Pay & Pensions Service Manager

Our Story:

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring two iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services.

We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team:

The pay and pensions service is part of the wider HR Operations Department based at the DCBL Stadium in Widnes. The team supports the efficient operation of the Council’s payroll, with two monthly payrolls for over 4,500 employees, including more than 1500 working in schools and on other external payrolls.

Reporting to the Head of HR Operations, the Pay and Pensions Service Manager is a key member of the HR leadership team in the Chief Executive’s Delivery Unit.

The HR Operations Service is in the middle of an exciting change to a new HR and Payroll System and will be moving from ITrent to Unit4 ERP in the second half of 2026

Following the retirement of the current Service Manager, this is a fantastic opportunity to lead the Team during this time of change and shape its strategic direction whilst ensuring the pay and pensions provision continues to deliver service excellence for the Council and its stakeholders.

Your Contributions:

As the Pay and Pensions Service Manager, you will manage the performance and direction of the Pay & Pensions Service Team and ensure the provision of effective services to customers in accordance with Council policies and procedures, employment legislation, and HR / payroll established best practice. You will ensure that payroll & pensions service provision and transactional work, including time recording systems, are planned and managed effectively. You will take the lead in the successful and efficient delivery of programmed work and appropriate solutions to support the achievement of business objectives. This includes a leading role in the implementation of a new HR and payroll system due to be introduced in the second half of 2026. You will also ensure continuous improvement of process and procedures.

As a member of the HR Operations Leadership Team, you will contribute to the overall management of the HR Operations function. By leading the pay and pensions service you will shape its direction and manage an efficient, effective and responsive service.

As the subject matter expert, you will advise, support and assist colleagues, senior leaders, and external stakeholders on complex pay/pensions matters, ensuring required levels of compliance with HMRC/pension provider requirements. You will find proactive resolutions and report these to the Council’s Corporate Management Team where appropriate

You will be a confident, experienced and suitably qualified professional, able to utilise your detailed and extensive knowledge of pay and pensions services. You will have a strong understanding of annual and monthly pension returns processes and have experience of public sector terms and conditions (e.g . Green Book, NHS and Teachers’ Pay).

You will be a strong, highly motivated leader and team player with energy and credibility who commands the confidence of colleagues, senior managers, staff and all stakeholders.

As well as the essential criteria, listed on the job profile, it would be advantageous if you also possess:

• Experience of working with public sector terms and conditions of service (e.g. Local Government, NHS, School Teachers)
• Experience of Unit 4 ERP or equivalent system;
• Payroll implementation/testing experience;
• Use of leading business analysis and change tools such as Microsoft Office, Power BI, etc

Our Offer:

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service with the option to purchase an additional four-days of unpaid leave for our Annual Christmas Closedown
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at Halton Borough Council offices
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme

Next Steps:

At Halton Borough Council, we want all of our candidates to feel well-informed so if you would like to have an informal chat about this role, please contact Hayley Hamlett, Interim Director of HR and Corporate Affairs on 0151 511 8840.

Interviews are expected to take place on 17/18th December 2025.

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – resourcing@halton.gov.uk

Please refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications. If you’re interested, please complete your application as early as possible.

We look forward to receiving your application!