Payroll Team Leader

Job Overview

We are looking for someone to lead a payroll team responsible for delivering accurate and timely pay services to the council, schools, and external clients, supporting over 8,500 employees. The role involves driving innovation during a period of change and ensuring smooth payroll operations.

About the role:

• Assist in the delivery of payroll and HR operations, lead payroll processing and reconciliation, and provide positive leadership to the team, including coaching and development.
• Ensure adherence to UK payroll legislation, maintain up-to-date knowledge of statutory changes, and keep standard operating procedures aligned with current regulations.
• Work collaboratively across HR, OD, and other stakeholders to deliver a customer-focused, high-quality service on pay and employment terms, while promoting the Council's values.
• Drive enhancements, implement new pay-related activities and contracts, identify improvement opportunities, and work with digital teams to optimise people systems.

• Has a strong knowledge of payroll legislation and regulations with a proven background in Payroll, HR, or Finance.
• Can demonstrate proficiency in HR and payroll systems, ideally iTrent, and Microsoft tools.
• Has exceptional attention to detail, communicates with confidence, and can manage large projects.
• Has experience of leading people with an ability to coach and collaborate effectively.
• Is innovative, flexible and open to new ways of working.

We re recruiting across HR, Payroll, OD, and HR Systems. We have exciting opportunities in HR Consultancy, Organisational Development, Payroll Leadership, Pensions and Reward, HR Systems, and Health, Safety and Wellbeing. If you re passionate about making a difference and want to work in a team that puts people first, we d love to hear from you. Join our team and be part of our transformation journey!

At Salford City Council, we re proud to be a people-centred, values-driven organisation.

Our HR and OD team is at the heart of creating a brilliant experience for our colleagues and shaping the future of how we work. This is far more than a traditional HR service, we re driving ambitious transformation programmes that will modernise our approach, improve services, and ensure our people feel supported every step of the way. You ll be joining us at a pivotal time.

We re embedding new systems, introducing innovative ways of working, and creating a culture where collaboration and creativity thrive. Our workforce is the foundation of everything we do, and we re looking for passionate, forward-thinking professionals who want to make a real difference. If you re someone who loves working with people, embraces change, and wants to help shape the future of HR and OD in Salford, this is your opportunity to be part of something exciting.

We want to know more about Salford? As an authority we are dedicated to improving the lives of our residents, and as an employer we are passionate about helping individuals to thrive in their work. We are committed to developing a diverse and inclusive culture and are proud of our professional accreditations which champion this. Find out about our city as a place to live, work & grow, and learn more about the amazing work we are doing.

You ll also find out about the wealth of benefits we have to offer you on our Salford pages! Continuous Service commitment New employees can keep their service related benefits when moving between a whole host of public sector organisations within Greater Manchester, which include:
Councils, NHS, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, Transport for Greater Manchester, as well as many others under this scheme. Find out if this applies to you on our Continuous Service page.

Salary: 42,839 - 46,142