Payroll and Pensions Officer

Do you enjoy solving complex problems and helping people find practical solutions?

Are you confident managing your own workload while working as part of a supportive team?

Do you have a passion for delivering excellent customer service and ensuring people are paid accurately and on time?

Would you like to develop your payroll and pensions expertise within one of the largest and most diverse employers in the city?

The Payroll & Pensions Team at Brighton & Hove City Council is recruiting four permanent and two fixed-term Payroll & Pensions Officer positions.

One role will be joining a team of 7, supporting our external customers, currently made up of 50 schools with 3 other external customers, totaling approximately 5,000 employees. The other will be joining a team of 6, supporting approximately 5,000 council employees working across more than 700 services.

Whichever team you join, you'll play an important role in delivering an accurate, efficient and customer-focused payroll and pensions service. You'll work with a wide variety of employees, managers and customers, helping to resolve queries, provide guidance and ensure payroll information is processed correctly.

While each team engage differently with customers due to how they access the service, we emphasize collaborative working to ensure workloads remain manageable and customers receive a consistently high-quality service. Managers actively monitor workloads and provide support where needed to help the whole team succeed.

Contract Type: Fixed term for 2 years

Interview Dates: Week commencing 2 November 2026

For an informal discussion about the roles, please contact:

• Elise.Cook@brighton-hove.gov.uk - Payroll Team Leader (Internal Staff)
• Natasha.Rault@brighton-hove.gov.uk - Payroll Team Leader (Schools & External Customers)

What you'll do

You will:

• process payroll and pension transactions accurately and in line with legislation, policies and procedures
• investigate and resolve payroll and pensions queries, including more complex cases requiring research and problem-solving
• build positive working relationships with employees, managers, schools and external customers
• provide timely guidance and support across a wide range of enquiries
• identify root causes of issues and help deliver lasting solutions rather than temporary fixes
• maintain accurate records and ensure high standards of data quality through use of our payroll system, iTrent
• contribute ideas for service improvements and efficiency enhancements
• work closely with colleagues to support team priorities and deliver excellent customer service

For the external customers role, you will be assigned a set number of schools so that you can develop strong working relationships with them, becoming their main point of contact for payroll and pensions support. For the internal customers role, you will take a more flexible approach and work with the team to cover the current needs of the service. You will gain exposure to a diverse workforce and a wide range of council services, making every day different and providing excellent opportunities to broaden your knowledge and experience.

For the full list of responsibilities please read the Job Description available at the bottom of the advert.

About you

We're looking for someone who is:

• experienced in payroll, pensions or a related administrative environment
• accurate and customer-focused, with excellent attention to detail
• organised and able to manage competing priorities effectively
• confident working independently and making informed decisions within agreed procedures
• adaptable and comfortable learning new legislation, systems and processes
• an effective communicator who can listen and understand queries from customers with limited or no knowledge, and explain complex information clearly and sensitively
• a positive team player who supports colleagues and is comfortable seeking support when needed

You'll particularly enjoy this role if you like problem-solving, constantly learning, building relationships, and working in an environment where no two days are exactly the same.

For a full list of expected skills & knowledge please read the Job Description available at the bottom of the advert.

Why join us?

Our Payroll & Pensions service combines the stability and benefits of local government employment with the opportunity to work on interesting and varied payroll and pensions cases across a large and complex organisation.

We focus on delivering quality rather than measuring success through productivity targets. The variety of work we undertake means you'll be trusted to manage your workload professionally while receiving support from managers and colleagues whenever it's needed.

We can offer:

• opportunities to contribute to service improvement and development projects that shape how we work in the future
• regular one-to-one support and annual performance and development discussions
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements following successful completion of training, which are adaptable to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance
• access to a wide range of employee benefits through Perkbox, including discounts, cashback offers and wellbeing resources
• wellbeing support including an Employee Assistance Programme and online GP services
• opportunities to learn about both payroll and pensions within a complex organisation that offers a wide range of career pathways
• a supportive team culture that encourages learning, feedback, innovation and continuous improvement

Many of our colleagues build long-term careers within the council, progressing into specialist, senior and management positions across payroll, pensions and wider corporate services.

As a council, we want to:
• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

Encouraging a Diverse Workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive, and aim to develop and retain a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve. We value diverse perspectives and welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other backgrounds as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Our staff networks include the Black & Minority Ethnic Forum, LGBTQIA Forum, Women's Network and Disabled Workers & Carers Network, giving colleagues opportunities to connect, share experiences and influence positive change.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

How to Apply

Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk)as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI Advice for Candidates

We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional Information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be Hove Town Hall and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

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