Job summary
We're excited to offer a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Payroll Officer to join Cumbria Health at our Head Office in Carlisle. Reporting to the Head of Finance and supervised by the Payroll & Pensions Manager, you'll play a vital role in supporting our financial operations.
The Senior Payroll Officer plays a key role in delivering the full monthly payroll process for around 500 employees, ensuring every payment is accurate, compliant, and on time. You will handle payments for Personal Service Companies and self-employed clinicians, submit RTI reports to HMRC, and resolve payroll discrepancies. With a strong focus on tax legislation, you will keep payroll running smoothly and also provide insights by analysing payroll costs and supporting budget monitoring.
Ready to make an impact and take your career to the next level? We'd love to hear from you!
30 hours per week
£28,419 - £34,120 FTE based on 37.5 hours
(Pro-rata 30 hours £22,735 - £27,296)
Closing date: 11th July 2025
When applying for this role, please include your mobile number on your application so we can contact you if needed. Please also check your spam or junk folder regularly as emails from us may occasionally be filtered there.
We encourage you to apply as early as possible as this job may close earlier than the advertised closing date once enough applications have been received.
Please note that we are unable to offer an Employer Sponsored Visa for this role.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will report under the line management of
the Head of Finance with supervision from the Payroll & Pensions Manager.
Accountable to the Payroll & Pensions Manager
when running the end-to-end monthly payroll process for approximately 500
employees, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely execution. This includes
calculating and processing payments for Personal Service Companies (PSCs) and
self-employed clinicians, preparing and submitting Real Time Information (RTI)
reports to HMRC, resolving payroll discrepancies, and maintaining up-to-date
knowledge of relevant tax legislation and statutory requirements.
The Senior Payroll Officer will also assist with the analysis of
salaried and non- salaried costs across the financial statements and provide
information to assist with setting and monitoring payroll budgets.
All staff are expected to work to Cumbria Health Values:
- Clinically focused - Everything every one of us does is for the patient
- Responsive - We listen and we respond quickly in a patient focussed way
- One Team - We work together to provide a high quality service which is organised and consistent, and in partnership with both the local Acute and Community Trusts
- High Standards - We provide skilled professionals working to the highest standards who are passionate about improving patient care.
About us
Cumbria Health places the patient, their family and their community at the heart of everything we do. We are an award-winning organisation, the first out-of-hours organisation in the country to be rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We provide primary health care services, both in and out of hours, across Cumbria. We are values-driven and place great emphasis on inclusivity and the wellbeing and development of our staff, while striving to provide a consistently high-quality service. Our service is designed to improve health and wellbeing.
Working for CH can offer flexible opportunities in terms of location, hours and working patterns so you can enjoy a great work life balance. In order to provide the best patient care we understand the importance of ensuring staff satisfaction and are consistently trying to ensure we offer our staff a positive working environment whether that be though training or social events.
Listen to your heart. Have the work life balance you'd love.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This list of duties and responsibilities of the Senior Payroll Officer, which follows, represents the main tasks which may be required to be undertaken either routinely or periodically. This list is not exhaustive and the role may include some additional duties which are not listed here.
Assisting the Payroll and Pension Manager, and being responsible to them for the following:
Processing of monthly payroll for all Cumbria Health employees by:
- Accountable to the Payroll and Pension Manager to process and review the payroll, ensuring all timeframes are met. Doing this 3 to 4 times per year independently.
- Using the internal rota system to produce timesheets to be used in preparation of payroll.
- Prepare payroll calculations such as SSP, SMP, Tax and NI
- Calculate payments for PSCs and self-employed clinicians and associated year end forms
- Assist with the administration of staff pensions for salaried and non-salaried staff.
- Run year-end processes including the production of P11Ds
- Checking timesheets to ensure accuracy.
- Monitor payroll administration and ensure self certs or sick notes are received from staff.
- Add any new starters with relevant P45 starter checklist information.
- Auto enrolment of staff to NHS Pension Scheme or NEST
- Assisting with the operation of our salary sacrifice schemes
- Running payroll reports
- Uploading net payments from Sage to Barclays
- Processing leavers
- RTI submissions to HMRC
- Dealing with queries from employees
- Making payments to HMRC
- Process all income and expenditure transactions, and to accurately record and report upon these movements in and out of our accounting records.
- Safeguard and account for all the assets of the organisation, and to identify and state all liabilities owed by Cumbria Health.
- Ensure that the organisation is financially viable and able to pay its debts as they fall due.
- Ensure appropriate internal controls are in place and followed robustly to adhere to strong corporate governance.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This list of duties and responsibilities of the Senior Payroll Officer, which follows, represents the main tasks which may be required to be undertaken either routinely or periodically. This list is not exhaustive and the role may include some additional duties which are not listed here.
Assisting the Payroll and Pension Manager, and being responsible to them for the following:
Processing of monthly payroll for all Cumbria Health employees by:
- Accountable to the Payroll and Pension Manager to process and review the payroll, ensuring all timeframes are met. Doing this 3 to 4 times per year independently.
- Using the internal rota system to produce timesheets to be used in preparation of payroll.
- Prepare payroll calculations such as SSP, SMP, Tax and NI
- Calculate payments for PSCs and self-employed clinicians and associated year end forms
- Assist with the administration of staff pensions for salaried and non-salaried staff.
- Run year-end processes including the production of P11Ds
- Checking timesheets to ensure accuracy.
- Monitor payroll administration and ensure self certs or sick notes are received from staff.
- Add any new starters with relevant P45 starter checklist information.
- Auto enrolment of staff to NHS Pension Scheme or NEST
- Assisting with the operation of our salary sacrifice schemes
- Running payroll reports
- Uploading net payments from Sage to Barclays
- Processing leavers
- RTI submissions to HMRC
- Dealing with queries from employees
- Making payments to HMRC
- Process all income and expenditure transactions, and to accurately record and report upon these movements in and out of our accounting records.
- Safeguard and account for all the assets of the organisation, and to identify and state all liabilities owed by Cumbria Health.
- Ensure that the organisation is financially viable and able to pay its debts as they fall due.
- Ensure appropriate internal controls are in place and followed robustly to adhere to strong corporate governance.
Person Specification
Other requirements
Essential
- Willingness to travel to other Cumbria Health sites if required (but role is Head Office based)
Desirable
- Holds a current Driving Licence
Personal Circumstances
Essential
- Demonstrate/ role model Cumbria Health values at all times.
- Able to work to strict deadlines
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
- Always being confidential
- Positive, flexible, can do attitude
- Ability to build rapport and effective relationships at all levels
- Ability to maintain workload in a sometimes busy and demanding environment
Skills and Aptitudes
Essential
- Highly numerate and accurate, with attention to detail
- Confident spreadsheet user.
- Good communicator and sound written skills
- Good planning and organisational skills
- Adaptable to new systems
Qualifications
Essential
- 5 GCSEs including Maths and English or equivalent
- A Levels or equivalent
Desirable
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) or the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of processing payroll within a busy office environment.
- Understanding and experience of complex computerised payroll systems such as SAGE or an equivalent payroll system
- Up to date knowledge of relevant payroll laws and regulations
- Knowledge of pension schemes
- Able to manage own workload
Desirable
- Knowledge of SAGE Payroll and Xero Accounts software
- Health sector accounts experience
- Knowledge of Nest and / or final salary Pension Schemes
Person Specification
Other requirements
Essential
- Willingness to travel to other Cumbria Health sites if required (but role is Head Office based)
Desirable
- Holds a current Driving Licence
Personal Circumstances
Essential
- Demonstrate/ role model Cumbria Health values at all times.
- Able to work to strict deadlines
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
- Always being confidential
- Positive, flexible, can do attitude
- Ability to build rapport and effective relationships at all levels
- Ability to maintain workload in a sometimes busy and demanding environment
Skills and Aptitudes
Essential
- Highly numerate and accurate, with attention to detail
- Confident spreadsheet user.
- Good communicator and sound written skills
- Good planning and organisational skills
- Adaptable to new systems
Qualifications
Essential
- 5 GCSEs including Maths and English or equivalent
- A Levels or equivalent
Desirable
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) or the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of processing payroll within a busy office environment.
- Understanding and experience of complex computerised payroll systems such as SAGE or an equivalent payroll system
- Up to date knowledge of relevant payroll laws and regulations
- Knowledge of pension schemes
- Able to manage own workload
Desirable
- Knowledge of SAGE Payroll and Xero Accounts software
- Health sector accounts experience
- Knowledge of Nest and / or final salary Pension Schemes
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
