Payroll Advisor

Job: Interim Payroll Advisor

Location: Canterbury, Kent

Employment type: Fixed-Term Contract (6 months)

Salary: £35,000 – £40,000 FTE, dependent on experience

Hours: 32 hours per week (flexible arrangements over days/hours)

Are you an experienced Payroll professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can hit the ground running from day one? Do you have a strong technical payroll background and the confidence to manage end-to-end payroll operations independently, whilst delivering an outstanding service to staff?

Our client is looking to recruit an Interim Payroll Advisor on a 6-month fixed-term basis. This is a critical stabilising role as the organisation prepares for a future transition of its payroll function, and the successful candidate will play a key part in ensuring operations run smoothly, processes are streamlined, and everything is structured and ready for the road ahead.

The role will include:

• Taking full end-to-end operational responsibility for monthly payroll, including standard, variable, term-time and term-time-plus contractual frameworks
• Handling complex manual calculations including holiday pay, SSP, SMP, SPP.
• Acting as the first point of contact for staff with tax, payroll or benefits queries, delivering a high-quality and reassuring service
• Completing month-end and year-end close procedures including RTI submissions, P60 generation and P11D data compilation
• Collaborating closely with the Finance team on monthly payroll journals, ledger reconciliations and control account management
• Critically reviewing existing workflows and legacy spreadsheets to streamline processes and improve data integrity
• Creating and maintaining a comprehensive library of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to support future payroll centralisation
• Managing end-to-end administration of Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) and Support Staff Pension Scheme (TPT DC), including audit readiness

About you:

• CIPP Level 3 qualified or equivalent, AAT or accounting qualification advantageous
• Extensive UK in-house payroll experience with proven Teachers pension scheme knowledge, this is essential
• Advanced Excel skills including PivotTables, XLOOKUP and data auditing tools
• Highly adaptable, able to onboard quickly, master new systems and work independently from the outset
• Experience within Education would be a distinct advantage
• Familiarity with PASS and the Every platform is desirable but not essential
• Experience preparing a payroll function for centralisation or system migration would be a real bonus

If this Payroll Advisor role sounds like something you feel you could add value to, then forward your CV today to Cressida Courtney or follow the link and apply online.