Payroll & Benefits Manager

The Payroll and Benefits Manager is responsible for overseeing and managing the payroll process for the business. This role ensures timely and accurate payroll processing, compliance with regulatory requirements, and the effective administration.
The ideal candidate will possess strong organisational, analytical, and communication skills, with a focus on enhancing customer experience and organisational efficiency.

 What you’ll be doing as a Payroll and Benefits Manager

• Stay up to date and ensure they maintain compliance with finance legislation such as working hours, minimum wage and general payroll regulations
• Oversee the end-to-end payroll process, ensuring timely and accurate payroll for all employees
• Stakeholder Management: manage third party providers involved in payroll operations, such as external payroll service providers and debt collection agencies
• Lead and manage the payroll team, ensuring they deliver and challenge existing processes to drive best-in-class performance
• Effectively manage complex cases and escalations by providing thorough, detailed responses and implementing proactive measures to prevent recurrence of similar issues
• Develop the skills of payroll team, ensuring they have an in-depth understanding of HR policies, processes and employment law
• Ensure full compliance with our internal controls, HMRC requirements and data protection legislation

Base Location – Hybrid – Clear Water Court Reading
Working Pattern – 36 hours Monday to Friday

What you should bring to the role
Essential

• Experience in leadership, managing a payroll team in a large organisation
• Skilled in building strong team relationships and fostering collaborative working methods to enhance overall performance
• Experience of managing third party providers to ensure service levels are achieved
• Excellent current, technical payroll knowledge
• Good organisational and written and verbal communication skills

Desirable

• Associate member (Level 5) of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) or equivalent professional qualification or HR knowledge
• Experience of using ServiceNow case management system
• A foundation degree in Payroll Management from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
• Proficient in the use of SAP HR

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary of up to £50,000 per annum depending on experience
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (Plus bank holidays)
• Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution
• Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year
• Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing

Who are we?
At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive.

Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it for us all.

But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part?

Working at Thames Water
At Thames Water we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business.

We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, background, and differences that each individual brings.

Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process.

Find out more about working at Thames Water.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.