Head of Payroll and HR Administration in Birmingham

Mecsia is a leading UK provider of technical inspection, maintenance, and engineering services, aiming to transform the industry with a 'Local Service, National Reach' approach. The company has grown significantly through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. Under private equity ownership since 2020, Mecsia has expanded to approximately 1,900 employees. In 2024, Mecsia was acquired by Synova, recognised as PE house of the year for four of the last seven years, who supports an ambitious growth strategy through service excellence and further acquisitions.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and hands-on Head of Payroll & HR Administration to lead the Group's payroll and HR administration function, you will lead a team of HR/Payroll Administrators working across the business, supporting a headcount of 2,000 and growing.

This is a key role responsible for ensuring the accurate, compliant and efficient delivery of payroll and core HR administration across our Group (currently 10 separate businesses and payrolls).

The role will also play a critical part in the implementation and ongoing optimisation of a new Group HRIS and payroll platform, helping to establish consistent processes, data standards and ways of working across the organisation.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll leadership & processing

• With the team, oversea the end-to-end UK payroll process across multiple Group businesses, ensuring payrolls are delivered accurately, on time and in accordance with statutory and contractual requirements.
• Lead the monthly payroll cycle, including pre-payroll checks, data validation, payroll processing, reconciliation, approvals and post-payroll activities.
• Ensure appropriate controls and checks are in place to minimise payroll errors and maintain high levels of payroll accuracy.
• Manage payroll-related payments, deductions, benefits, bonuses, commissions, overtime, expenses and other variable pay elements.
• Oversee statutory payroll requirements, including PAYE, National Insurance, pension contributions, statutory payments and year-end reporting.
• Escalation point for payroll queries ensuring employees and managers receive a responsive and professional service.

HRIS & payroll implementation

• Play a leading role in the implementation and rollout of the new Group HRIS and payroll system.
• Act as the subject matter expert for payroll and HR administration throughout the implementation.
• Support the design and configuration of payroll and HR processes within the new system.
• Define and document business requirements, workflows, controls and approval processes.
• Support data cleansing, migration and validation activities, ensuring high-quality employee and payroll data.
• Lead or support parallel payroll testing, UAT and reconciliation, identifying and resolving issues before go-live.
• Develop and maintain payroll and HR administration procedures, process maps and user guidance.
• Support the transition of businesses onto the new platform, ensuring consistent adoption and effective change management.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve the employee and manager experience.
• Own the ongoing optimisation of the HRIS and payroll processes following implementation.
• Lead, coach and develop the Payroll & HR Administration team,
• Build strong relationships with Group HR, Finance, IT, business leaders, HR Business Partners and managers across the organisation.
• Act as the escalation point for complex payroll and HR administration issues.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels and provide clear updates on payroll, HRIS implementation and service performance.

Key skills and experience

• Significant experience leading UK payroll operations, ideally across multiple entities or business units.
• Strong understanding of UK payroll legislation and statutory requirements.
• Experience managing the end-to-end payroll cycle.
• Experience leading or managing HR administration
• Strong understanding of employee lifecycle processes, particularly onboarding and offboarding.
• Proven experience implementing or upgrading an HRIS and/or payroll system.
• Experience with payroll data migration, testing, reconciliation and go-live.
• Strong process improvement and systems capability.
• Experience managing and developing a team.
• Excellent attention to detail and a strong understanding of payroll controls.
• Comfortable working with Finance, HR, IT and senior stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to work confidently with HR and payroll data.
• Experience working within a Group, multi-company or PE-backed environment.
• Experience consolidating or transitioning payrolls into a shared service model.
• Experience with [Sage, Moorepay, Zellis, MHR People First, Hibob, Bamboo, Staffology Iris] is desireable
• CIPP qualification or equivalent payroll qualification.
• Experience introducing payroll automation and employee/manager self-service.

What we offer

• Family friendly pay
• Enjoy 25 days of holiday, plus bank holidays
• Contribute to the Company Pension Scheme
• Life Assurance
• Death in Service Insurance
• Wellbeing benefits include 24/7 access to a GP
• Employee discounts i.e. gym memberships, high street shops
• Individual recognition schemes with rewards
• Fertility Treatment Support Leave
• Paid Maternity Leave
• Paid Paternity Leave

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, colour, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability.