{"id":3104511,"url":"https://alion.io/job/the-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople","title":"Payroll Implementation Analyst (SAMpeople)","company":{"id":2214532,"name":"The Key Group","domain":"thekeygroup.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/thekeygroup","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":null},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":null,"max":38000,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":50837},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"GDPR","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-22T18:34:51Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-11-06T00:28:48Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":14,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":14},"description":"Location: Remote, UK\nStarting Salary: up to £38,000 per year\nAbout Us\nWe provide impactful products and services to help schools and over 100 MATs manage their people effectively. Our vision is to create better futures for children through innovative people solutions. We pride ourselves on being unconventional, result-driven, and heart-led.\nAbout the Role\nThe Payroll Implementation Analyst is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and seamless transition of school and Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) payrolls onto the platform. Specialising in critical pre-go-live validation, this role leads comprehensive parallel payroll runs, performs rigorous end-to-end data reconciliations across period and Year-To-Date (YTD) values, and executes precise data validation on all technical build elements.\nGiven the complex, highly regulated nature of education payroll, the analyst ensures strict compliance with education sector pay scales (such as STPCD and NJC), complex occupational pension schemes (TPS and LGPS), and varied academy-specific structures. Acting as a key bridge between implementation teams and trust finance/payroll leaders, the analyst identifies variances, mitigates payroll risk, and guarantees complete accuracy before operational handoff.\nResponsibilities\nReconciliation & Testing\nConduct line-by-line reconciliations for historical YTD figures (gross pay, net pay, PAYE, National Insurance, TPS, LGPS, and statutory deductions), ensuring zero variance prior to go-live.\nPlan, execute, and evaluate parallel payroll runs for onboarding schools and Multi-Academy Trusts, comparing new system outputs against legacy payroll data to identify and resolve discrepancies.\nProvide audit-ready reconciliation sign-off documentation for Trust leadership and deliver clean, fully verified payroll setups to the ongoing client delivery team.\nData Validation\nLiaise systematically with Implementation Specialists to ensure all necessary onboarding information and data sets are obtained, summarised, and verified.\nAnalyse, track, and document payroll variances, collaborating with Implementation Specialists and school/MAT finance teams to resolve root causes.\nUpdate and maintain live payroll system frameworks while implementing strategic platform updates and schema adjustments.\nQuality Assurance & Compliance Auditing\nExecute rigorous system and account audits as required to defend system stability and uphold statutory payroll compliance.\nIncorporate current payroll and pension legislation changes directly into active account builds to eliminate regulatory compliance exposure.\nDevelop system, document/template and process improvements.\nClient & Operational Handover\nPrepare evidence-based reconciliation data, with sign off to present to operational team as part of handover process.\nDesign integrated payroll journals and operational summaries to provide transparency for client financial controllers.\nSecurity Protocols & Office Support\nAdhere strictly to internal organisational Information Security policies and protocols, including UK GDPR data governance.\nExecute general administrative data validation and workplace support tasks required to guarantee efficient business operations.\nDevelop and sustain a detailed, authoritative working knowledge of all company products and features.\nRequirements\nAbout you\nEssential\nProven, documented payroll operational experience gained within a fast-paced environment.\nUp-to-date, comprehensive knowledge of standard UK payroll frameworks and pension delivery protocols.\nPractical experience and sound technical knowledge of computerised payroll systems, payroll implementation methodologies, and platform builds.\nSolid operational understanding of payroll-related compliance, legal parameters, and auditing structures.\nDemonstrated ability to organise, manage, and deliver multiple customer payroll builds concurrently under tight schedules.\nHighly developed data management, structural data profiling, and spreadsheet analysis skills backed by meticulous attention to detail.\nExcellent verbal and written communication skills, with a history of conveying reconciliation processes clearly to stakeholders.\nDesirable\nPrior background operating specifically with payroll setups unique to the UK education sector, multi-academy trusts, or local authorities.\nFormal payroll or pension practitioner certification (e.g., CIPP or equivalent industry qualification).\nFoundational experience working with cloud-based SaaS platform implementations.\nBenefits\nWhat we offer\nThe chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:\nA dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!\n32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas\nLife Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary\nComprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health, which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service, Mental health support, Counselling, and personalised Health Checks\nPrivate Dental Insurance with Bupa\nSalary sacrifice Pension provided by Scottish Widows\nEnhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay\n5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions, helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!\nAccess to services such as Calm and Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching)\nAll of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you\nSocial committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success\nDedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)\nVolunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year\nInterview process\nPhone screen\n1st stage\n2nd stage","description_format":"text","description_chars":5990,"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":["Annual leave","Dental insurance","Flexible schedule","Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["E-learning","Custom Software Development"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-22T18:34:51Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":74,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.818,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":13,"expected_fill_days":34,"reasons":["conf:1","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":50837,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/the-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/the-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-06T00:30:58Z","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":904,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-07T00:00:00Z"}},"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":2214532},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2214532"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fthe-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople"},{"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%2Fthe-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople"},{"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%2Fthe-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople"},{"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/the-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fthe-key-group-payroll-implementation-analyst-sampeople"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3104511}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"thekeygroup.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3104511},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}