We are looking for a skilled lead expert on HR Payroll Systems, responsible for the corporate system that supports payroll and pensions across the Council.
Working closely with Payroll and HR Systems teams, you will play a key role in a major improvement programme. You will provide technical leadership, expert oversight, and hands-on delivery support to keep our HR and payroll systems secure, compliant, resilient and improving.
Fixed term: 1 year
Interviews to be held: To be confirmed
There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact -
WRBS Systems Manager - David Pannell at
[email protected].
About the role
Can you help lead the next phase of improvement in our HR and Payroll systems?
We are looking for a technically strong, collaborative leader with expertise in payroll legislation and payroll systems (e.g. who can turn programme ambitions into practical, lasting change.
Can you lead, motivate, and inspire teams to make improvements?
Are you skilled in HR Payroll systems and capable of extracting and analysing complex payroll data to respond to respond to statutory and business requirements?
The programme and our teams
Our multi‑year Corporate Systems Improvement (CSI) programme focuses on improving our HR, Payroll and Finance systems. We want to empower colleagues to enable efficient, effective, future-ready services through streamlined processes, automation, improved data integrity and expanded self-service.
This depends on reliable systems, high‑quality data and efficient processes and collaboration across multiple teams.
You will work across both our Payroll and HR Systems teams, bridging day-to-day operational expertise and programme delivery to ensure improvements meet real service needs and deliver meaningful outcomes.
Our payroll service covers schools, external customers, councillors, and internal council staff, with a diverse range of terms and conditions.
The Payroll and Pensions team ensures the accurate and timely processing of pay, pensions, and statutory deductions, maintaining compliance with legislation and organisational policies. They provide expert support and guidance to employees and stakeholders on payroll and pension matters and maintain accurate establishment data that supports pay and workforce reporting.
Our HR Systems team manages MHR iTrent day to day, supports users, works with suppliers, and keeps the system operating smoothly. They lead on upgrades, process redesign, testing, reporting, and delivery of new integrations and system changes. They also have a responsibility for delivering ongoing improvements and streamlining business processes, so they will be there with you as part of the CSI programme.
A key point of expertise, escalation and improvement
As a subject matter expert, you will lead and contribute to CSI projects focused on payroll, pensions, and connected HR processes, shaping solutions that are practical, compliant and sustainable.
You will work closely with payroll and HR colleagues, project teams, internal stakeholders and external partners, acting as both a trusted expert and a catalyst for improvement.
You will help us review and improve payroll processes, get the best from our systems and data, and support the service to adopt new technologies and more-effective ways of working with confidence.
The successful applicant will play a key role developing and improving regular and statutory payroll reporting. Strong experience with Business Objects, PowerBI, or similar reporting tools is essential.
Working arrangements
The teams currently work partly from home, with offices in central Hove, just a short walk from the sea.
This is an opportunity to play a key role in shaping how payroll and HR systems support the Council’s workforce, delivering real and lasting improvement across critical services. If you can maintain high professional standards and enjoy working at a management level in a busy environment, we look forward to hearing from you.
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 developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we 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 background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.
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).
Why work for us?
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.
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.
Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.
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 the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
