People Services & Payroll Operations Lead

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced and forward‑thinking People Services & Payroll Operations Lead to lead and modernise our people services and payroll function. This senior role provides strategic and operational leadership to our People Services team, ensuring the delivery of a high‑quality, compliant and efficient payroll service for all SCAS employees.

You will act as the Trust’s internal payroll expert, overseeing our outsourced payroll and pensions provider while strengthening internal processes, controls, customer service and data integrity. This is a key opportunity to rebuild capability, stabilise services, and drive improvement across the employee lifecycle.

Working closely with Finance, HR, Workforce Information and senior operational leaders, you will play a critical role in ensuring staff are paid correctly and on time, that statutory and NHS terms and conditions are applied accurately, and that our systems, reporting and governance are robust and future‑proof.

This is an excellent role for a motivated leader with deep payroll expertise, strong people management skills, and a passion for service excellence and continuous improvement.

Please note: If we receive high volumes of applications, we may close this advert earlier than the current closing date.

Main duties of the job

As the People Services & Payroll Operations Lead your focus points will be:

Operational Leadership
Lead a timely, accurate and customer‑focused payroll & people services function. Manage the Trust’s outsourced payroll contract, monitoring KPIs, SLAs, service reviews and escalation, and ensure accurate monthly payment of salaries, expenses and pay elements.

People Services & Team Management
Lead the People Service Partner in managing and developing the People Services team, ensuring high performance, resilience and service quality. Oversee team recruitment, performance management, resourcing and training, lead team meetings, support change initiatives and promote SCAS values.

Payroll, Pensions & Compliance
Oversee payroll and pension activity including starters, leavers, contractual changes, absence and family leave. Approve salary corrections and advances and ensure compliance with statutory requirements, NHS terms and local agreements.

Systems, Data & Assurance
Act as organisational owner for HR/People systems (e.g. ESR, e‑Expenses, e‑Payslips), ensuring data integrity through audits, reconciliations and exception management. Lead system improvements, training and releases. Produce payroll reporting, support audits, manage financial risk and work closely with Finance and counter‑fraud.

Advisory & Stakeholder Management
Provide expert advice on pay, tax, NI, pensions and employment legislation. Support organisational change through accurate costings and maintain strong relationships with managers, unions, external providers and stakeholders.

Working for our organisation

Benefits we offer:

• Full training and a range of courses which you can book locally.
• Holiday entitlement of 27 days, rising to 29 days after 5 years’ service and 33 days after 10 years’ service, plus an additional 8 days bank holiday (pro rata for part time).
• Automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.
• Access to continual professional development within SCAS and the wider NHS.
• Occupational Health support and direct access to our Employee Assistance Programme as well as our own Health and Wellbeing Team.
• NHS Discounts in over 200 + stores saving money on holidays, days out, car insurance, restaurants, clothing and much more.
• Ability to join our staff networking groups (as a member, ally or just for interest).

Corporate Induction

It’s really important for us to ensure you have the best onboarding experience which allows you to feel a sense of belonging from the start. To help with this, we will book your Corporate Induction as soon as we possibly can (depending on availability).

All new starters need to attend our *Corporate Induction in person, this is held over one and half days from our educational centres based in: Newbury (Berkshire), Bicester (Oxfordshire) or Whiteley (Hampshire). More specific details will be sent to you once your start date has been confirmed.

*Please note – depending on your role additional training may be required following on from your corporate induction.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Masters level qualification in Payroll Management or equivalent experience. Full member of Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.
• CIPP Qualified with significant post qualification experience
• CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management

Desirable criteria

• Higher level postgraduate management qualification e.g. MSc, MBA
• PRINCE2 qualification
• CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in People Management

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Detailed knowledge of legislative regulations in relation to pay including tax, NI, sickness, maternity, salary sacrifice and liability orders
• Understanding of the NHS Audit requirements
• Expert knowledge of the operational aspects of running a payroll service, underpinned by practical experience
• Expert-level knowledge of Agenda for Change, NHS terms and conditions of service, including pay, allowances and deductions.
• Understanding of NHS pensions conditions and benefits

We understand that some applicants may choose to use AI tools to assist with completing their application. While this is not against our guidelines, it’s important that your application remains an accurate and honest reflection of your own skills, experience, and achievements. Please ensure that any content generated or supported by AI truly represents you and your capabilities, as this will form the basis of our assessment throughout the recruitment process.

We actively welcome job applications from candidates who have a disability or who are members of the BAME, LGBTQ+ and Armed Forces community (including: Reservists, Veterans, Spouses and Cadets). Here at SCAS we are proud to have a workforce that reflects the diverse community we serve. Applicants who have a disability or are members of the armed forces community who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria for their post of interest will be invited for an interview and/or assessment (where applicable).

Please be assured that any requests for reasonable adjustments will not negatively affect your application.

As well as standard NHS benefits like generous holiday entitlement and an excellent pension scheme, we offer lots of extras for our staff.