Senior Payroll Officer

Description

Description:   

• As a Senior Payroll Officer, you will be part of a specialist payroll team responsible for delivering a wide range of payroll services.
• You will ensure accurate and timely salary payments, resolve complex payroll queries, and assist with system developments and improvements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Working with the team to ensure all employees are paid accurately and on time, every time.
• Dealing with end-to end transactional payroll tasks, including managing absences, calculating gross to net payments, emergency payments and the occasional overpayment of salary.
• Manage monthly payroll processes, including BACS transmission, RTI submissions and finance costings production.
• Operate salary sacrifice schemes and resolve complex pay queries.
• Assist with year-end procedures and in year pay awards.
• Run payroll reports for accuracy checking, auditing and the provision of management information.
• Liaise with accountancy staff for reconciliation/payment queries.
• Provide professional guidance on HR pay and reward policies.

Service Development & Improvement:

• Review payroll procedures and recommend improvements.
• Assist with system development and upgrades.
• Keep up to date with HMRC regulations and participate in project work
• Have a sound understanding and knowledge of the council’s Pay, Reward and HR policies and processes and assess the impact of reward and benefits on employee engagement.

Experience:

• Significant experience with transactional payroll services and complex payroll queries, within a local government/public sector environment.
• Experience of Zellis, HCM Resourcelink payroll system, including experience of RRS and Power BI.
• Excellent IT skills, utilising all Microsoft office applications.
• Knowledge and experience of public sector pension schemes and regulations, including the LGPS, Teachers and NHS pension schemes.

Qualifications:

• CIPP qualification, evidence of CPD.

JOB PURPOSE

• The Payroll Officer role is part of a small specialist payroll team that is responsible for providing a wide range of payroll expertise and ensuring that accurate salary payments are made on time and in accordance with the appropriate conditions of service and statutory regulations.
• The post holder is responsible for resolving more complex payroll related queries escalated from the HR support team, or from within the payroll specialist team, as well as assisting with system developments and improvements.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Operational Service Delivery

• Provide professional guidance and support in matters relating to HR pay and reward policies and procedures, ensuring statutory regulations, organisational rules and best practice are adhered to.
• Promote excellent customer service by effective handling of telephone enquiries, written responses, face-to-face discussion and when attending meetings.
• Complete all necessary tasks to the highest standard, completing documentation including model letters and forms, ensuring authorisation has been provided by the Payroll and Benefits Team Leader where applicable.
• Take responsibility to actively engage by using the case management system, taking ownership of cases with the required timescales by either resolving or escalating issues accordingly.
• Complete the running of an accurate monthly payroll for the Council, including the running of the BACS transmission, costing, running of payslips and any necessary tasks which complete the payroll process.
• Run standard payroll reports to enable accuracy checking and auditing of the monthly payroll and reviewing on a regular basis to ensure fit for purpose.
• Liaise with accountancy staff regarding any reconciliation / payment queries. These may include queries relating to payment of court orders, recovery of overpayments and costing queries.
• Produce management information by running appropriate Business Objects reports.
• Calculate and/or checking of emergency payments and overpayment calculations ensuring that these are submitted correctly allowing for efficient reconciliation.
• Operate all salary sacrifice schemes such as the childcare and cycle purchase scheme including payment of invoices.
• Assist with the resolution of more complex queries related to pay and grading as escalated from the HR Support team and the HR Payroll & Reward Team Leader.
• Undertake checking of the monthly payroll, to ensure accuracy of payments processed by the HR Support Team, and support smooth reconciliation within accountancy.
• Complete any statistical returns and statutory reports as and when required.
• Assist the Payroll and Reward Team Leader with undertaking all year end procedures, EYUs and resolve associated queries.
• Work with the HR Payroll and Reward Team Leader on implementing pay awards, increments and updating payroll related changes in conditions of service.
• Assist the HR Payroll and Reward Team Leader with Year-End processes.
• Be the first point of contact to resolve payroll queries from manager and employees across all services, escalating as appropriate.
• Assist with the interpretation and implementation of national and local conditions of service where applicable and ensure that the Council complies with any legislation changes.
• Assist with the operation of the National Fraud Initiative including checking relevant matches.
• Assist the HR Payroll & Reward Team leader with the communication and implementation of changes and developments relating to employee benefits.
• Checking of redundancy estimates and ensuring that redundancy and termination payments are calculated and paid within the Council and statutory timeframe.

Service Development & Improvement

• Assist the HR Payroll & Reward Team Leader in continually reviewing payroll procedures, making recommendations for improvement where applicable.
• Deliver payroll workshops to discuss and share ideas within the HR Team Leader to improve service provided.
• Assist the HR Payroll & Reward Team Leader in maintaining and developing payroll system infrastructure.
• Develop a sound working knowledge of the Council’s payroll system and assist with upgrades and implementation of new functionality enabling it to be used to its full potential.
• Keep up to date on all HMRC and associated bodies as well as liaising with the Council’s tax consultants where required, ensuring that recommendations for improvements are developed.
• Participate in any required project work.

Continued Professional Development

• Develop the post-holder so that they look for greater challenges and promote the profession with enthusiasm, making recommendations for change, and able to investigate issues that arise and more open ended problems.
• The post-holder should be able to provide training for more new starters on using the payroll system and providing an understanding of payroll processes and for existing employees when payroll system changes are implemented.
• Develop the post-holder so that they have the confidence to liaise with senior managers and attend meetings representing the HR Payroll function.
• Develop a working knowledge of the council's job evaluation schemes enabling the post-holder to assist with job evaluation tasks as required.
• Develop knowledge of Business objects, enabling the post-holder to build less complex reports as required by the wider HR team.
• Develop an understanding of the impact reward and benefits have on employee engagement and retention, assessing their effectiveness and making suggestions for improvements.