Can you stay calm while crunching the numbers? Do you have an eagle eye for matching hours to rotas? Ready for a role where you genuinely make a difference? With over 550 team members and a payroll of more than £10 million, accurate records and well-managed rotas are vital to our success. We run monthly payrolls for both salaried and hourly paid teams and are now seeking an experienced HR & Payroll Specialist to join our growing HR team. This is a genuinely blended role offering hands-on involvement in both HR and payroll. You’ll work closely with our HR Director, HR Advisers, and our external payroll bureau to ensure everything runs smoothly – from onboarding to payroll to employee relations. This is an on-site/ in office role- based just outside Colchester, Essex. Travel to sites will be required occasionally. ⸻ What You’ll Be Doing: • Preparing and checking payroll, including weekly rota closures and reconciliations • Cross-referencing rotas and reports, identifying discrepancies and ensuring accuracy • Supporting managers with employee-related matters including welfare, development, and conduct • Handling employee relations, including note-taking and drafting outcome documentation • Administering new starter packs, offers, contracts, and updates on our HRIS (Fourth Hospitality) • Managing recruitment admin: writing job adverts, screening CVs, and conducting first-stage interviews • Coordinating Tronc/tip distribution with the Troncmaster • Delivering or supporting workshops and team training on HR and payroll processes • Supporting ongoing HR projects – from employee engagement to welfare initiatives ⸻ What You’ll Bring: • Sound knowledge of Payroll, HR practices and employment policies • Understanding of SMP, SSP, SPP, pensions, Tronc, tax, live-ins, pro-rating, and payroll variations • Experience closing and checking rotas, and previewing payroll reports for accuracy • Confidence in calculating estimates and explaining payroll matters clearly • Ideally, hospitality experience or exposure to multi-site operations • Experience using systems such as Fourth, Sage, BambooHR, HiBob, or similar • A proactive mindset with a keen eye for detail and process improvement ⸻ What’s in It for You: • Exposure to the full HR and payroll lifecycle, with scope to grow in both areas • Support with professional development and qualifications • Free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family • Access to earned wages in real time, plus financial and wellbeing tools • Supermarket, retail, and bus fare discounts • Up to 50% off hotel stays and dining across our venues • Bike to Work Scheme • Increasing holiday allowance • Auto-Enrolled Pension • Free on-site parking ⸻ Who We Are: We own and operate 15 hotels and venues across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, and Surrey, including well-known names like The Mill Hotel in Sudbury, Kingscliff Hotel in Holland-on-Sea, and The George Hotel in Colchester. As part of the Flying Trade Group, a dynamic, international business with over 2,000 team members across 13 companies, we offer stability, variety, and opportunity. Our group spans industries from food manufacturing and leisure to construction and packaging. ⸻ If you’re passionate about people and payroll and want to be part of a team that genuinely strives to evolve, we’d love to meet you. Stay. Explore. Discover.