private health care and or dental care (provided by AXA and DenPlan)
• Socials organised by Wellbeing and Feel Good group

Equal Opportunities:

FitFlop is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodivergence, ethnicity, religion or belief, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We actively encourage neurodivergent candidates and individuals with disabilities to apply. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process, please let us know. We are committed to providing an accessible and supportive recruitment experience.