Payroll Officer

Overview

Are you an experienced payroll professional looking for a fast paced, high volume role where technical accuracy and compliance really matter? This is an opportunity for a Payroll Officer (High Volume / Transactional) to join a large, highly complex organisation within the education sector, operating a nationally significant payroll function. As a Payroll Officer, you will be part of a centralised payroll team supporting a very high volume workforce, ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely processing of all pay related transactions. This Payroll Officer role sits within a fast paced, detail driven environment where precision, compliance, and strong technical payroll knowledge are essential. The Payroll Officer will be supporting a payroll service responsible for processing over 15,000 employees and approximately 7,000 contractors each month, making this a truly high volume, transactional payroll environment where strong legislative understanding and attention to detail are critical.

Responsibilities

• Processing high volume payroll transactions across a workforce of over 15,000 employees and approximately 7,000 contractors
• Supporting end to end payroll processing including starters, leavers, contract changes, and pay adjustments
• Ensuring accurate setup of payroll records for all employee types including salaried staff, casual workers, and contractors
• Managing complex payroll activity including absence related pay (sickness, maternity, paternity, adoption, sabbaticals, and career breaks)
• Calculating and processing statutory payments including PAYE, National Insurance, SSP, SMP, and other legislative requirements
• Acting as a first point of contact for payroll queries from employees and managers, providing accurate and timely responses
• Investigating and resolving payroll discrepancies, escalating complex issues where required
• Ensuring all payroll activity is fully compliant with current tax legislation and organisational procedures
• Working collaboratively within a large payroll team to meet strict deadlines and maintain accuracy under pressure
• Using payroll systems (experience with ResourceLink is highly beneficial but not essential)

Qualifications

• Strong payroll experience in a high volume, transactional payroll environment
• Solid technical knowledge of payroll legislation including PAYE, NI, SSP, SMP and wider tax compliance requirements
• Experience processing end to end payroll including starters, leavers, and contract changes
• Confidence working with large datasets and high volume payroll cycles
• Ability to work accurately to tight deadlines in a fast paced environment
• Strong communication skills with the ability to handle payroll queries professionally
• Experience using payroll systems (experience with ResourceLink would be highly advantageous)

Similar roles could include: Payroll Administrator, Payroll Clerk, Payroll Technician, Payroll Operations Officer, Payroll Assistant (Transactional).

Benefits

• Immediate start available
• 4 week temporary assignment
• 35 hours per week
• Hourly rate: £15.19ph - £16.93ph (depending on experience)
• Weekly pay
• Paid annual leave (accrued)
• Hybrid working available following initial training period
• Opportunity to work within a large-scale, high volume payroll operation
• Exposure to complex, compliance driven transactional payroll processing in a structured team environment

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