Pensions and Payroll Lead

Contract - Permanent - Full time (we welcome flexible working patterns including compressed hours and job share)

Location - Successful candidates may be based in any of our office locations – Cardiff, Glasgow, or London. We especially welcome applicants from Cardiff and Glasgow.

The Payroll & Pensions Lead is a hands‑on operational leader responsible for ensuring the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of Ofgem’s payroll and pensions services. This role requires someone who can confidently lead and motivate a large team through high‑pressure cycles and complex workloads, providing clear guidance, empathetic support and decisive oversight to maintain high performance standards. They will act as the senior escalation point for sensitive and challenging payroll issues, communicating clearly and professionally with distressed employees, senior leaders and external partners.

A strong and influential communicator, they will build effective relationships across HR, Finance, Digital, HMRC and pension providers while steering the team through significant change, including the transition to the new CSR system. With deep expertise in payroll and pensions operations and a commitment to accuracy, governance and continuous improvement, the successful candidate will combine strategic oversight with a proactive, hands‑on approach to service delivery.

Leadership

• Lead, develop and motivate the payroll and pensions team, ensuring clear priorities, fair workload distribution, strong performance standards and effective wellbeing support.
• Build a culture of accountability, service excellence and continuous improvement.

Operational Oversight

• Oversee day‑to‑day payroll and pensions operations, ensuring accuracy, compliance and efficient processing across all activities.
• Provide guidance and expert decision‑making during peak periods and operational pressure points.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders including HMRC, pension providers, finance teams and senior leaders.
• Champion the secure handling, storage and transfer of sensitive payroll and personal data.

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management

• Act as the final escalation point for complex or sensitive payroll and pension cases, managing issues with professionalism and empathy.
• Work closely with HR Business Partners, Service Enablement Hubs and business leaders to ensure integrated service delivery.
• Collaborate with Finance and Digital teams to ensure readiness for and smooth transition into new CSR system requirements.

Process & Systems

• Ensure payroll impacts of HR, organisational and finance policies are fully understood and accurately reflected in processes, guidance and workflow.
• Lead continuous improvement activity to streamline processes, strengthen controls and enhance customer experience.
• Contribute operational expertise to the design, testing and implementation of CSR system changes.

Key Outputs and Deliverables

• Accurate and timely processing of monthly payroll.
• Generation and distribution of payslips, P45s and P60s.
• Management of pension enrolments, changes and contributions.
• Submission of statutory returns and reports to HMRC and pension providers.
• Maintenance of audit trails and provision of audit support.
• Payroll validation, reconciliation and quality assurance.
• Secure handling and transfer of sensitive payroll and pension data.
• Development of payroll and pension reports and insights for stakeholders.
• Effective team leadership, performance oversight and wellbeing support.

Key Skills and Capabilities

• Proven people‑management experience, with the ability to lead teams through high‑pressure cycles, sensitive customer interactions and significant change.
• Extensive experience in payroll and pensions operations within a complex organisation.
• Strong understanding of HMRC regulations, Civil Service pension schemes, payroll governance and internal controls.
• Ability to manage sensitive information, confidential data and emotionally challenging situations with integrity and empathy.
• Experience supporting system change or transition projects, ideally including process redesign or large operational shifts.
• Excellent…