Job type
PermanentLocation
LondonWorking Pattern
Full-timeSpecialism
PayrollIndustry
Education & TrainingPay
£44-50k per annum depending on experienceClosing date
30 Jun 2026
Payroll Team Lead
12-14 month FTC position
Central London
Hybrid Working
Our client is seeking an experienced Payroll Team Leader to join their busy team on a 12-14 month FTC basis
Duties include;
Central London
Hybrid Working
Our client is seeking an experienced Payroll Team Leader to join their busy team on a 12-14 month FTC basis
Duties include;
- Lead, motivate, and manage a payroll team to ensure high performance and engagement
- Set clear objectives, priorities, and performance expectations for team members
- Conduct regular 1:1 meetings, team meetings, and performance reviews
- Provide coaching, mentoring, and development opportunities for team members
- Foster a positive, collaborative, and accountable team culture
- Allocate workloads effectively across the team based on skills and capacity
- Monitor productivity and adjust resource allocation to meet deadlines
- Manage team schedules, holidays, and cover to ensure continuous payroll operations
- Track individual and team performance against KPIs and service levels
- Address underperformance through structured improvement plans
- Ensure consistent adherence to company policies and standards
- Identify training needs and design development plans for team members
- Deliver or coordinate payroll-related and soft skills training
- Support onboarding and induction of new payroll staff
- Encourage continuous learning and cross-training within the team
- Act as the primary escalation point for payroll team queries
- Assist with manual calculations and training on payroll legislation
- Build strong relationships with HR, Finance, and external stakeholders
- Communicate effectively with senior managers on payroll team performance and issues
- Lead and implement process changes or system improvements within the team
- Drive standardisation and best practices across payroll operations
- Support the team through organisational or system changes
- Ensure team adherence to payroll processes, policies, and compliance requirements
- Oversee audit readiness and support the team during audits
- Act as escalation point for complex payroll or team-related issues
- Make informed decisions to resolve operational or people challenges
- Maintain calm and effective leadership in high-pressure payroll cycles
- Report on team performance, service levels, and key metrics
- Communicate changes, priorities, and expectations clearly to the team
- Encourage innovation, feedback, and proactive problem-solving
- Promote collaboration and knowledge sharing within the team
- Lead by example in professionalism and values
- Strong leadership & team motivation – inspires, guides, and builds a high-performing, engaged team
- Effective communication – clearly conveys information and manages relationships with team and stakeholders
- People management & coaching – develops team members, handles performance, and supports growth
- Organisation & decision-making – prioritises workloads, delegates effectively, and resolves issues confidently
- Resilience & attention to detail – maintains accuracy and stays calm under pressure, especially during payroll cycles
- Ability to complete manual calculations and strong payroll knowledge