Director Payroll Operations

Our Story

In July 2019, Fourth joined forces with Hot Schedules to become the global leader in end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management technology solutions. Together, the merged company now represents the world’s largest and only provider of end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management solutions for customers across the globe and of all sizes, from a single location or franchisee restaurant to a global restaurant or hotel chain.

The combined company’s complete software-as-service (SaaS) solution suite including scheduling, time & attendance, applicant tracking, training, inventory management / procurement, HR / benefits and payroll services now serves customers in 120,000 locations worldwide and is supported by a dedicated, unified team across offices in the US, UK, Bulgaria, China, Australia, and UAE.

Interested in joining our smart, fun, and talented team?

Senior operational leadership role with full accountability for the quality, compliance, and performance of Fourth’s UK payroll service delivery. This is a strategic position — the Director sets the direction for how the function operates, continuously raising the bar on service quality, efficiency, and team capability.

• Owns end-to-end payroll: accuracy, compliance, client service, technology, and team development
• Member of the EMEA operational leadership team — contributes to cross‑functional strategy
• Senior point of contact for complex, escalated, or strategically significant payroll matters
• Directly manages the Payroll Leadership team

• Lead and develop the Payroll Leadership team; ensure workload distribution and SLA delivery
• Coach, mentor, and performance‑manage at all levels; build succession depth
• Set clear performance expectations tied to service quality and client outcomes
• Foster a culture of accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Lead the function through periods of change with minimal service disruption

• Maintain Fourth’s UK payroll compliance framework: PAYE, RTI, NI, statutory payments, auto‑enrolment
• Oversee all year‑end activities: P60s, P45s, P11
  
  Ds, Apprenticeship Levy Manage auto‑enrolment compliance across all client groups, including The Pensions Regulator obligations
• Proactively monitor the regulatory landscape (HMRC policy, Employment Rights Act) and translate change into operational action
• Maintain strong internal controls: segregation of duties, audit trails, error detection

• Define, implement, and continuously improve payroll processing policies, procedures, and controls
• Own the end‑to‑end payroll delivery model — ensuring it is robust, documented, and resilient
• Monitor SLA performance across all client groups; use data to identify risk and drive intervention
• Lead resolution of complex, escalated, or high‑impact payroll issues
• Develop departmental reporting that gives leadership and clients clear visibility of performance and risk

• Provide operational leadership for payroll system implementation, maintenance, and enhancement
• Ensure effective integration of payroll‑adjacent applications (time & attendance, self‑service portals, client interfaces)
• Partner with Product and Technology to identify automation and standardisation opportunities
• Lead or contribute to payroll technology migrations, maintaining service continuity throughout
• Use system reporting to inform resourcing decisions and embed evidence‑based management

• Build and maintain senior client relationships; act as operational point of contact for escalations and complex matters
• Proactively engage clients to anticipate risk and ensure delivery meets or exceeds expectations
• Serve as Fourth’s subject matter expert on UK payroll in client‑facing conversations and commercial discussions
• Maintain strong cross‑functional partnerships across HR, Finance, Product, Technology, and Sales

• Contribute to EMEA operational leadership: business planning, commercial decisions, UK service strategy
• Represent UK Payroll Operations in cross‑functional forums and…