Payroll Officer in Chester

Science Group plc is an international science and technology consultancy and systems organisation operating at the cutting edge of science and technology innovation. The core business is an international science and technology consultancy providing technical/scientific advisory, product development and regulatory services to the Industrial, Defence & Aerospace, Medical and Consumer (including Food & Beverage) sectors. The Group also has two systems businesses, both of which have leading positions in their niche Defence and Consumer Electronics markets. The Groups operating businesses are supported by corporate and shared services infrastructure and underpinned by a robust balance sheet including significant cash resources and freehold property assets, including two state-of-the-art development centres in Cambridge and Epsom. The Group has a multinational workforce of approximately 550 scientists, engineers and regulatory advisors in the UK (70%), North America, Europe and Asia.

We are looking for an In-House Payroll Officer. There are 500 employees across the Group. Most of these are UK-based, although there will be input and oversight required of EU and US payrolls. The successful candidate will have complete ownership of the payroll process and will liaise with Finance and HR when required. We require someone to work between HR and Finance and to own the completion of payroll, ensuring it is completed on time and accurately. The role will be based at our Harston or Epsom office.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and be accountable for the accurate and timely delivery of the monthly UK payroll managing the relationship with our external payroll provider;
• Collecting and summarising inputs which is then passed to the external payroll provider;
• Receiving the reports back and collating into various review spreadsheets through pivot tables;
• Comparing and reviewing the data to previous months, identifying and resolving any discrepancies;
• Leading a payroll review meeting with Senior Finance Managers and HR to run through payroll changes;
• Liaising directly with employees on various payroll questions;
• Maintaining payroll operations by following policies and procedures;
• Being proactive and transparent by raising errors to the correct individuals and driving the solutions;
• Managing other payroll providers in EU (Germany, Spain & Republic of Ireland) and the US;
• Responding to employee payroll queries and escalating to HR when necessary;
• Managing and completing adhoc payroll processes (such as out of payroll payments);
• Developing ad hoc financial and operational reporting as needed;
• Assisting the wider Finance team outside of peak payroll activity.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Must have great attention to detail, a solid grasp of mathematics, alongside excellent organisational and communication skills;
• A high degree of professionalism and discretion as will be handling sensitive information;
• Capable of working effectively and efficiently under pressure in a fast-moving environment, being resilient and proactive;
• Open to identifying process improvements by being solution orientated.

Experience & Qualifications

• 3 Years UK payroll experience with 150+ employees;
• Demonstrates previous experience processing high volume monthly payroll;
• Good understanding of the UK PAYE legislation and how to calculate deductions such as overpayments, maternity, sickness payments, tax and NI;
• Experience using various calculation methods needed within payroll (i.e. pro-rating holiday, pro-rating salaries, sick pay, pensions and bonuses);
• An analytical approach to resolving problems and finding effective solutions;
• Advanced skills with Microsoft Excel (including pivot tables).

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package.