Payroll Officer

Payroll Officer

A local authority is looking for an experienced Payroll Officer to join their team and support the delivery of an accurate, efficient and compliant payroll service.

You will be responsible for processing payroll, dealing with payroll queries and providing advice to employees, managers, schools and external organisations. The role requires someone with strong payroll knowledge who can confidently handle complex queries and ensure payments are made accurately and on time.

Please note: The role requires 2-3 days per week in the office, with 3 days per week expected during the first few weeks.

Key Responsibilities

• Process payroll in line with legislation, policies and procedures.
• Calculate and process statutory and contractual sick pay, maternity and parental pay.
• Process starters, leavers, increments, pay awards, PILON and manual payments.
• Apply relevant terms and conditions for teaching and non-teaching staff.
• Provide advice on PAYE, National Insurance, SSP, statutory payments, student loans and other payroll matters.
• Process pension-related employer functions, including LGPS, Teachers'' Pension and auto-enrolment.
• Respond to and resolve payroll service desk queries within agreed timescales.
• Check payroll data and the work of colleagues to ensure accurate and timely salary payments.
• Identify discrepancies and potential payroll errors to minimise the risk of overpayments.
• Produce and issue payslips, P45s, P60s and other payroll documentation.
• Complete relevant statutory and payroll returns.
• Liaise with employees, managers, schools, external bodies and other organisations regarding payroll matters.
• Handle complex payroll queries professionally and provide clear, accurate advice.
• Support payroll reporting and provide information for management, finance and audit purposes.

About You

The successful candidate will have:

• Previous payroll experience - essential.
• Good knowledge of UK payroll legislation and statutory payments.
• Experience processing areas such as SSP, maternity pay, PAYE, NI, pensions and student loans.
• Experience dealing with payroll queries and providing advice to employees and managers.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to identify and resolve payroll discrepancies.
• Experience with payroll/HR systems and processing variable payroll data.
• Good communication and organisational skills.
• The ability to work accurately to deadlines in a busy payroll environment.
• Local authority payroll experience would be advantageous, particularly knowledge of NJC and Teachers'' terms and conditions.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced Payroll Officer to join a busy local authority payroll team and play a key role in delivering an accurate and reliable payroll service.