Payroll Manager

We're looking for a Payroll Manager to lead our multi-jurisdictional payroll function and ensure every colleague across the firm is paid accurately and on time, every month.

The role

As a Payroll Manager, you'll sit within our Finance function at our Nottingham office, taking ownership of a payroll function that has grown significantly in scale and complexity — spanning four separate monthly payrolls across England and Wales, Dublin (Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands. You'll lead a small, experienced team — including one direct report, a Payroll Specialist — and work in close partnership with our People Services and Benefits teams.

This is a succession appointment, meaning the incoming Payroll Manager will benefit from an extended, structured handover period with the outgoing postholder — providing an exceptional opportunity to build deep institutional knowledge before assuming full responsibility for the function.

What you'll be doing

• Managing all four monthly payrolls — across England and Wales, Dublin, Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands — ensuring colleagues are paid correctly and on time, and that all relevant revenue authority payments are made within regulatory deadlines across all jurisdictions.
• Leading payroll change projects — including an active and time-critical migration of the Northern Ireland payroll from SAGE to PeopleXD, and actively managing the Dublin bureau relationship, with the possibility of bringing that payroll in-house within the next twelve months.
• Acting as the firm's subject matter expert on payroll matters across all jurisdictions, advising stakeholders at all levels and managing relationships with internal functions including People Services and Benefits, as well as external bureau partners and revenue authorities.

What we're looking for

• An experienced payroll manager who combines a hands-on approach with strategic oversight, holds a relevant payroll qualification (such as CIPP), and has proven experience managing multi-jurisdictional payrolls — including bureau relationships that require active, careful management rather than simple oversight.
• Someone comfortable managing complexity — four concurrent monthly payrolls across different legislative frameworks, using a combination of PeopleXD, a legacy SAGE environment in active migration, and external bureau arrangements — with meticulous attention to detail and a full awareness of the financial and reputational impact that payroll errors carry.
• A confident communicator with a collaborative and relationship-driven approach, able to translate complex, multi-jurisdictional payroll matters into clear and accessible language for non-payroll stakeholders, and to work constructively with colleagues and external partners alike.

Why Join Us?

We offer a flexible and hybrid working model. Our comprehensive benefits package includes private medical insurance, pension contributions, an employee assistance programme, and a range of wellbeing initiatives. Enhanced parental leave is also available, reflecting our commitment to supporting you through every stage of your career and life.

Many of our people work flexibly in some way and we're open to considering how we can accommodate flexible working arrangements alongside role requirements. If this is important to you, please talk to us about it during the recruitment process.

We celebrate diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social economic background or age.

We're a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

Take a look at our candidate interview pack for information about reasonable adjustments, what you can expect during the interview process, and guidance to help you prepare.

Please review the full job description and if the role is of interest and suits your specific skill set, please apply. Or for more information, please contact recruitment@brownejacobson.com.

Note to recruitment agencies: We request that recruitment agencies refrain from submitting CVs unless specifically instructed to do so by the recruitment team. Please be aware that any speculative CVs sent by agencies without direct invitation from the recruitment team will not be recognised as represented by the agency and will be considered a gift.