Payroll Manager

Position Purpose

At Fulham Football Club, we are looking for an experienced and highly capable Payroll Manager to take ownership of the payroll function across the Fulham Group.
 
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Finance team within a Premier League football club and a wider, growing group of businesses. The Payroll Manager will be responsible for ensuring the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of payroll across a diverse workforce, including professional football players, permanent employees and a significant casual workforce.
 
Although our brand is most closely associated with Premier League football, the Group now comprises three main businesses: 
 

1. Fulham Football Club, incorporating the First Team and Academy, with a staff of approximately 400 permanent employees and a significant casual workforce; 
2. The Fulham Football Club Foundation, the Club’s official charity, which engages in a range of community work and has approximately 40 permanent staff and a large casual population; and  
3. Fulham Pier, a new 365-day venue on the banks of the River Thames, comprising bars, restaurants, conference and events spaces, a hotel and a spa, which has around 30 permanent staff.     

 
The role therefore offers the opportunity to lead payroll across an unusually varied organisation, combining the demands of elite professional sport with hospitality, events, charitable activities and other commercial operations.
 
Reporting to the Head of Finance, the Payroll Manager will have overall responsibility for the end-to-end payroll process across the Group. The successful candidate will work closely with colleagues across Finance, HR and the wider business and will be expected to combine strong technical payroll knowledge with excellent attention to detail, organisation and stakeholder management.

Job Responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced payroll professional who is comfortable taking ownership of a complex payroll environment and ensuring that appropriate controls, processes and checks are maintained throughout.
 
The Payroll Manager will be expected not only to deliver an accurate payroll each month, but to understand the underlying data, challenge information where appropriate, identify potential issues and continually look for opportunities to strengthen and improve the payroll function.
 
The following is a non-exhaustive list of the key responsibilities of the role:

• Take overall ownership of the end-to-end payroll process across the Fulham Group, ensuring payroll is delivered accurately, efficiently and on time.
• Review, challenge and approve payroll inputs including salaries, bonuses, overtime, casual hours, deductions, benefits and contractual payments, ensuring appropriate supporting information and approvals are in place.
• Oversee all payroll changes, including new starters, leavers, salary amendments, contractual changes and promotions, maintaining strong controls around sensitive and high-value payments.
• Take ownership of payroll compliance, including PAYE, National Insurance, statutory payments, RTI submissions, pension obligations and other relevant HMRC requirements.
• Manage pension administration and submissions, including reconciliations and compliance with auto-enrolment requirements.
• Own payroll reconciliations, ensuring payroll outputs reconcile appropriately to the general ledger, bank payments, pension submissions and HMRC liabilities.
• Work closely with Finance and HR to ensure employee information is accurately reflected within payroll and payroll costs are appropriately recorded and understood within the monthly management accounts.
• Act as the principal point of contact for payroll matters across the Group, providing a high-quality service to employees and confidently supporting senior stakeholders where required.
• Provide effective management and development of payroll support within the team, ensuring responsibilities throughout the payroll cycle are effectively delivered.
• Lead payroll year-end requirements, including P60s, P11Ds and other relevant statutory reporting, and support internal and external audit requirements.
• Maintain accurate payroll records, documentation and audit trails, ensuring appropriate confidentiality, GDPR compliance and data security at all times.
• Maintain strong payroll procedures and controls, ensuring the function is resilient, well documented and not reliant on individual knowledge.
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve and automate payroll processes, systems, reporting and controls across the Group.
• Keep up to date with changes in payroll legislation and provide payroll expertise on wider Finance and HR projects where required.

Job Requirements

Essential

• Significant experience managing or taking senior responsibility for an end-to-end UK payroll function, ideally within a complex organisation.
• Strong technical knowledge of UK payroll legislation and requirements, including PAYE, National Insurance, statutory payments, pensions and RTI.
• Experience managing a large and complex payroll, involving different employee populations, contractual arrangements and pay structures.
• Strong understanding of payroll controls, reconciliations and statutory reporting requirements.
• Excellent attention to detail and a commitment to accuracy, with the confidence to challenge information, identify anomalies and resolve issues.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and consistently deliver against fixed payroll deadlines.

• Strong systems and Microsoft Excel skills, with the ability to work confidently with significant volumes of payroll data.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to work effectively with employees and senior stakeholders across the organisation.
• High levels of discretion, integrity and professionalism when handling confidential and highly sensitive information.
• A proactive and collaborative approach, with the ability to take ownership of the payroll function and effectively manage and develop others.

 
Preferred

• Experience working within professional football, professional sport or another complex, fast-paced organisation.
• Experience managing payroll within a multi-entity or group structure.
• Experience managing payroll for a significant casual or variable-hours workforce.
• Experience with Miracle Payroll and/or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.