Payroll Officer

Working for North East Learning Trust means joining one of the most successful and ambitious education trusts in the country and one of the largest school networks in the region. Our shared vision is that every child experiences excellence every day. As a growing Trust of 15 schools, supporting around 1,300 staff through two payrolls, our central services play a vital role in ensuring schools are well supported and staff receive an accurate, timely and responsive payroll service.

We are seeking a proactive, technically confident and customer-focused Payroll Officer to support the delivery and continuous improvement of a reliable, compliant and modern payroll service across the Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to apply payroll expertise in a complex education setting, supporting schools with differing support staff and teacher terms and conditions, term-time working calculations, statutory and occupational payments, and Local Government Pension Scheme and Teachers’ Pension Scheme requirements.

The Trust is continuing to modernise its payroll services, with employee and manager self-service helping to streamline workflows, reduce manual processes and make payroll information more accessible. The Payroll Officer will help embed and improve these ways of working, using payroll knowledge, system confidence and strong customer service to make payroll easier, clearer and more responsive for schools, staff and managers.

This role will also support the Trust’s managed growth strategy, including the onboarding of transferring schools and the smooth integration of staff records, payroll data, pension arrangements and local working practices into Trust systems. It offers a unique challenge for someone who understands the specialist nature of education payroll and wants to contribute to services that support education, school leadership and staff wellbeing.

We welcome applications from candidates seeking full-time or part-time working arrangements. Our priority is to appoint the right person with the payroll expertise, accuracy and customer focus needed for the role. Working patterns can be discussed at interview, subject to payroll deadline cover, service continuity and effective support for schools and employees.

• A growing Trust with a clear vision for education, school improvement and managed growth
• A central team that values accurate, responsive and customer-focused support for schools and staff
• A positive and caring ethos where colleagues are valued and supported
• A team of hardworking, dedicated and friendly staff committed to making a difference

• Full-time, part-time and flexible working options considered, subject to payroll service needs.
• National Terms and Conditions of Employment — NJC Green Book
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 32 days, plus 8 public holidays
• One paid wellbeing day per year
• Free on-site car parking
• Lifestyle savings and discounts from leading retail brands
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme offering free confidential advice and counselling services for staff and family members

• Bring strong payroll experience, ideally in education, schools, local government or another complex public sector setting.
• Understand education payroll, including term-time calculations, statutory payments, pensions, payroll compliance and differing terms and conditions.
• Confidently process, check and reconcile payroll data across two payrolls.
• Use payroll and system knowledge to improve processes and support effective employee and manager self-service.
• Communicate clearly with employees, schools, HR, Finance, pension providers and external contacts, taking a proactive and customer-focused approach.

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