Payroll Manager

Trafford Leisure has an exciting opportunity for a Payroll Manager to join the team. Salary: £42,000 – £48,000 FTE per annum (depending on experience).

About Us

Through our customer-facing move brand and Trafford Leisure brand, we deliver inclusive leisure centres, community programmes, health and wellbeing initiatives, and strategic partnerships. Movement is central to everything we do because we believe it is a catalyst for better health, stronger communities and positive life outcomes. We are an ambitious organisation with a clear social purpose, committed to inclusion, innovation and collaboration for the benefit of our Trafford community.

The Role

We’re looking for an experienced Payroll Manager to lead and shape the payroll function at Trafford Leisure. This is more than a payroll processing role. As our payroll subject matter expert, you’ll take ownership of the entire payroll operation, ensuring our people are paid accurately, compliantly and on time, while driving continuous improvement across systems, processes and controls. You will oversee payroll for 300+ employees across multiple leisure and community sites. Working closely with People, Finance, managers and external providers, you’ll play a key role in strengthening payroll governance, improving workforce data and providing valuable insight to support business planning and decision-making. You’ll also lead on key activities including year-end processing, statutory reporting, Gender Pay Gap reporting and payroll compliance. With opportunities to influence processes, improve systems and support organisational change, this is an exciting role for a payroll professional who enjoys combining technical expertise with a proactive, solutions-focused approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Take ownership of Trafford Leisure’s end-to-end payroll function, ensuring an accurate, compliant and customer-focused service.
• Be the organisation’s payroll expert, providing trusted advice and guidance to managers and colleagues.
• Lead payroll reporting, workforce insight and analysis to support strategic and financial decision-making.
• Drive continuous improvement across payroll systems, processes and controls, maximising efficiency and accuracy.
• Lead year-end payroll activities and statutory reporting requirements, ensuring full compliance with legislation.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, payroll providers and external partners.
• Ensure effective governance, audit readiness and the secure handling of confidential employee data.
• Support organisational projects, workforce planning and reward initiatives through payroll expertise and insight.

About You

You’ll be an experienced payroll professional who combines technical expertise with a commercial mindset and a passion for getting things right. You’ll enjoy taking ownership, solving problems and building strong working relationships across an organisation. Equally comfortable managing detail and seeing the bigger picture, you’ll be able to use payroll data to provide meaningful insight that supports business decisions.

You’ll bring:

• Significant experience managing end-to-end payroll operations.
• Experience within a multi-site, operational or shift-based environment.
• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, HMRC requirements and statutory reporting.
• Experience managing audits, reconciliations, pensions administration and year-end processes.
• Experience using payroll, HR and workforce management systems (Humanforce, iTrent or similar).
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to turn data into meaningful business insight.
• Advanced Excel skills and confidence producing reports and workforce information.
• A high level of accuracy, attention to detail and professional integrity.
• The confidence to build relationships, influence stakeholders and positively challenge where required.
• A discreet and trustworthy approach when handling confidential information.

A progressive, structured and supportive environment in which to work, with flexibility and hybrid working where business needs allow. 32 days’ holiday, rising incrementally to 39 days after 5 years’ service (including 8 bank holidays and 2 Trafford Leisure days). Health and Ride 2 Work schemes. Complimentary Fitness Membership for you saving you up to £450 a year. Heavily discounted Fitness Membership for up to 5 of your Family and Friends saving each person up to £300 a year. 24/7 access to a GP. Employee health scheme including Confidential Counselling. Employee Assistance Programme, allowing employees to claim back up to £1,150 per year in healthcare costs. Access to a Perks at Work scheme for discounts. Access to Manchester Credit Union for savings and loans.

How to Apply

To apply, please complete our application form. If you encounter any difficulties or require adjustments during the recruitment process, please email your CV to supportservices@traffordleisure.co.uk. Closing date: Friday 7th August 2026 (We may close early if we receive a high volume of applications.) We do not accept speculative CVs from agencies. At Trafford Leisure, we are committed to equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are dedicated to providing a fair and inclusive recruitment process. We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.