Payroll Manager – St Albans

Payroll Manager, large team in busy department, St Albans, £Competitive/Negotiable salary

Exciting new opportunity for an experienced Payroll Manager to join the busy finance team of a successful and expanding Chartered Accountancy firm.

The Payroll Department provides payroll and pensions services to clients from various industry sectors, managing payrolls for approximately 275 clients, offering a number of pay frequencies covering 1– 900 employees. They also make payroll related payments on behalf of clients through the BACS Bureau or via a client account. The main duties for this position involve managing the day-to-day running of the Payroll Team, including line management, support, work allocation and review and feedback on work completed by team members. In addition, you will support the Payroll Director with marketing the services and be involved in networking opportunities. The successful candidate will be an experienced payroll professional, able to operate at a senior level within a payroll bureau environment and will be expected to provide supervision, motivation and support to the wider payroll team.

As the Payroll Manager, your line Management Responsibilities will include management of the Payroll Team, including staff scheduling, recruitment and development. Setting KPIs and tracking performance.

Payroll responsibilities will include:

• Advise clients on PAYE related matters including employment, pay issues and auto enrolment queries by phone, email and through client meetings, ensuring that payroll advice delivered is technically sound and relevant to client needs
• Monitoring deadlines and milestones for client payrolls allocated within the team, using payroll planning software/tools (eg. Bureau Management System/spreadsheets) to track progress
• Work closely with APM’s to identify opportunities to refine existing departmental procedures, including compliance procedures, to deliver a better quality service and/or develop the department
• Oversee the end of year Final Full payment submissions and the production of P60s
• Set and review productivity targets, discuss chargeability and review training needs with the use of ACT
• Keep up to date with all necessary legislation.

Key Skills Required:

• Significant previous experience operating at a senior level within a payroll bureau environment, with prior experience of managing and leading a team
• Can demonstrate a strong technical and commercial knowledge and understanding of payroll processes with an up-to-date knowledge of HMRC current payroll legislation, including (but not limited to) manual calculations, auto enrolment processes, knowledge of special rules surrounding Directors NIC and Alabaster rulings, payrolling benefits etc
• Ability to use payroll software, with prior experience using Iris payroll professional
• Flexible and adaptable approach to work, particularly during peak periods of work
• Ability to communicate information concisely and accurately
• Confident and personable communicator with colleagues, directors, partners and clients with the ability to quickly build and maintain rapport
• Ability to organise self and others, monitoring multiple deadlines and prioritising tasks to ensure completed accurately and on time
• Ability to use initiative and work autonomously, but also collaboratively supporting colleagues and sharing workloads as needed
• Good attention to detail and the ability to assess situations and problem solve, proactively managing client and team relationships
• An ability to think clearly and stay focussed under pressure, with an ability to manage stressful situations
• Ability to positively influence others and to act as a role model for less experienced team members
• Confident MS Outlook and Excel skills, for example using v-lookups and macros