Payroll Assistant

The Payroll Assistant will support the SKA Observatory (SKAO) Payroll Accountant to ensure that employees are paid accurately and on time, and that SKAO meets its legal and regulatory requirements pertaining to payroll. This role will be focused on the payroll in SKAO’s Headquarters country (UK) but the role has potential to offer the opportunity to gain experience of payroll in our two host countries (Australia and South Africa).

The SKAO payroll in each country continues to grow; current employee numbers are approximately 220 across the three locations, with the UK payroll being the largest with approximately 170 employees. All employees are paid on a monthly salary basis.

Previous payroll experience is not essential. If required, SKAO will provide training to the successful candidate at the start of their employment, with ongoing development opportunities available thereafter. This role would therefore suit a candidate who is eager to learn and has a strong interest in developing their skills and knowledge in payroll processing.

The role will work closely with the SKAO HR and Finance teams, as well as with our outsourced payroll providers to prepare and review the payroll calculations for the UK, to post the related accounting journals and to perform balance sheet reconciliations for payroll and employee benefits. The Payroll Assistant will also be responsible for calculations relating to employee benefits, calculating, tracking and monitoring annual allowances, and acting as one of SKAO’s administrators for supplier portals for employee benefits.

SKAO’s status as an international organisation adds some interesting nuances to our payroll set up, and the ideal candidate will need to be able to think creatively as well as applying their previous or newly‑learned payroll knowledge and experience. The Payroll Assistant needs to be an enthusiastic team player, be able to learn new concepts quickly, be a great communicator with strong attention to detail and the ability to work to strict deadlines.

The role is based at the SKAO Headquarters at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK.

We welcome applications from candidates of all nationalities, especially those from member countries. However, for this role relocation support will not be available and applicants must be able to comply with the terms of a UK based local contract, details of which may be accessed on SKAO’s recruitment portal.

SKAO is committed to providing an inclusive and flexible working environment, meeting the requests of our Colleagues whilst also fulfilling the needs and objectives of the Observatory.

This role requires the post holder to work across different time zones and, in line with SKAO policy, flexible working hours will be supported in agreement with the line manager.

• Prepare monthly payroll template for submission to outsourced payroll provider for the UK;
• Support the Payroll Accountant with payroll submissions for Australia (AU) and South Africa (ZA) as required;
• Support HR with obtaining missing payroll information or documents from employees;
• Calculate private medical insurance (PMI) benefit amount and maintain the monthly reconciliation of the PMI control account;
• Calculate and administer annual employee allowances and reconciliation of monthly payments through payroll;
• Calculate tax and national insurance where needed and submit to payroll provider(s);
• Review payroll reports from payroll providers and resolve queries ready for final approval;
• Calculation of monthly pension contributions for UK employees;
• Administration of local and international pension schemes including notifications of new starters and leavers;
• Liaise with accounts payable to set up monthly bank payments of employees' net pay, taxes, pensions and other payroll benefits as required;
• Prepare and post monthly payroll journals to all ledgers including intercompany transactions;
• Prepare and manage monthly balance sheet reconciliations related to payroll accounts (e.g. net pay control, HMRC control, pension control, PMI control);
• Complete annual payroll reporting obligations for the UK, with the support of the Payroll Accountant and local Finance Manager e.g. P60, P11d;
• Other…