{"id":2125850,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cornerstone-payroll-lead","title":"Payroll Lead","company":{"id":4372523,"name":"Cornerstone","domain":"cornerstone.org.uk","url":"https://alion.io/company/cornerstone-org-uk","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Jobtrain","truth_index":null},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Glasgow, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-09T00:33:08Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-09","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T01:46:43Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":5},"description":"A senior role with the opportunity to shape payroll across Cornerstone.\nWe have a great opportunity for an experienced payroll professional to lead and influence payroll practice across Cornerstone.\nYou'll lead the delivery of a high-quality payroll and pension service, strengthen controls and compliance, and drive improvements to systems, processes and ways of working.\nLeading your team, you'll ensure around 1,800 colleagues are paid accurately, compliantly and on time, while creating a supportive environment and providing professional advice across the organisation.\nBased at our Glasgow, Dundee or Aberdeen office, this role offers hybrid working alongside occasional travel across our branch locations (travel expenses would be reimbursed as set out in Cornerstone’s expense policy with travel reimbursed by HMRC legislation).\nAbout the role\nAt Cornerstone, our purpose is to enable the people we support to live valued lives in their communities.\nAs our Payroll Lead, you'll play an important role in ensuring our payroll service supports this purpose while meeting our financial, legal and regulatory responsibilities.\nYou'll have overall responsibility for the effective delivery of Cornerstone's end-to-end payroll and pension service, providing leadership to our Payroll Business Partners, Payroll Specialists and Payroll Officers.\nThis is a broad and influential role, combining strategic oversight with hands-on operational leadership. You'll provide assurance that payroll is accurate, compliant, well controlled and delivered to a consistently high standards.\nYou'll act as a senior point of escalation for complex and sensitive payroll matters, while working closely with Finance, People, HMRC, pension providers, auditors, advisers and system providers.\nYou'll also play a key role in using payroll data, insight and analysis to identify risks, improve service quality and support better decision-making.\nKey responsibilities\nLead the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of monthly payroll and pension services.\nLead, support and develop the Payroll Team, creating a positive, accountable and customer-focused environment.\nReview and approve payroll before final submission, ensuring appropriate checks, reconciliations and authorisations are completed.\nMaintain effective payroll controls, segregation of duties and clear audit trails.\nOversee statutory submissions, pension administration, payroll reconciliations, journals, month-end reporting and year-end activities.\nEnsure compliance with payroll, tax, employment, pension and data protection requirements.\nMonitor legislative and regulatory developments and ensure changes are effectively implemented.\nProduce clear payroll analysis and management information for Finance, People and senior leaders.\nUse data to identify trends, exceptions and emerging risks and drive continuous improvement.\nLead the development and improvement of payroll systems, processes, controls and data quality.\nProvide professional advice and constructive challenge on complex payroll matters.\nBuild effective relationships with HMRC, pension providers, auditors, advisers and payroll system providers.\nRepresent payroll in relevant organisational meetings, projects and working groups.\nWhat we're looking for\nYou'll be an experienced payroll leader with the knowledge and confidence to manage a complex, end-to-end payroll service within a large or multi-site organisation.\nYou'll be comfortable working at both a strategic and operational level, balancing accuracy, compliance, risk and customer service while leading and developing a team.\nYou'll have strong attention to detail and the ability to interpret complex legislation and translate requirements into clear, practical processes and guidance.\nEssential qualifications and experience\nSignificant experience of managing or leading an end-to-end payroll and pension service within a large or complex organisation.\nCurrent and detailed knowledge of PAYE, RTI, National Insurance, statutory payments, pension administration and automatic enrolment.\nDegree-level qualification, CIPP/IPPM qualification or equivalent extensive experience in a senior payroll leadership role.\nStrong leadership and people-management skills, including experience of coaching, developing and motivating payroll colleagues.\nExperience of payroll reconciliations, journals, financial controls, month-end and year-end reporting.\nStrong analytical and numerical skills, with excellent attention to detail.\nAdvanced Excel and payroll data-analysis skills.\nAbility to interpret legislation and translate complex requirements into effective processes, controls and practical guidance.\nStrong risk management, problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills.\nExperience of improving payroll systems, processes, data quality and service performance.\nStrong communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.\nAbility to manage sensitive and confidential information with integrity and discretion.\nDesirable\nChartered or advanced professional payroll qualification.\nRelevant leadership or management qualification.\nExperience of Access Select Pay or a comparable payroll system.\nExperience of integrated HR and payroll systems or payroll modelling.\nExperience of audit or working with auditors and external advisers.\nExperience within social care, the charity sector, the third sector or another regulated environment.\nWhy Cornerstone\nOur values, Caring, Person-Centred, Professional and Pioneering, underpin how we work and the services we provide.\nAsPayroll Lead, you'll have the opportunity to influence and strengthen an essential organisational service, develop colleagues and lead meaningful improvements to our payroll systems and processes.\nYou'll play a key role in ensuring our people are paid accurately and on time, while providing the financial control, assurance and insight that supports Cornerstone to deliver high-quality care and support services across Scotland.\nSo, if you're an experienced payroll leader looking for a role where you can use your expertise to lead, develop and drive meaningful improvement, we'd like to hear from you. Apply now!\nShortlisted candidates will be invited along to an interview on Friday 23rd October 2026.\nThe successful candidate will need to undertake a Level 2 Disclosure check through Disclosure Scotland.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6352,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-09T00:33:08Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":85,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.846,"p_room":1,"age_days":4,"expected_fill_days":23,"reasons":["conf:2","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-13T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cornerstone-payroll-lead","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cornerstone-payroll-lead.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-14T03:06:02Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4805,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4372523},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4372523"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcornerstone-payroll-lead"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcornerstone-payroll-lead"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcornerstone-payroll-lead"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/cornerstone-payroll-lead\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcornerstone-payroll-lead"}]}