Senior Payroll (Hybrid Working) in Southampton

We are hiring for a strategic payroll leader who will hold overall responsibility and accountability for all Pilgrims Europe payroll activities in the UK and Ireland. The successful candidate will have strong leadership and team management skills, excellent communication and stakeholder management, and a proactive, hands-on approach with a passion for improving systems and processes. They will support and develop payroll team members.

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience managing payroll operations in a complex organisation of at least 5,000 people, with strong knowledge of payroll legislation, pensions, statutory reporting, compliance, and best practice. The Head of Payroll will support and enable the HRS E2E project delivery in close collaboration with the HR systems team and People Services.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage payroll operations ensuring timely and accurate delivery of all payrolls for Pilgrims Europe in the UK and Ireland.
• Ensure delivery of a high quality, customer-focused and cost-competitive service to the wider business in accordance with agreed Service Level Agreements.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and reporting requirements.
• Maintain a full working understanding of the organisation's payroll procedures and other integrated business processes.
• Develop and maintain strong process controls.
• Implement appropriate controls to reduce the risk of delays and errors and mitigate any impact.
• Ensure a suite of standard control reports exist across the business for Payroll processes to ensure compliance and controls.
• Promote a continuous improvement culture - strive to simplify, standardise and improve processes across all Business Units towards quality and productivity improvements.
• Ensure a culture of problem identification and resolution, maintaining high standards of housekeeping.
• Identify, execute, track and sign-off all deliverables expected from improvement initiatives or transitions.
• Build strong relations with key stakeholders and their teams to facilitate delivery of accurate payments.
• Lead the Payroll team, managing performance, providing coaching, guidance and motivation, and developing colleagues to meet their potential.
• Assign and prioritise workloads within the team to deliver high quality results and ensure uninterrupted service in the event of absence and holidays.
• Partner with regional HR, Finance, and external vendors to manage payroll transitions and integrations.
• Support audits and internal controls by maintaining accurate documentation and process transparency.
• Manage the relevant budget costs and ensure spend remains in control, regularly reporting progress and supplying commentary to agreed timelines.

Skills & Knowledge:

Essential:

• 10+ years' experience in payroll management, preferably in a multinational environment.
• Leadership skills, manager of managers.
• Excellent interpersonal and decision-making skills.
• Strong knowledge of Payroll compliance requirements.
• Thorough and meticulous with extreme attention to detail.
• Advanced experience using Microsoft Office packages.
• Ability to identify and resolve issues and identify process improvements.
• Excellent communication skills responding to queries from both internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience maintaining data with a high level of data accuracy.
• Experience working with payroll software packages.

Desirable:

• Previous experience in a SOX compliance environment.
• Experience working with Time & Attendance software packages.
• Project management experience in delivery of new system platforms, specifically SAP.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, HR, or related field; advanced degree or certifications (e.g., CPP, CIPP) preferred.

The company:

Pilgrim's Europe produces some of the best-known and most iconic brands in the UK and Ireland, including Fridge Raiders, Rollover, Denny, Richmond, Oakhouse and Moy Park, alongside a diverse range of industry-leading own-label products in categories including fresh pork, lamb and chicken, working with all the major retailers and food service outlets.

Our portfolio extends to authentic chilled and frozen ready meals, snacking ranges, added value and food service products. Across Pilgrim's Europe we combine 20,000 of the best people in the industry, united by a shared set of core values and a passion for producing the highest quality, most delicious and innovative food, which is enjoyed by millions of people in the UK, Ireland and Europe every day.

What we'll bring to the table:

• Competitive Salary
• Competitive Holiday Entitlement
• Pension Contribution
• Family Friendly Policies
• Learning and Development Opportunities
• Life Assurance

Our values:

• Determination
• Simplicity
• Availability
• Humility
• Discipline
• Sincerity
• Ownership