Job Title: Payroll Director (UK Operations)
Salary: Competitive + Package
Location: Various office locations + travel
Hybrid: 3 days office - 2 days home
JGA are exclusively partnering with a high-performing, market-leading organisation to appoint a Payroll Director to lead its UK operations. This is a senior leadership opportunity with full accountability for delivering a highly efficient, commercially driven payroll function within a complex and fast-paced environment.
This is not a transformation role — the function is already well-established and high performing. The focus is on optimisation, scalability, and driving continued commercial success.
The Role
* Lead the end-to-end UK payroll operation with full ownership of performance and delivery
* Drive commercial outcomes, focusing on efficiency, profitability, and service excellence
* Optimise an already high-performing function, identifying opportunities to enhance productivity and output
* Partner closely with senior stakeholders, including CFO-level, to influence strategic and financial decisions
* Ensure consistent delivery across a large, multi-layered team structure
Key Responsibilities
* Embed and lead a strong performance culture, underpinned by data, metrics, and accountability
* Monitor and improve productivity, utilisation, and cost-to-serve across the operation
* Use data and insight to challenge performance and drive continuous improvement
* Oversee structured management layers, ensuring accountability and delivery at every level
* Maintain high standards of service delivery while supporting team engagement and culture
About You
* Proven payroll leader with strong operational expertise
* Highly commercial, with a deep understanding of margins, pricing, and financial performance
* Experienced in large, complex, and performance-driven environments (e.g. advisory, professional services, or scaled operations)
* Strong analytical capability, with the ability to interpret data, forecast trends, and influence decisions
* Confident engaging with senior stakeholders and able to “speak the language” of finance
This is a high-impact role offering significant visibility, ownership, and the opportunity to play a key part in shaping the future of a commercially successful payroll function.
Please contact or apply to this advert.
JGA Recruitment Group Ltd (\"We\") are committed to equality of opportunity for all applications regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. We are also committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are a specialist Payroll and HR recruitment agency and recruitment business defined in the Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (our business). These statements, together with our privacy notices, set out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us will be processed by us.