Global Payroll & Benefits Manager (12 months Fixed Term Contract)

About the Role

The Global Payroll & Benefits Manager leads IG’s payroll and benefits function across 14+ countries, sitting within the People Services team and reporting to the Head of People Services. Accountable for end‑to‑end payroll delivery across insourced and outsourced models, the role also oversees benefits administration in each market. You’ll lead a team of payroll & benefits specialists while working closely with Finance, Tax, and local HR contacts to ensure compliant, accurate, and timely delivery that supports IG’s employee value proposition.

Key Responsibilities

• Benefits Administration: Oversee the administration of employee benefits programmes across 14+ countries, ensuring each market’s benefits are accurately maintained, communicated, and delivered. Act as the operational owner of benefits enrolment, renewals, and changes, coordinating with local HR contacts, brokers, and benefits providers to ensure seamless employee experience. Maintain accurate benefits data and records, ensuring alignment between benefits systems, payroll, and HR platforms. Support the review and benchmarking of country‑level benefits offerings in partnership with the broader People team, ensuring programmes remain competitive and compliant with local requirements. Manage relationships with benefits brokers and third‑party providers, holding them to account on service quality and cost.
• Payroll Operations & Service Delivery: Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of payroll across 14+ countries, managing a mix of insourced and outsourced payroll models. Own the end‑to‑end payroll calendar, ensuring all country payrolls are processed within defined SLAs and in compliance with local legislation. Act as the escalation point for complex payroll queries and cross‑country issues, driving prompt and effective resolution. Establish and maintain robust payroll controls, reconciliation processes, and audit trails to ensure data integrity and regulatory compliance.
• Team Leadership: Lead, develop, and performance‑manage a team of 7+ payroll & benefits specialists, building individual capability and overall team effectiveness. Foster a high‑performance team culture focused on accuracy, continuous improvement, and colleague service. Drive workload planning and prioritisation across the team to ensure resilience and consistent service delivery.
• Vendor & Partner Management: Manage relationships with outsourced payroll vendors, holding them to account against agreed SLAs and quality standards. Lead or contribute to any vendor review or consolidation activity, including scoping, selection and transition planning. Partner closely with Finance and Tax teams to ensure payroll outputs are accurate, well‑reconciled and aligned with statutory obligations.
• Process Improvement & Transformation: Identify and drive improvements to payroll processes, controls and tooling—reducing manual effort, improving accuracy and increasing scalability. Lead the stabilisation of current payroll operations, building a clear baseline and roadmap for ongoing improvement. Leverage ADP and Workday effectively, partnering with HR Technology colleagues to ensure platforms support operational needs.
• Governance, Compliance & Risk: Ensure all payrolls are processed in line with local legislative requirements, tax obligations and IG’s internal policies. Maintain a strong controls framework and provide clear, accurate reporting to senior stakeholders on payroll performance and risk. Support internal and external audits, ensuring documentation and processes meet required standards.

Role Requirements

• Proven experience managing multi‑country payroll operations, ideally across both insourced and outsourced models.
• Experience overseeing benefits administration across multiple countries, including working with brokers, providers and local HR contacts.
• Strong people leadership skills with experience managing and developing a team of payroll professionals.
• Hands‑on experience with ADP in a multi‑country payroll environment.
• Solid understanding of payroll compliance, statutory requirements and audit/controls frameworks across multiple jurisdictions.
• Track record of improving payroll processes, controls and service quality in a complex organisation.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and hold external payroll vendors against defined SLAs.
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills, particularly with Finance and Tax stakeholders.
• Comfortable operating in an environment where structure and process improvements need to be built, not inherited.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a fintech, financial services or similarly regulated industry.
• Familiarity with Workday in an HR/payroll or benefits context.
• Exposure to benefits benchmarking or renewal processes across multiple geographies.
• Exposure to payroll vendor consolidation or re‑procurement exercises.
• Experience working within a matrix‑structured, globally distributed People or HR function.
• Knowledge of payroll requirements across European, APAC or North American jurisdictions.

Perks

• Competitive salary
• Flexible Benefits Package on top of your salary (12%)
• Private medical cover for you and your family
• Life insurance
• Contribution to gym memberships
• 25 Days holiday, with 1 additional day off to celebrate your Birthday & 2 additional days off a year for voluntary work (28 in total)
• The option to buy or sell holiday days.
• Unlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning Platform
• A comprehensive global and local onboarding process
• Employee‑led LGBTQ+, Women’s, Black and Parents & Carers networks with an annual budget for organising events & projects that foster an open, diverse and inclusive culture
• Option to participate and create ESG initiatives based on IG Brighter Future Fund
• Enhanced primary (maternity), secondary (paternity) and shared parental pay and leave, as well as a range of support and benefits for parents