Team Lead; Payroll

Permanent Team Lead (Payroll) Belfast BT4 Key Activities Post holders will be required to:
Pension Payroll Service Delivery

• Assist the Payroll Manager in ensuring that our client in terms of pension payroll administration, complies with the Local Government Pension Scheme regulations, other relevant statute and good practice.
• Supervise and co‑ordinate the complete monthly and annual pension payroll cycles (totalling £26m gross per month, 50,000 Scheme pensioners), ensuring that payments are made promptly and accurately and that all appropriate deductions and remittances are made to third parties.
• Proactively manage the work of the team; including the allocation and prioritisation of work and monitoring its quality and accuracy to ensure internal and external performance standards are achieved and facilitate the timely and accurate payment to all pensioners each month.
• Set attainable team/individual targets and monitor progress and achievement.
• Liaise, communicate and build relationships with other internal departments to ensure resources are shared effectively and a quality service achieved and maintained.
• Take responsibility for complex or ambiguous enquiries/calculations, including the recovery of debts involving court cases, re‑employments, over payments and reassessing children’s benefits.
• Implement the annual Pensions Increase and year‑end processes in the absence of the Payroll Manager.
• Ensure timely transmission of Real Time Information (RTI) to HMRC in line with regulations.
• Ensure the accurate calculation, validation, implementation and checking of benefits (e.g. survivor benefits, death benefits/grants, re‑employments etc.) and the undertaking of tasks necessary to pay all pensioners their monthly entitlement.
• Ensure accurate and complete Scheme member records are held and maintained in accordance with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) record keeping guidelines.
• Identification and escalation (as appropriate) of any issues which affect output, calculations, processes and service delivery.
• The provision of information and training to pensioners at external seminars, conferences or meetings. This may involve travel throughout NI.
• Communicate with pensioners, including contributing to and drafting articles for the annual Pensioners’ Newsletter.

• Lead, motivate, support and manage the work of the team.
• Develop and deliver comprehensive training for new/existing pensions payroll staff supported by a training manual (to encompass classroom based initial training, shadowing and on‑job training) and ensure that staff are enabled to reach the standards of competence required in accordance with current/new procedures and legislation.
• Identify areas for new training and work and collaborate with the Training and Development Officer to ensure training plans have been reviewed and completed.
• Lead regular team meetings in order to keep staff updated, acknowledge achievements and encourage effective team work to improve efficiency and effectiveness (e.g. improvements to working practices; streamlining processes and procedures) and achieve internal and external performance standards.
• Coordinate and approve leave requests and ensure sufficient staffing levels are maintained.
• Recording and reporting of staff absences, conducting timely return to work discussions and escalating any issues.
• Identify and resolve (as early and as far as possible) any staff performance, capability or grievance issues, in line with company policy.
• Carry out the full range of performance reviews (i.e. probationary reviews for all new staff and staff appraisals), in line with company policies and procedures.
• Assist the Payroll Manager to review processes and procedures to ensure a high level of stakeholder satisfaction.
• Provide technical assistance and guidance to staff on complex pension and ambiguous pension related queries.

In order to meet the full requirements of the post, applicants must hold the qualifications specified; have experience in and/or be able to demonstrate competence in the following areas:

• Five GCSEs at grade C or above including English Language and Mathematics (or…