SEO Pay, Pension and Benefits Manager

About the Strategy, Culture and People DivisionThis role sits within the Strategy, People and Culture (SPC) Division in GLD. There are five principal teams within the Division: Human Resources (HR), Project Delivery & Transformation, Communications, Business Management and Strategy & Governance.Forming part of our Chief Operating Officer Group, the Strategy, People & Culture Division advises, supports and enables GLD lawyers to help the government to govern well within the rule of law. Our purpose is to support GLDs people strategies and enable the department to be the best employer for our people.GLDs HR teams ambition is to build on our commitment, professionalism and expertise so that we can provide first class, customer focused HR services. We want to support all GLD staff, promoting a diverse and inclusive culture, and developing inspiring and confident leaders and managers. By doing this we will provide a strong foundation underpinning the delivery of legal services to the government.The HR Function provides a full range of services to GLD including HR business partnering, learning and development, resourcing and transactional processing, including payroll, along with teams focusing on Policy, Pay and Employee Relations and Workforce Strategy. This means our people have opportunities to develop their capability across a broad range of HR work and contributes to a highly engaged team where we are passionate about supporting each other to succeed.Our purpose is to support GLDs people strategies and enable the department to be the best employer for our people. We work with colleagues across GLD to:Attract, develop and retain a talented and motivated workforceNurture talent and build career pathsDevelop inspiring, confident and empowering leaders and managersSupport employees health and wellbeingPromote a diverse and inclusive culture We do this through:Our expertise and professionalismProviding business focused advice on workforce and employee issuesAn effective HR Service striving to get the basics right and offering first class, responsive and consistent customer serviceWorking in partnership with our customersDeveloping and delivering a range of resourcing policies and processesEstablishing cost effective and flexible reward structures Effective systems, policies and processesAbout the RoleWe are looking for an experienced payroll specialist to join our HR Operations Team as a subject matter expert for issues relating to payroll, pensions and employee benefitsThe team provides in-house HR, payroll and pension services to GLD, Attorney Generals Office (AGO) and Her Majestys Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCSPI) and is the first point of contact for related queries, responding to up to 2000 enquires a month via Service Now or the HR Helpline.Our 2024/25 priorities are to:Provide accurate and compliant payroll and payroll services Provide efficient and high quality HR help to GLD employees Manage employee benefit schemes and third-party providers to deliver specialist HR servicesImprove digital HR user journeys and optimise MyHR to increase efficiency and self-serviceYou will work closely with HR colleagues to deliver our priorities and provide excellent payroll, pension and employee benefit services to GLD, AGO and HMCPSI employeesYou will be accountable for pensions and employee benefits and support the Head of Pay in managing month payroll, annual pay awards and pay changes ensuring all staff are paid accurately and on timeYou will be expected to keep up to date in legislative pay, tax and pension changes and use your knowledge and expertise to increase payroll accuracy and develop capability and implement best working practices across the team.Key ResponsibilitiesPayroll (c 50%)Calculate and re-open payrolls after previous months cleardown and run monthly net pay report for initial checking Check payroll related changes eg. joiners, movers, leavers, changes of hours/work patterns, overtime claims etc are being processed correctly by the Employee Services TeamProvide ongoing support and guidance to ensure they process changes and respond to pay queries in a timely, accurate and consistent mannerInvestigate and resolve errors arising from the First Reports before Final calculations. Run and check net pay reports on completion of Final calculations and notifying MHR of any issues or discrepancies that could affect payroll being closedCommunicate monthly payroll timetable to HR colleagues and business areasSupport the implementation of annual pay awards, capability-based pay increases and the resolution of pay impacting complex HR casesComplete the NAO Annual Salaries and Wages ReturnDeputise for the Head of Payroll and Pensions as requiredPensions (c 25%)Ensure GLD meets its Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) employer responsibilities, as set out in the Civil Service Employer Pension Guide, including the monitoring and actioning of Employer Pension Notices (EPNs)Manage GLDs relationship with MyCSP including logging and escalating issue to raise at quarterly service review meetingsManage complex pension queries promptly and accurately and within target timescales, including undertaking any payroll actions required to reach a resolution e.g. Added Years under/overpaymentsKeep all pensions guidance up to date and regularly communicate pension and promote benefits to GLD employeesManage the three-yearly auto-enrolment exercise and annual and lifetime allowances communicationsComplete the Annual Accounting Certificate (AOC) on behalf of GLD, ensuring that it is compliant with its employer responsibilities.Liaise with MyCSP to obtain pension data for the annual remuneration exercise for publication in the GLD Annual ReportEmployee Benefits (c25%)Manage the day-to-day relationship with Edenred on behalf of GLD and promote GLDs Employee Benefits offer to GLD staff Manage GLDs childcare salary sacrifice cycle to work schemes, including liaising with key stakeholders and validating and processing monthly orders and payroll changes Line Management ResponsibilitiesLine management of AO Pensions and Employee Benefits Advisor This is an outline description of the key responsibilities and accountabilities involved and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. The post-holder may be required to undertake other duties across HR, commensurate with their grade and experience.