Head of Payroll Full Time

Salary: £63,225 per annum
Fixed Term: 18 Months
Full Time: 37 hours per week
Location: County Hall (Exeter) / Remote

Lead with Purpose. Deliver with Impact.

Are you a strategic payroll leader ready to shape the future of a large, complex organisation? Devon County Council is seeking an experienced and visionary Head of Payroll to lead our high performing team through a period of transformation and excellence.

This is a unique opportunity to make a significant impact by delivering business-focussed payroll solutions that support over 15,000 employees across the Council, maintained schools and external clients. You’ll lead both strategy and operations, ensuring compliance, innovation, and service excellence.

You will be part of the People & Culture Senior Leadership Team and as such will play a critical role in contributing to Devon County Council’s strategic objectives, including fulfilment of our People Strategy.

What We’re Looking For
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced payroll professional with a proven track record of leading a large, high-performing team covering multiple payrolls. We are looking for candidates who:

• Are self-motivated and driven;
• Can work collaboratively across People & Culture to achieve desired outcomes;
• Are an inspiring leader with experience of managing a large diverse team;
• Adapt easily to changing legislative and organisational requirements;
• Have attention to detail with the ability to analyse and effectively harness HR data, whilst always considering the use of technology to ensure efficiency;
• Demonstrate an ability to network successfully with a capacity to benchmark to support business case and decision making;
• Use strong negotiation and influencing skills to achieve successful outcomes;
• Think creatively with an ability to turn ideas into tangible outcomes;
• Are CIPP management qualified, or have an equivalent qualification or suitable experience;
• Preferably have knowledge of local government and/or education payrolls.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Being responsible for the strategic leadership, operational direction, management, development and delivery of the payroll service and team members.
• Working collaboratively with and advising senior officers, elected members and other stakeholders across Devon County Council on any initiatives impacting payroll.
• Supporting the Director of People & Culture and wider Senior Leadership Team on Devon County Council’s strategic priorities.
• Managing the delivery of payroll services to traded customers, ensuring compliance with and enhancement of Service Level Agreements.
• Maintaining a commercial awareness of budgets, income streams, and potential new business opportunities.
• Identifying and communicating the payroll implications of current and proposed legislation and determine the most appropriate method of implementing changes.
• Working with our Tax Compliance team to ensure that all legal and regulatory deadlines and requirements are met.

Why Join Us
At Devon County Council, we value our people. In return for your expertise, we offer:

• Generous annual leave and other holiday entitlements along with flexible working.
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• Entry into the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Salary sacrifice schemes including additional pension contributions, electric vehicle leasing, purchase of home & electronic items and cycle to work.
• Discounts at over 900 national & local high street retailers through our benefits platform.

Learn more about Our Offer to You.
Explore our People Strategy.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Zoë Robbins on [email protected] or 01392 381021.

Apply Now: https://www.devonjobs.gov.uk/job/Head%20of%20Payroll/

Closing Date: 20/07/2025

• DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working – The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.
• For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
• We cannot consider visa sponsorship at this time. UK Right to Work is required. For further guidance on right to work in the UK, please visit: Work in the UK – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).