The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.
No candidate will meet every single desired qualification / criteria. If your experience looks a little different from what we've identified and you think you can bring value to the role, we'd love to learn more about you!
Salary: £28,598 - £30,384 per annum
Hours per week: 37 hours
The working pattern: Monday – Thursday 7.5 hours, Friday 7 hours
Weeks per annum: 52 weeks per annum
Location: Abingdon Campus
Contract type: Permanent
Expected start date: July 2026
We’re looking for a proactive and detail-driven Payroll Officer to take ownership of the end-to-end monthly payroll process. This is a key position within the People Services team, where you’ll ensure colleagues are paid accurately and on time, while acting as a trusted expert for payroll and pension matters. You’ll work closely with HR, Finance, and senior leaders, playing a vital role in delivering a high-quality, compliant payroll service and enhancing the overall employee experience.
Your responsibilities will include:
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Running the monthly payroll from start to finish, including pensioners payroll and final sign-off.
Managing all payroll inputs such as starters, leavers, and contractual changes, ensuring full accuracy and audit compliance.
Acting as the first point of contact for payroll and pension queries across the organisation.
Administering Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), including returns and auto-enrolment.
Leading on employee benefits administration, including promotion, implementation, and system processing.
Collaborating with Finance on reports, audits and cost centre checks.
Ensuring compliance with payroll legislation, policies, and data protection standards.
Essential criteria:
- Proven experience in payroll and/or pension administration.
- Strong knowledge of payroll legislation and statutory requirements.
- Excellent attention to detail, organisation, and accuracy.
- Ability to communicate confidently with stakeholders at all levels.
- Experience handling confidential information with integrity.
- A proactive, flexible approach with the ability to meet tight deadlines.
- Confidence using Microsoft Office and payroll/HR systems.
Desirable:
- Experience with pension schemes
- HR/payroll systems (e.g. iTrent)
- Working within education or public sector environments
Why Work With Us?
Excellent benefits for our employees including generous pension and holiday schemes (with potential Christmas closure days), continued professional development, flexible working options, corporate gym membership, cycle/tech scheme and much more.
Abingdon and Witney College reserve the right to close all applications before posted closing date.
AWC values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community. We are committed to safeguarding and expect all our employees and volunteers to share this commitment. We are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and all appointments are subject to satisfactory clearances including enhanced DBS checks.
Abingdon and Witney College are committed to safer recruitment practices. In addition to our pre-employment checks, we will conduct an online search. This includes checking Google main results feed as well as the ‘News’ and ‘Images’ tab. We will be checking for any publicly available information that suggests the applicant may not be suitable to work with children or young/vulnerable people or content that could potentially damage Abingdon and Witney College’s reputation. This may include inappropriate posts, comments or images displaying evidence of offensive or inappropriate behaviour, jokes or language, discriminatory comments, inappropriate photos, drug or alcohol misuse.
