Payroll Manager – 3‑6 Month Interim (Hybrid)

About the role

We are supporting a well‑established property business in Guildford and need an experienced Payroll Manager on a 3‑6 month interim contract (with a view to permanent). The role is hybrid, requiring three days on‑site each week, and involves leading the end‑to‑end payroll for a multi‑entity workforce of over 1,000 employees.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the monthly payroll cycle for more than 1,000 staff across several legal entities.
• Review and validate payroll inputs such as salary changes, overtime, bonuses, expenses, benefits, pensions and statutory deductions.
• Ensure payroll is processed accurately in line with HMRC legislation, pension regulations and internal controls.
• Reconcile payroll journals, control accounts, pensions and statutory payments before month‑end reporting.
• Support Finance with payroll journals, reconciliations and month‑end accounting requirements.
• Investigate and resolve payroll queries, discrepancies and complex employee issues promptly.
• Review and approve employee expenses in accordance with company policy.
• Drive payroll‑related process improvement initiatives, including system enhancements and automation.
• Coach and support a Payroll & Benefits Administrator, providing guidance and workload management.
• Maintain strong relationships with HR, Finance and external payroll providers to ensure compliance.

Required profile

• Proven experience leading end‑to‑end payroll in a medium to large UK organisation.
• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, pensions, tax and statutory compliance.
• Excellent Excel skills, including handling large data sets, Pivot Tables and VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP.
• Ability to work collaboratively with Finance, HR and external providers.
• Experience coaching junior payroll staff and managing workload.

Required skills

• Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP)
• UK payroll legislation and HMRC compliance
• Pension and statutory deduction processing