Payroll Technical Lead

Job Title: Payroll Technical Lead

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: £38,874 (£42,802 is achieved after 18 months successful performance in the role)

Working Hours: Full Time – 35 Hours

Working Pattern: Monday to Friday

Location: Liverpool / Hybrid

If you share our values and are excited about making a significant impact at Riverside, please ensure you attach a current CV and covering letter. At Riverside we recruit to potential not just on skills and experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the essential criteria on the job description.

The difference you will make as a Payroll Technical Lead

Deliver a customer focussed Pay & Reconciliation service to the Group ensuring adherence to all regulatory and statutory requirements. As the technical Advice Lead you will be the key escalation point for the Pay & Benefits Reconciliation Analysts and will lead on a variety of projects, including systems, delivering a range of technical and analytical activities in line with the Pay and Benefits frameworks, ensuring quality and accuracy, advising, and reporting on legislation and always maintaining compliance.

About you

We are looking for someone who is CIPP or AAT qualified, or in final year or equivalent of Level 4/5 CIPPs Degree. Someone with a proven track record of delivering payroll, pensions and benefit services within a large, complex organisation and must have excellent attention to detail with the ability to work under pressure delivering to strict deadlines and manage conflicting priorities.

Why Riverside?

At Riverside, we’re a housing association with a difference – enhancing the everyday for all our customers. For 90 years, we’ve been revitalising neighbourhoods and supporting communities by providing the homes they need to live full, fulfilling and rewarding lives. We have a portfolio of over 75,000 affordable residential and retirement homes across the UK. Our work ranges from homelessness services to social care, employment support to retirement living, and we need the best people on board to help us.

Working with us, you’ll enjoy:

• Competitive pay & generous pension
• 28 days holidays plus bank holidays
• Flexible working options available
• Investment in your learning, personal development and technology
• A wide range of benefits

Diversity and Inclusion at Riverside:

We are inclusive. At Riverside, we value diversity in all its forms. We foster a workplace where all individuals are respected, empowered, and heard. Our commitment to inclusivity drives our success and enriches the lives of our customers and colleagues. This role also falls under our Ethnic Diversity guaranteed interview scheme. If you are Ethnically Diverse and demonstrate you meet the minimum criteria for the role you will be guaranteed an interview. Riverside is a Disability Confident Employer and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for any applicant who declares they have a disability. If the applicant meets the minimum requirements for the role (as set out in the role profile and/or person specification) they will be guaranteed an interview.

Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment.

Role Profile

• Technical lead for the Pay & Reconciliation Advisors, ensuring knowledge and coaching is undertaken increasing wider-teams knowledge in line with policy, industry, legislative and regulatory profile.
• Provide specialist technical expertise throughout the payroll & benefits lifecycle, liaising with third parties (HMRC & Regulators) regarding submissions, payments, deductions, tax treatment and statutory charge.
• Manage day to day & cyclical payroll activity of the payroll analysts, including the payroll helpdesk responding flexibly to any necessary changes in work priorities and undertake other duties when required to support the effective operation of the service.
• Validate the monthly analysis and reconciliation of pay, benefits and control accounts, ensuring accuracy and completeness in line with required standards and timescales.
• Validate out pension activities for contractual and auto-enrolment services across the Group pensions schemes, maintaining accuracy and compliance with regulations at all times.
• Perform accurate data calculations and analysis of payrolls for the Group and its subsidiaries, including statutory and occupational payments, deductions and reconciliation of movements and validation of variances.
• Complete and validate regulatory returns and reporting including processing monthly and annual payments and benefits within timescales and quality standards e.g. P11d, P60s, PSA, FPS, Pensions returns & P45's.
• Manage accounting activities, working closely with finance, to ensure costings, GLI accounts and under & over payments balance reducing any risk to reporting and levy’s to the organisation.
• Lead payroll project management activities, including regular systems upgrades, providing comprehensive end to end testing where appropriate.
• Provide payroll technical advice and expertise to colleagues across the Group, dealing with complaints and complex queries through to effective resolution, suggesting and implementing continuous improvement activity to prevent any reoccurrences of omissions and processing.
• Work closely with third party suppliers ensuring end to end processes, including governance and controls, are delivering a seamless and compliant service to colleagues.
• Analysis and production of periodic and ad-hoc management information, communicating and presenting findings, often complex and statistical in nature in a simple and user- friendly way.
• Lead or contribute to continuous improvement initiatives and change projects to enhance service performance and customer satisfaction, ensuring your deliverables meet service delivery plans.
• Increase self service capability through the provision of regular coaching and guidance of policies, processes and systems.
• Maintain all payroll collateral, including procedure and toolkits, ensuring relevance and alignment to the overall People Strategy, compliance frameworks and business needs.
• Accurately record all calls and queries to enable on-going management, reporting and tracking of queries, including the scanning of documents to employee records.
• Monitor and maintain the integrity and quality of data input, call recording, case management and storage of documents, resolving and communicating any data quality improvements to achieve compliance standards.
• Plan and prioritise work, check own work and that of others as required for completeness and accuracy.
• Provide accurate and timely payroll data to key stakeholders as required for review at regular performance meetings and to input into decision making as required.
• Maintain industry knowledge, keeping abreast of payroll developments and opportunities including pay & benefits tax changes, to contribute to the planning process and future decision making.
• Manage internal and external stakeholders effectively, building constructive working relationships to effectively deliver the Group’s People Strategy.
• Ensure that all information security requirements, including data protection, are met in accordance with the Group’s policy, procedures and statutory requirements.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

• CIPP or AAT qualified, or in final year or equivalent of Level 4/5 CIP's
• Proven track record of delivering payroll, pensions and benefit services within a large, complex organisation.
• Excellent attention to detail with the ability to work under pressure delivering to strict deadlines and manage conflicting priorities.
• Results driven with strong analytical skills, including the ability to critically analyse complex information, and experience of providing meaningful management information and insights.
• CIPP qualified, or equivalent, or willingness to work towards.
• Comprehensive up to date knowledge of HR Policy, payroll and benefits legislation, regulations and standards.
• Strong numeracy skills with experience of accurately calculating pay, contributions, deduction, overtime, bonuses and allowances.
• Understanding of the principles of data integrity and data quality.
• Customer focused with excellent communication skills both written and verbal with the confidence to interact with employees at all levels
• Ability to show initiative and propose solutions to issues identified.
• Commercially aware and results focused with the ability to take ownership of tasks.
• Excellent team player who can work flexibly to meet business requirements.
• Experience of successfully working with payroll/pension related systems together with strong MS Office skills.