Payroll Implementation Analyst (SAMpeople)
Arbor Education · Remote · £38,000 (stated in the posting)
Location: Remote, UK
Starting Salary: up to £38,000 per year
About Us
We 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.
About the Role
The 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.
Given 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.
Responsibilities
Reconciliation & Testing
- Conduct 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.
- Plan, 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.
- Provide audit-ready reconciliation sign-off documentation for Trust leadership and deliver clean, fully verified payroll setups to the ongoing client delivery team.
Data Validation
- Liaise systematically with Implementation Specialists to ensure all necessary onboarding information and data sets are obtained, summarised, and verified.
- Analyse, track, and document payroll variances, collaborating with Implementation Specialists and school/MAT finance teams to resolve root causes.
- Update and maintain live payroll system frameworks while implementing strategic platform updates and schema adjustments.
Quality Assurance & Compliance Auditing
- Execute rigorous system and account audits as required to defend system stability and uphold statutory payroll compliance.
- Incorporate current payroll and pension legislation changes directly into active account builds to eliminate regulatory compliance exposure.
- Develop system, document/template and process improvements.
Client & Operational Handover
- Prepare evidence-based reconciliation data, with sign off to present to operational team as part of handover process.
- Design integrated payroll journals and operational summaries to provide transparency for client financial controllers.
Security Protocols & Office Support
- Adhere strictly to internal organisational Information Security policies and protocols, including UK GDPR data governance.
- Execute general administrative data validation and workplace support tasks required to guarantee efficient business operations.
- Develop and sustain a detailed, authoritative working knowledge of all company products and features.
Requirements
About you
Essential
- Proven, documented payroll operational experience gained within a fast-paced environment.
- Up-to-date, comprehensive knowledge of standard UK payroll frameworks and pension delivery protocols.
- Practical experience and sound technical knowledge of computerised payroll systems, payroll implementation methodologies, and platform builds.
- Solid operational understanding of payroll-related compliance, legal parameters, and auditing structures.
- Demonstrated ability to organise, manage, and deliver multiple customer payroll builds concurrently under tight schedules.
- Highly developed data management, structural data profiling, and spreadsheet analysis skills backed by meticulous attention to detail.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a history of conveying reconciliation processes clearly to stakeholders.
Desirable
- Prior background operating specifically with payroll setups unique to the UK education sector, multi-academy trusts, or local authorities.
- Formal payroll or pension practitioner certification (e.g., CIPP or equivalent industry qualification).
- Foundational experience working with cloud-based SaaS platform implementations.
Benefits
What we offer
The 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:
- A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!
- 32 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
- Life Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary
- Comprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health, which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service, Mental health support, Counselling, and personalised Health Checks
- Private Dental Insurance with Bupa
- Salary sacrifice Pension provided by Scottish Widows
- Enhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay
- 5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions, helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!
- Access to services such as Calm and Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching)
- All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you
- Social committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success
- Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)
- Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year
Interview process
- Phone screen
- 1st stage
- 2nd stage