Payroll Manager

The Company

• Join a well-established paper and packaging business with operations supporting a broad customer base across Australia.
• Based in Sydney CBD, this role offers the opportunity to work in a fast-moving, commercially focused environment where payroll accuracy and compliance are highly valued.
• The business is known for its operational scale, collaborative culture, and commitment to continuous improvement across finance and people processes.
• You'll be part of a company that values reliability, efficiency, and strong cross-functional teamwork, with payroll playing a critical role in employee experience and business performance.

The Role

• We're looking for an experienced Payroll Manager to lead the end-to-end payroll function for a busy and evolving organisation.
• You will manage payroll operations to ensure employees are paid accurately and on time, while maintaining compliance with relevant legislation, awards, policies, and reporting requirements.
• Oversee the full payroll process, including payroll preparation, processing, reconciliations, month-end support, reporting, and issue resolution.
• Manage payroll controls, governance, and documentation to support a high standard of accuracy and audit readiness.
• Partner closely with finance, HR, and operational leaders to address payroll queries, improve workflows, and support process enhancements.
• Lead and mentor payroll team members, helping to build capability, accountability, and a strong service mindset.
• Review and improve payroll systems, procedures, and reporting to drive efficiency and reduce risk.
• Support payroll-related projects, system upgrades, and continuous improvement initiatives across the business.
• Provide insights and analysis to leadership on payroll trends, exceptions, and compliance matters.

About You

• Proven experience in a Payroll Manager or senior payroll leadership role within a medium to large, complex business.
• Strong knowledge of end-to-end payroll operations, payroll legislation, compliance, controls, and reporting requirements.
• Experience working in industries with operational complexity such as manufacturing, packaging, logistics, supply chain, or similar environments will be highly regarded.
• Confident managing deadlines, resolving issues, and balancing day-to-day delivery with process improvement initiatives.
• A hands-on leader who can work at both strategic and detailed levels when needed.
• Strong systems capability, with experience using payroll and ERP platforms such as SAP, Workday, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft D365, or QuickBooks highly regarded.
• Advanced reporting and data skills, with exposure to tools such as Power BI, SQL, or Excel seen as a plus.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build trust across finance, HR, and operational teams.
• A proactive, dependable, and solutions-focused approach, with a genuine commitment to accuracy, service, and continuous improvement.

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