Employee Payments Specialist

Role : Employee Payments Specialist

Salary: Circa £40K depending of skills, knowledge and experience

Band: 2

Position type: 12 months FTC ( fixed term contract) with permanency possible 

Location: Endeavour Square ( Stratford - London/Hybrid) 

Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.  

Job Purpose

The Employee Payments Specialist role is tasked with supporting both the Employee Payments Accounts, Production and /or Systems management activities. This role involves preparing accurate and timely payrolls for the employees, in accordance with statutory rules, and ensuring all periodic and standing data is accurate.

 In addition, the Specialist ensures the payroll system is capable of regularly producing accurate, compliant payrolls and is maintained to a standard that enables the ability to meet and exceed its statutory obligations and responsibilities to other industry stakeholders.  The Specialist is tasked with identifying new ways to improve the payroll system.

Key accountabilities

• Play a key role in assisting with the compilation of data for the PAYE Settlement Agreement with HMRC, Travel and Expense data and the collation of benefit-in-kind data as defined by HMRC to ensure statutory reporting requirements are attained

• Play a key role in embedding new Employee Payments processes and driving continuous improvement initiatives

• Support the drive for required cultural attributes across the team including focus on compliance and service delivery, customer service excellence, and a focus on controlled continuous improvement

• Deliver on agreed Performance Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Employee Payments

• Provide advice and support to Managers, employees and external organisations regarding payroll production in a customer focused manner

• Maintain payroll systems as required to produce timely, accurate, compliant payrolls; to manage monthly and annual payroll reporting requirements and ensure resolution of system errors/warnings and queries arising from each payroll run and escalate where necessary, ensuring that errors/warnings are not repeated.

• Update payroll data for changes in legislation, contributing to the design to support payroll processes

• Ensure statutory deductions are correctly made and accounted for and that all statutory returns, including those for taxable benefits, relating to the employees are produced and submitted to strict deadlines

• Ensure accurate and punctual processing of payroll BACS files, CHAPS payments and Faster Payments for all employees and reconcile payroll ledger accounts each period

Skills, Knowledge and Experience 

Knowledge 

• Good knowledge and understanding of Employee Payments processes and procedures including month end and year end activities
• Excellent knowledge of all pay agreements for all the various modes that make up TfL
• Detailed and practical knowledge of company and statutory legislation pertinent to Income Tax (PAYE), National Insurance, OSP, SSP, SMP, SPP and SAP, and company pension schemes
• Good understanding of general accounting principles
• Knowledge of payroll software and SAP HR and Finance Systems
• Very good understanding of Payroll interfaces and procedures

Skills

• Good communication skills with both internal and external stakeholders
• Proven ability to identify process improvement opportunities and implement improvements
• Good analytical skills and a proactive approach to problem solving
• Ability to competently use payroll systems and software
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office software (especially Excel)
• Ability to apply risk and control practices
• Ability to make retrospective changes to datasets and reissue supporting documents to reflect those changes
• Understand professional Accounting principles and standards, and understand pay agreements and models at TfL
• Strong ability to demonstrate compliance with relevant statutory legislation
• Ability to maintain records and to to produce and interpret external and management reporting

Experience

• Experience of working in an Employee Payments / Payroll function in large organisation
• Experienced professional in working within a Business Services environment
• Experience in dealing with third-parties
• Experience in using Employee Payments systems and applications
• Strong experience in delivering a high quality customer experience and dealing with sensitive and confidential matters
• Experience in processing high volumes of payroll data using an ERP system to extremely tight deadlines
• Experience of managing accurate and timely production of the payroll in an effective and cost-efficient manner
• Experience of using a Case Management System, SAP R3 and Microsoft tools

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and aim to reflect the diverse communities we serve. We believe that a diverse workforce enables us to deliver better services and outcomes. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we aim to offer an assessment or interview to candidates who apply via the scheme where the minimum essential criteria for skills, knowledge and experience has been met. In some circumstances, it may not be practical to offer an interview or assessment to every candidate who applies through the scheme and meet the minimum essential criteria; in these situations, we select candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than interviewing all who meet them.

Across all recruitment activity, we recognise that selection methods may vary depending on the nature and scale of the campaign and will be applied fairly, consistently and proportionately in line with our Disability Confident commitments.  

Application Process

Please apply using your CV and a brief covering letter. 

Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV. PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images

The closing date for applications is Sunday 20th September 2026 @ 23:59

Interviews will be held w/c 12th October 2026

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right‑to‑work checks.  Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK.  At the present time TfL is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.  

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:

Final salary pension scheme 
Free travel for you on the TfL network 
Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
Retail, health, leisure and travel offers 
Discounted Eurostar travel