Global Head of Payroll in Belfast

The Head of Payroll is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and governance of global payroll operations. This role oversees compliant and timely payroll delivery across multiple jurisdictions, drives continuous improvement, and provides strategic leadership on payroll data, controls, and reporting.

Main Responsibilities

• Payroll Operations: Lead and coordinate global payroll delivery, ensuring compliance with internal policies and all legal and tax requirements. Manage outsourced and in-house payroll operations to deliver timely, accurate, high-quality payroll services. Serve as the senior escalation point for complex issues and exceptions.
• Payroll Data, Reporting & Controls: Own payroll data accuracy, integrity, and governance across all jurisdictions. Oversee payroll reporting, employee cost analysis, and statutory outputs. Partner with Finance (FC and FP&A) to ensure accurate payroll journals, FLEC reconciliation, and alignment of payroll data with planning and forecasting tools. Provide payroll insights to support decision-making, forecasting, and compliance. Maintain strong controls, reconciliations, audit trails, and process documentation, driving continuous improvement.
• Payroll Strategy & Transformation: Deliver payroll strategy, optimisation initiatives, and governance enhancements. Lead clustering and management of outsourced payroll providers. Drive payroll systems integration, process optimisation, and support for newly acquired businesses.
• Leadership & Stakeholder Management: Provide leadership, direction, and development for the payroll team, including performance and workload management. Deliver training and coaching to build capability. Act as a key liaison with internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in international payroll operations, including preparation, reconciliation, and control frameworks.
• Background in both in-house and outsourced payroll delivery models.
• Proven people-management capability within payroll or a similar operational environment.
• Highly numerate with a structured, analytical approach to problem-solving.
• Strong process orientation, with experience documenting, improving, and embedding controls.
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to work to strict deadlines.
• Confident communicator with strong verbal and written skills, including engagement with senior stakeholders.
• Proficient with payroll systems and advanced Excel skills.

Values & Culture

• We are CLIENT CENTRIC – Clients are at the centre of our world, and we’re committed to providing expertise and specialist solutions to meet their most complex challenges.
• We are AMBITIOUS – We aim high. We think and act globally, seizing every opportunity to delight our clients and support our colleagues wherever in the world they may be.
• We are AGILE – We act on our initiative to get things done for our clients. Our independence gives us the flexibility and freedom to keep things simple, efficient and effective.
• We are COLLABORATIVE – With a curious mindset, we ask the right questions to get to the right solution, for our clients faster. We collaborate to win together and share our successes.
• We are ETHICAL – We behave with integrity at all times and assume positive intent, building trust through responsible actions and honest relationships.

Equal Opportunities for Everyone

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, or veteran, neurodiversity or disability status.