Global Payroll, Benefits & HR Data Analyst in London

• Global Payroll, Benefits & HR Data Analyst
• Permanent
• Hybrid - 3 days per week in the office, with Wednesday as a core office day

Oakleaf Partnership is working exclusively with a leading international professional services organisation to recruit a Global Payroll, Benefits & HR Data Analyst into its growing HR team.

This is an exciting opportunity to join an organisation undergoing significant transformation across its global HR operations.

With operations spanning multiple countries and further international growth planned, the business has recently consolidated its payroll onto a single global platform and streamlined its employee benefits provision.

The next stage of this journey is to strengthen data quality, reporting and controls across payroll, benefits and HR.

This role will play a key part in that process, helping to create a reliable source of global people data and supporting more effective reporting and decision-making.

The position offers a varied blend of payroll support, benefits administration, HR data analysis and process improvement.

It would suit someone with a foundation in payroll, benefits or HR operations who enjoys working with data and is looking to develop their analytical and systems expertise within a growing international business.

The Role

You will be supporting the accurate management of global payroll, employee benefits and HR data across the organisation's international locations.

With a new global payroll platform now in place, the focus is on ensuring information is accurate, consistent and effectively maintained across systems, spreadsheets and external providers.

You will play an important role in identifying discrepancies, improving reporting and ensuring that payroll and benefits information is reliable and well controlled.

Alongside the data-focused responsibilities, you will support day-to-day payroll activities and benefits administration, responding to queries and working closely with HR, Finance and external providers.

Key responsibilities will include

• Global payroll support: Reviewing payroll data, validating employee changes, investigating discrepancies and supporting monthly payroll approvals across international locations.
• Data management and reporting: Maintaining accurate employee records and producing regular and ad hoc reports covering global headcount, staff costs, payroll movements and workforce information.
• Benefits administration: Maintaining benefits data, coordinating renewals, liaising with brokers and providers, and ensuring employee information and payroll deductions are accurate.
• Reconciliations and controls: Identifying inconsistencies across HR, payroll, benefits and Finance records, investigating variances and maintaining clear audit trails.
• Excel and analysis: Using Excel to manage complex data, maintain reporting schedules and identify trends, errors and opportunities for improvement.
• Budgeting and forecasting: Supporting global staff-cost budgets, analysing payroll and benefits expenditure, and preparing budget-versus-actual reporting alongside Finance.
• Systems and process improvement: Acting as a key user of HR and payroll systems, supporting data migration, testing, reporting improvements and the reduction of manual processes.
• Stakeholder management: Working collaboratively with colleagues across HR and Finance, as well as external payroll, pension and benefits providers, to resolve queries and maintain accurate information.

Skills and Experience

This opportunity is suited to someone who is analytical, detail-oriented and comfortable working with large amounts of data.

You do not need to have extensive global payroll experience or tick every box from day one; the business is looking for someone with the right foundations, attitude and potential to grow into the role.

• Experience in payroll, benefits administration, HR operations, HR reporting, people analytics or a related field.
• A good understanding of payroll processes, with some knowledge of payroll queries, statutory requirements and reconciliations.
• Strong Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, lookups, complex formulas and data validation. Experience with Power Query or data modelling would be advantageous.
• Experience using an HRIS, payroll system or benefits platform, with the ability to maintain and reconcile information across different sources.
• Strong analytical skills and excellent attention to detail, with the confidence to investigate discrepancies and identify their root causes.
• The ability to produce accurate reports and present data in a clear, meaningful way.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to manage recurring deadlines across payroll, benefits and reporting activities.
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to work with stakeholders across HR, Finance and external providers.
• A high level of discretion when handling confidential employee and financial information.
• Experience with a global HR or payroll platform such as Deel would be beneficial, although experience with other systems is equally relevant.

If you have a background in payroll, benefits or HR operations, enjoy working with data and are looking for a role that offers variety, international exposure and room to grow, we would be keen to hear from you.