Payroll Manager

Job Title: Payroll Manager

Location: Dorset

Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 subject to experience

Job type: Permanent, Full Time. 37 hours per week.

Closing Date: 6th November 2026.

Are you an experienced payroll professional with a passion for accuracy, compliance, customer service and continuous improvement? We're looking for a talented Payroll Manager to lead our payroll function, ensuring colleagues are paid correctly and on time while driving excellence across systems, processes and controls.

This is an exciting opportunity to take ownership of a critical business function, lead a dedicated payroll team, and play a key role in shaping a modern, efficient and compliant payroll service.

The Role:

As Payroll Manager, you will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of payroll services across the Group. You'll provide expert technical leadership, ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, and work closely with colleagues across HR, Finance and the wider business to deliver an outstanding payroll experience.

You'll lead a small team of payroll professionals, champion continuous improvement, and ensure payroll systems and processes evolve to meet changing business and legislative requirements.

As Payroll Manager, you will:

• Lead the accurate and timely delivery of payroll processing across multiple payrolls and pay groups.
• Ensure salaries, allowances, deductions and statutory payments are processed correctly and on schedule.
• Oversee payroll reconciliations, audit requirements and management reporting.
• Ensure full compliance with HMRC, PAYE, National Insurance, pension and employment legislation.
• Manage statutory reporting, year-end activities and third-party payments.
• Maintain robust payroll controls and lead payroll audit activities.
• Oversee payroll systems administration, testing and implementation of legislative and system updates.
• Provide expert payroll guidance and technical advice to leaders and stakeholders.

About You:

You'll be a highly organised and detail-focused payroll leader with the confidence to influence stakeholders and drive continuous improvement.

Essential experience and skills:

• Significant payroll management experience within a complex organisation, 2000+ headcount (5+ years).
• Proven experience managing end-to-end payroll operations, preferably with demonstrable experience with zero-hour contracts, sleep in roles, overtime and out of hours.
• Strong knowledge of payroll legislation, PAYE, National Insurance, pensions and statutory payments.
• Experience leading, motivating and developing payroll teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including experience working with senior leaders.
• A proactive mindset with a track record of improving payroll processes and systems.

Desirable:

• MCIPP membership or a recognised payroll qualification.
• Experience within the housing sector.
• Experience of using Dayforce as a payroll/HR system

This is a hybrid role, enabling you to base yourself from home. You will come together with the wider Finance Team twice a month in the Wareham office, so you’ll be within a commutable distance. There may also be occasional additional travel requirements so being happy to travel is important.

What’s in it for me:

We invest in our colleagues because we know if they have a better day at work, the service our customers receive will be better. The Aster Offer is our offer to our colleagues to ensure they have a great day at work and includes things like:

• Flexible working – whilst some roles need to be carried out in a specific place at a specific time, where possible we encourage our colleagues to work to their own schedule at a location that suits them, their team and our business’ needs
• A focus on colleague wellbeing – workshops, an employee assistance programme offering counselling and support, mental health training and a health cash plan
• We invest in colleagues’ careers and development through our leader and colleague development frameworks
• Defined Contribution Pension and attached life assurance
• Volunteering hours available to all colleagues to enable them to give back
• Savings at cinemas, gyms, holidays, days out, various shops and eateries and lots more
• Enhanced leave
• We celebrate colleagues who go above and beyond with a range of personalised recognition initiatives

Ready to apply?

We create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity and believe that creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do.

All offers of employment are subject to the successful candidate providing proof of their right to work in the UK. Aster Group and its subsidiary brands do not hold a sponsor licence and are therefore unable to provide visa sponsorship.

Please click APPLY to be redirected to our website to complete your application.

Candidates with experience of: Payroll Manager, Payroll Operations Manager, Payroll Services Manager, Head of Payroll, Payroll Team Manager, Payroll and Benefits Manager, Payroll and Pensions Manager, Senior Payroll Manager, may also be considered for this role.