Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Part Time Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Part Time: Open to candidates looking for 3 or 4 days per week (circa 0.6-0.8 FTE)
Working Pattern: Hybrid working
Length of Contract: 9-month fixed-term contract
Salary: £55,000-£65,000 FTE, with the actual salary paid on a pro rata basis according to the number of days worked.
Location: London (EC3)

Oakleaf Partnership are working with a leading London-based financial services firm to recruit a Payroll & Benefits Specialist on a 9-month fixed-term contract. This is an exciting opportunity to take ownership of payroll and benefits operations within a collaborative HR team, supporting a growing and fast-paced financial services environment.

What is the role?

Sitting within the wider HR team, this role will provide dedicated payroll and benefits expertise across the organisation. Working closely with HR, Finance, external vendors and internal stakeholders, you will play a key role in ensuring payroll accuracy, improving processes and delivering a high-quality employee experience.

The role has a strong payroll focus, with responsibility for reviewing payroll data quality, managing interfaces and ensuring information flows accurately between systems. You will act as a key point of contact for payroll changes, identifying discrepancies, investigating issues and supporting continuous improvement.

Alongside payroll, you will manage benefits administration, including ownership of the flexible benefits platform, vendor relationships and ongoing benefits projects.

This role would suit someone who enjoys being hands on, understands the detail behind payroll processing, and is passionate about improving controls, processes and technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the review and quality checking of monthly payroll processes across multiple UK payrolls
• Validate payroll data, investigate discrepancies and ensure accurate system interfaces between Workday, ADP and payroll processes
• Manage payroll changes and ensure accurate data flow through payroll systems
• Work closely with HR, Finance and external payroll providers to resolve queries and improve processes

• Manage the flexible benefits platform, including employee changes, annual enrolment and benefits administration
• Build strong relationships with benefit providers and support vendor management activities
• Support pension and benefits reporting, reconciliations and audits
• Provide payroll and benefits guidance to employees and stakeholders
• Support projects linked to payroll transformation, system improvements and process optimisation
• Assist with occasional global mobility activity, including payroll inputs relating to international assignments and working with external tax advisors

Skills & Experience

The successful candidate will have:

• Strong in house payroll experience with a detailed understanding of payroll processes and controls
• Experience reviewing payroll data, identifying errors and ensuring accuracy before payroll completion
• Knowledge of payroll interfaces, integrations or system driven payroll processes
• Experience working with payroll systems such as ADP (or similar)
• Experience using Workday reporting would be advantageous
• Strong benefits knowledge, including flexible benefits platforms
• Experience managing relationships with payroll and benefits vendors
• Strong Excel skills and confidence working with payroll reports and data analysis
• A proactive, solutions focused approach with excellent attention to detail
• The ability to work independently while collaborating closely with HR and wider business teams

Why work here?

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a highly collaborative HR team within a successful financial services organisation. The role offers genuine ownership and the opportunity to make a visible impact by improving payroll controls, enhancing benefits delivery and supporting ongoing HR transformation.

The business is also exploring how technology and AI can support payroll efficiency and data quality, making this an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys innovation, process improvement and finding smarter ways of working.