Payroll & Benefits Operations Director

Ready to step up and lead one of the UK's largest payroll operations?

If you're currently a Head of Payroll looking for that next big move, this Director of Payroll & Benefits Operations role is the perfect progression.

You’ll oversee accurate, timely payroll delivery for 60,000 colleagues across weekly, lunar, and monthly cycles, managing a £3bn annual payroll. You’ll spend at least 50% of your time across UK payroll offices, staying close to your teams and the operation.

Leading a high-performing team of 40+, you’ll drive a culture of accuracy, accountability, and service excellence. You’ll partner with HR, Finance, Operations, and People Services to improve data integrity, reduce errors, and enhance the colleague experience. Working alongside our Director of Technical, Governance & Compliance, you’ll continually strengthen processes and embed best practice across the function.

We're looking to offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package which will be discussed at telephone interview. In addition, we offer and 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays). Your benefits package includes a company sponsored pension scheme, a 24/7 online GP service, life assurance and a fully comprehensive employee assistance programme. You’ll also have access to our My Benefits platform offering a variety of high street discounts, a cycle to work scheme, cashback cards, a saving scheme and much more!

• Lead the end to end delivery of complex UK & Ireland payrolls for 60,000+ employees across all pay cycles, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, compliance, and exceptional service-including shift premiums, union agreements, TUPE onboarding, and cyclical activities such as P11
  
  Ds, P60s, and share plan administration
• Manage, develop, and inspire a high-performing payroll and benefits team (including payroll professionals and business partners), driving a culture of precision, accountability, employee engagement, and continuous improvement
• Own payroll operations and issue resolution across all GXO sites
  , partnering closely with People Services, T&A, HR, Finance, Comp & Benefits, IT, and site leadership to maintain data integrity, streamline processes, and deliver a high quality colleague experience
• Oversee payroll governance, reconciliation, sign off, and reporting
  , ensuring accurate GL and finance interfaces, maintaining GDPR compliant data handling, and providing sign off support for outsourced payrolls when required
• Drive operational change and continuous improvement
  , leading system upgrades, transitions, automation initiatives, and business continuity efforts in partnership with the Director of Payroll Technical, Governance & Compliance

• Extensive experience in senior payroll leadership
  , accountable for large scale, high volume, multi site and unionised payroll operations, including complex pay structures, TUPE transitions, and multi billion pound payrolls in fast changing environments
• Deep technical expertise in UK payroll legislation, end to end processing (including PSA, P11D, and share plan administration), international assignee payroll coordination, and strong hands on capability with SAP Payroll, Oracle, Success Factors EC, and Global View
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and empower high performing teams
  , including payroll specialists, benefits teams, and payroll business partners, fostering a culture of accuracy, service excellence, and continuous improvement
• Strong stakeholder and vendor management skills
  , able to influence HR, Finance, IT, and global functions, manage third party providers, define SLAs, track KPIs, and use data and insight to drive operational improvements and ensure compliance
• Highly organised, analytical, and resilient
  , skilled at navigating ambiguity, leading teams through change, maintaining rigorous governance and audit standards, and delivering pragmatic solutions with precision and accountability

GXO is a leading provider of cutting-edge supply chain solutions to the most successful companies in the world. We help our customers manage their goods most…