Performance and Planning Lead (Permanent) in City of London

The Payroll Team Leader is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the payroll function, ensuring accurate and timely payment of employee salaries and compliance with relevant legislation and internal policies. This role supervises payroll staff, manages workload distribution, oversees escalated issues, and works closely with HR and Finance.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Lead, support, and supervise the payroll team to ensure timely and accurate processing of payroll for all employees.
• Manage team development, identifying and planning training requirements.
• Process payroll runs, ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory, and standards.
• Maintain awareness of current and future HMRC developments; keep up to date with changes that directly affect employees, related enhancements and changes within the payroll software, and other internal and external policy decisions that impact upon an individual’s pay and reward.
• Collaborate with colleagues to ensure all transactions throughout the employee lifecycle are processed accurately in the system and within published service standards and/or process deadlines.
• Ensure the timely and satisfactory resolution of payroll queries within the SLA to a high standard.
• Monitor and review payroll controls, identifying opportunities to improve payroll processes, systems, and team efficiency.
• Lead on testing and development for system updates, patches, and legislative changes.
• Train Payroll Advisors in all technical aspects of the system, including complex technical processes and investigative analysis to ensure accuracy of all payments.
• Create SOPs, updating and presenting changes to the team.
• Deputise for the Payroll Manager at meetings as requested and provide cover for other colleagues in busy periods or when staff are on annual or sick leave.
• Process and reconcile the payroll, submission of statutory reports, and pay over of any liabilities due to external bodies.
• Support the Payroll Manager on any compliance and governance requirements.
• Prepare reports and analysis related to payroll metrics, audit requirements, and management information.
• Support internal and external audits by providing relevant documentation and explanations.
• Ensure accurate and timely submission of statutory filings and payments (e.g., HMRC).
• Maintain regular 121’s with direct reports, coaching, training, and developing the team to be the best they can be.
• Develop effective, positive relationships with customers, departmental contacts, and Professional Services colleagues, to create a dependable working relationship and positively assist in meeting their business needs.
• Be responsible for 100% GDPR compliance within Payroll, reporting and potential breaches immediately to Payroll Manager for review.
• Carry out regular audits on payroll data and process to ensure compliance against HR and Payroll policy and process providing outcomes and recommendations to the Payroll Manager.

General:

• Fully participate and contribute to the wider PS Hub team, and departmental, policy, project and working groups.
• Be responsible for maintaining and updating your own continuous professional development.
• Follow and actively promote the HR Work Ethic Principles.
• Actively follow policies including Equal Opportunities policies and consider how to advance equality of opportunity and good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
• Maintain an awareness and observation of Fire and Health & Safety Regulations.
• Carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager or Head of Department/Division.
• This job description reflects the present requirements of the post, and as duties and responsibilities change/develop, the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.
• Follow and actively promote the Ways of Working.
• Takes responsibility to carry out duties in a way that embodies environmental and social sustainability values, actively supporting the Sustainability Strategy, policies and objectives within the remit of their role.
• Carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.
• This job description may be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.