Payroll & HR Officer

About The Role

Role: Payroll & HR Officer

Location: Hybrid, Barnsley, S75 1JN (min. 2 office days per week)

Salary: £35,000 per annum pro-rata DOE

Role Type: 16m FTC Maternity Cover, 30-37 hours per week or condensed hours (we're flexible! Specify on your application)

About the Role

At Ancala Water Services, we make sure over 1,000 MOD sites across England and Wales have first class water services, which is no small feat! To keep our services running smoothly, we're now seeking to appoint a Payroll & HR Officer within the small but mighty HR team. You'll not only be a dab hand at all things payroll but also own core HR workstreams such as probation periods, occupational health referrals and being the first point of contact for general enquiries.

Are you passionate, professional and precise when it comes to payroll? Keen to develop your HR generalist skills? Always on the lookout for ways to delight your customers? And do your data skills put others to shame? If you're looking for your next payroll position, why not start with us? We're looking for someone who:

• Has solid end to end payroll experience
• Thrives in a methodical stand alone role
• Communicates clearly and confidently
• Loves being part of a collaborative and supportive HR super squad

About You

Our ideal candidate will be a CIPP Level 3 Advanced Payroll Technician Certificate qualified individual with the experience and skill to take ownership of our payroll function for around 150 employees. This is an autonomous role working with an external payroll agency, perfect for someone who thrives in an employee first, inclusive environment. We're an SME with a big heart, so our payroll isn't just about numbers-it's about making sure every employee feels valued, respected and looked after. You'll work closely with our payroll partner, Moorepay, to ensure everything runs smoothly, accurately and on time.

Confident, experienced and driven about making a real difference in a workplace that genuinely cares? We'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

• Accurately processing payroll, salaries, deductions and benefits
• Maintaining up to date and accurate employee records across multiple platforms, generating reports as required
• Providing day to day, wide ranging HR generalist support and guidance service and managing the busy HR inbox
• Liaising with external partners (Moorepay, HMRC, Medigold) and senior internal stakeholders
• Supporting the wider HR Team where required

What You'll Bring

• Experience administering monthly payroll function either in house or via a third party provider (essential)
• CIPP Level 3 Advanced Payroll Technician Certificate or equivalent, demonstrable experience
• Proven experience within a generalist HR role is desirable OR effective, seasoned administration experience with a keen willingness to be shown the HR ropes!
• Intermediate Advanced MS Office skills (Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint) and ability to learn new systems (MoorePay)
• Sound communication skills, both written and verbal, to enable production of legal, employment and payroll documentation
• Meticulously methodical with acute attention to detail is vital
• Confidence and ability to communicate via written and spoken methods to employees at all levels

Why Choose AWS?

• 25 days leave per annum PLUS bank holidays AND birthday day off
• 2 x volunteering days every year
• Buy/sell leave
• Westfield healthcare plan for you and your dependents
• Generous pension scheme
• Flexible working hours
• 4 x life assurance
• Critical illness cover
• Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits
• Discount portal and lots, lots more!

Who Can Apply

Given the nature of our work, we do have security clearance requirements, so you must be prepared to undergo full residential and government checks for the past three years.

If this sounds like your kind of role, we'd love to hear from you. Join our team and help us make a difference.

You can reach out to us at