Payroll Officer

The role

Behind every great organisation is a payroll function that simply works. At Southwark Council, our Payroll Officers keep the borough moving, ensuring thousands of colleagues are paid accurately, on time, every time. If you’re detail-driven, people-focused and enjoy solving problems that genuinely matter, this role puts you right at the heart of public service.

Why this role stands out

• Purpose with scale: Play a vital role in paying a diverse workforce that supports one of London’s most ambitious boroughs
• Complex, meaningful work: Varied cases, multiple payrolls and real responsibility from day one
• Flexibility that works for you: Hybrid working with a welcoming London Bridge HQ when you’re in

What you’ll be doing

• Managing end-to-end payroll activity, ensuring accurate and timely processing for employees, pensioners and associated payrolls
• Capturing, validating and inputting data into SAP, with rigorous checking to maintain high standards
• Resolving pay-related queries from managers, staff and external partners through clear, confident communication
• Producing statutory outputs including payslips, P45s and P60s
• Working closely with HR colleagues, senior leaders, trade unions and external agencies to deliver a seamless service
• Supporting senior team members with reporting, analysis and year-end activity
• Advising users on Employee and Manager Self-Service systems

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience in a payroll or HR operations environment
• Strong working knowledge of payroll processes and systems, ideally SAP
• Clear, professional communication skills across written, verbal and face-to-face interactions
• The ability to juggle priorities in a fast-moving environment without losing attention to detail
• Sound judgement, discretion and a commitment to confidentiality
• Confidence handling complex scenarios, including statutory compliance, benefits and recoveries
• A practical, solution-focused mindset and a collaborative approach
• This role offers flexible home working blended with travel into our London Bridge HQ.

Additional Information

About Southwark Council

Southwark Council is the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues such as The Shard, The Tate Modern and Borough Market along with many social enterprises and we have a young, diverse, and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities.

Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality), underpins all that we do.

Benefits and more information:

Working for Southwark Council – Southwark

Salary Range: £38,637 - £44,937

Application Closing Date: 11:59pm on the 9th of March 2026

Interview Date: Week commencing the 23rd of March 2026

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities.

This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative.

We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care.
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition.
  

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role, in which case we will move the key dates for the process. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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Attachments

• Job Description & Person Specification