Payroll Manager

Payroll Manager – Newcastle upon Tyne

Are you an experienced people manager who also happens to know payroll inside out?

We're looking for someone who can do more than manage payroll deadlines. We need a confident, capable leader who knows how to build a successful team, develop people, manage performance and create a culture where everyone takes pride in delivering great service.

At Cintra, we've just been named Payroll Service Provider of the Year 2026 at the CIPP Annual Excellence Awards – and we're looking for a talented Payroll Manager to help us build on that success.

The opportunity

As Payroll Manager, you'll take responsibility for leading a team of payroll professionals delivering outsourced payroll services to a diverse portfolio of clients.

This is a hands-on management role where your ability to lead, motivate, coach and manage people will be every bit as important as your technical payroll knowledge.

You'll set clear expectations, hold people accountable, address performance issues constructively and develop the skills and confidence of your team.

You'll also take ownership of payroll delivery, client satisfaction and operational performance, ensuring that your team has the direction, support and resources to consistently deliver excellent results.

Reporting to our Head of Outsourced Payroll, you'll have the opportunity to influence how we operate, improve our services and contribute to the wider success of the business.


Leading and developing people

This is a significant part of the role, and we're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys it.

• Provide confident, visible leadership to a team of payroll professionals.
• Set clear objectives, establish expectations and hold regular one-to-ones and performance reviews.
• Coach and develop individuals, recognising strengths, identifying development needs and supporting career progression.
• Address underperformance promptly, fairly and constructively, including managing difficult conversations when necessary.
• Build a positive, accountable team culture where colleagues work collaboratively and take ownership of their responsibilities.
• Manage recruitment, induction, absence, wellbeing and other day-to-day people management matters.
• Plan team capacity, allocate workloads effectively and ensure the team is equipped to meet demanding payroll deadlines.

Delivering excellent payroll services

• Take overall responsibility for the accurate, compliant and timely delivery of client payrolls.
• Ensure robust payroll controls and compliance with relevant UK legislation.
• Build trusted client relationships, manage escalations and resolve service issues professionally.
• Monitor service standards, identify risks and take action to improve performance.
• Work closely with colleagues across the business to ensure smooth client onboarding and service delivery.

Driving operational and commercial performance

• Take ownership of your team's operational performance, productivity and efficiency.
• Understand and manage the commercial drivers of a successful outsourced payroll service.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, introduce efficiencies and make better use of technology.
• Contribute to business performance through effective resource management, client retention and service improvement.

We're looking for an established people manager, not simply an experienced payroll professional ready to try management.

You'll need to demonstrate:

• Proven line management experience, including direct responsibility for managing, developing and reviewing the performance of employees.
• A track record of building effective teams, coaching individuals and creating a positive, accountable working environment.
• Confidence in managing challenging people situations, including underperformance, difficult conversations and competing team priorities.
• Strong technical knowledge of UK payroll legislation and end-to-end payroll processing.
• Experience managing complex payroll operations, deadlines and service expectations.
• Excellent organisational, communication and problem-solving skills.
• The ability to balance the needs of your people, your clients and the business.

Experience of managing a team within a payroll bureau or outsourced payroll environment would be particularly valuable, although we'll also consider experienced payroll managers from complex in-house operations.

You don't necessarily need to have managed a full P&L, but you should understand the importance of productivity, efficiency and commercial performance.

Most importantly, we want someone who can tell us not just how they've delivered great payroll, but how they've helped their people become better at what they do.