Payroll & Pensions Officer

Central London
Hybrid working - 3 days in the office, 2 days working at home

Our Client is seeking an experienced Payroll & Pensions Officer to join their busy team

Duties include;

• Process monthly payroll for teaching and support staff, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail.
• Administer starters, leavers, variations, term time calculations, and contractual changes.
• Calculate statutory payments: SSP, SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP.
• Manage and calculate maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave, and occupational pay schemes specific to education.
• Process additional payments such as TLRs, allowances, overtime, exam invigilation, and holiday pay for term time only staff.
• Ensure accurate application of pay awards, incremental progression, and spinal point changes.
• Check and reconcile payroll reports, journals, and costing for finance teams.
• Handle queries from HR, Finance, business managers, and school leaders in a timely manner.
• Ensure compliance with HMRC including FPS/EPS submissions and year end processes.
• Administer Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) and Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Process pension starters, leavers, opt ins, opt outs, and contractual changes.
• Complete monthly pension reporting and upload contributions for TPS.
• Reconcile employer and employee pension contributions each month.
• Submit pension forms such as LGPS leaver forms, estimate requests, and retirement calculations.
• Maintain accurate service records, part time/hourly adjustments, breaks in service, and protected periods.
• Support annual returns for TPS and LGPS, including year end reporting and data cleansing.
• Liaise with pension providers, scheme administrators, actuaries, and auditors.

• Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation and statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SPP, etc.).
• Experience administering LGPS and Teachers' Pensions (TPS).
• Confident with monthly payroll cycles and high volume, multi site payrolls from start to finish
• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong numerical skills and ability to interpret complex pay/pension calculations.
• Experience with term time only calculations, variable hours, and education pay structures.
• Ability to manage deadlines in a fast paced, academic year environment.
• Good understanding of HMRC requirements and compliance (FPS/EPS, tax codes, NI).
• Strong communication skills when supporting school leaders, HR, and finance teams.
• Competent user of payroll systems
• High level of confidentiality and GDPR awareness.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a central payroll team.
• Strong reconciliation and reporting skills.