Payroll Services Officer
Employer: The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA)
Location: We're a fully hybrid organisation, with colleagues across all corners of the UK
Temporary: Fixed Term role, for 15 months (Maternity Cover)
Working hours: Full time, flexible working hours
Salary: £33,000 - £35,855 (GBP)
Closing date: 11:55pm, 30th Nov 2025 GMT
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Overview and context
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is the independent body that regulates and administers the business costs and decides the pay and pensions of the 650 elected Members of Parliament and their staff in the United Kingdom. We were created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as the world’s first independent regulator of MPs’ financial remuneration.
Part of IPSA’s role is to provide a seamless, exemplary payroll service to MP’s, their staff, as well as IPSA’s people. Our work requires patience, diplomacy and attention to detail as we interact with our stakeholders on a daily basis, ensuring the best quality service is provided.
This role is the first point of contact for all payroll enquiries into the organisation from MP’s and their staff. Payroll Services Officers need to be highly motivated and engaged when interacting with all internal and external stakeholders, so being an effective communicator is key. The role also plays an important part in inducting and educating customers on IPSA’s systems and processes and offers significant opportunity to contribute to the continuous improvement of operational activity that supports achievement of IPSA’s strategic objectives.
Key responsibilities
· Ensuring MPs’ staff are paid correctly and on time through the effective monitoring of the payroll by maintaining key performance indicator target of 99.75% accuracy each month.
· Providing exemplary customer service to internal and external customers by answering calls promptly and emails within three working days to provide the best possible customer service for internal and external stakeholders, and logging calls appropriately.
· Ensuring that payroll records are maintained in accordance with “The Scheme” and HR policies, updating work procedures accordingly.
· Assisting with any payroll system testing to ensure that the software meets both operational expectations and statutory obligations.
· Adhere to all HMRC payroll legislation, ensure own knowledge and skills are kept up to date routinely.
· Understand and comply with all aspects of pensions automatic enrolment for MPs’ Staff.
· Proactively identify opportunities to improve systems and processes whilst upholding data integrity and security.
· Proactively offering and providing assistance to MPs with their staffing budget expenditure projections and forecast scenarios, contacting MPs with forecast overspends and seeking recovery of monies if overspent.
· Presenting at drop-in sessions, roadshows and other events (which may involve occasional travel outside of London), when required, and providing necessary payroll/staff budget management training to MP’s and their offices, when requested.
· Supporting the whole team to achieve results by being a team player.
· Reflecting IPSA’s values of staying connected, seeing the bigger picture, being open, doing the right thing and making a difference, through all that you do.
IPSA is a learning organisation. We constantly review our work against our strategic objectives, actively seek views from our stakeholders and assess the environment in which we operate so that we can continuously improve. Therefore, the list of key responsibilities may adapt and change over time within the spirit and nature of organisational change and the development of the role.
What we’re looking for
If you’re passionate about delivering exceptional service and making a real impact in people’s working lives, you’ll be a great fit for this role. As a Payroll Services Officer, you’ll be the first point of contact for MPs and their staff, providing expert guidance and support on all payroll-related matters. This is a dynamic and people-focused role where your communication skills, attention to detail, and commitment to accuracy will help ensure staff are paid correctly and on time. You’ll play a key role in onboarding new users to IPSA’s systems, educating them on processes, and contributing to the continuous improvement of our operations all while reflecting IPSA’s values.
We’re looking for someone resilient who enjoys working in a challenging, demanding and dynamic environment and who loves speaking with customers and colleagues to resolve issues efficiently and effectively. You’ll work collaboratively with a supportive team, engage directly with stakeholders across Parliament, and have opportunities to present and train people as part of the role. We’d like you to be a qualified payroll technician through the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.
You’ll be joining a diverse and knowledgeable team, passionate about making IPSA brilliant and so you’ll need to fit right in.
The experience and technical level required for the role, along with personal qualities, skills, attributes, and qualifications (where relevant) are listed below:
Essential
· CIPP qualified (associate level or above).
· Demonstrable experience of payroll processing in a complex organisational environment, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and internal controls.
· Proficient in manual PAYE and National Insurance calculations, with the ability to resolve discrepancies and apply correct tax codes and thresholds.
· An understanding of pension schemes, including the principles and processes of automatic enrolment, re-enrolment, and opt-out procedures.
· Up-to-date working knowledge of HMRC legislation, including statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SPP), tax thresholds, and pension regulations.
· Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail, consistently delivering error-free outputs in high-volume, deadline-driven settings.
· Strong communication and customer service skills, with the ability to explain complex payroll and pension matters clearly.
· Collaborative and able to work as part of a team, contributing positively to team goals and supporting colleagues across departments.
· Proactive and adaptable self-starter, able to respond to shifting priorities, take initiative beyond the scope of the role, and work effectively across the organisation.
· Resilient under pressure, maintaining performance and professionalism during peak periods and when managing sensitive or complex queries.
· Advanced MS Excel skills.
Desirable
· Confident presentation skills, with experience delivering training.
· Experience using Business World (Agresso) for payroll or HR functions, including reporting and workflow management.
· Familiarity with CRM systems.
Salary progression
We operate a training and competency framework which consists of three stages - learning, developing, qualified. At each stage, there is a set of criteria comprising the relevant knowledge, experience and behaviours that need to be achieved before progressing to the next stage of the framework and each of the stages are linked to pay progression. While the pace at which you may progress is specific to you, it is likely to take between 6 –12 months to move through the learning and developing stages before being signed off as qualified. This framework provides colleagues a clear set of expectations to develop competence and confidence.
‘Learning’ is the introduction to the team, processes and broader knowledge underpinning the role. ‘Developing’ is about consolidating knowledge and putting it into practice. You can then progress to the final stage as ‘Qualified’, at this stage, you will have demonstrated the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to work independently and consistently deliver high quality work.
Our commitment and values
We’re committed to creating an inclusive, vibrant community and to making IPSA a brilliant place to be.
At the heart of our people philosophy is our promise to engage, enable, and empower every team member to deliver excellence, learn, and develop every day.
Ensuring equality of opportunity is central to this.
With diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and thinking IPSA will continue to operate as a high-performing organisation with a truly diverse and inclusive culture.
That’s why we encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities, such as returning parents or carers who are returning from a career break, people who are LGBTQIA+, from Black, Asian, and other ethnic backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning differences or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different geographic regions and people from all socio-economic backgrounds, and any other under-represented groups in our workforce.
As well as our Inclusion Panel we have several workplace networks that promote and celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Our values guide us and we demonstrate them in all our work. These are Staying Connected, Seeing the Bigger Picture, Being Open, and Doing the Right Thing. and Making a Difference. As a values-based organisation, you can expect them throughout the recruitment process and beyond.
Interview timeline
If you're selected for interview this will be virtual and will take place on Microsoft Teams, so you’ll need access to a secure WIFI network and a private space.
Interview
Our interviews are competency and values-based. We’ll ask you a series of questions designed to help assess your suitability for the role and for IPSA.
The closing date for this role will be 30 November 2025, so we encourage you to submit your application without delay. Shortlisting will take place in w/c 1 December 2025. Interviews will take place 8-11 December - please make a note of these dates in your diary as we will be operating a tight interview schedule. Due to the upcoming holidays, we will be unable to reschedule interviews.
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