Interim Payroll Specialist

Are you a skilled payroll professional ready to step into an impactful interim position where your expertise will be valued from day one?

SF Partners is recruiting an Interim Payroll Specialist on behalf of an established client based in the Leicestershire. Our client is currently conducting a search for a permanent team member and requires an experienced interim professional to provide vital continuity and operational support in the interim. This full-time contract role offers hybrid working and presents a superb opportunity to sharpen your technical expertise, tackle complex high-volume payroll challenges, and expand your career portfolio alongside an experienced team.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform rigorous gross-to-net checks and data validation across full-cycle payroll runs to identify and rectify anomalies before sign-off.
• Manage end-to-end processing for starters, leavers, statutory deductions, tax code adjustments, and employee pay amendments.
• Ensure full compliance with current UK payroll legislation, PAYE regulations, statutory reporting, and HMRC requirements.
• Investigate and resolve complex pay discrepancies and queries, communicating clearly with internal stakeholders.
• Assist with essential pay run reconciliations, BACS preparations, and statutory submissions within set deadlines.

Required Skills & Experience

• Immediate or short-notice availability to step into an interim assignment.
• Proven track record handling high-volume, fast-paced UK payroll processing from start to finish.
• In-depth understanding of UK payroll legislation, PAYE rules, and statutory deduction frameworks.
• Excellent data validation capabilities, with a sharp eye for detail in gross-to-net calculations and anomaly detection.
• Confident spreadsheet proficiency using Microsoft Excel (including VLOOKUPs and pivot tables) for payroll reconciliations.

Nice-to-have

• Practical experience operating in a multi-site or multi-pay group structure.
• Familiarity with ResourceLink (Zellis) payroll software.
• Exposure to pensions administration and workplace pension auto-enrolment across multiple providers.

What We Offer / Why Join

This contract assignment offers the ideal setting to broaden your professional exposure within a bustling payroll function. You will join an established team environment where your technical capabilities make an immediate difference to business continuity, offering collaborative support, hybrid working arrangements, and the chance to add valuable high-volume experience to your career journey.