I’ll research this properly, looking for firms with documented payroll leadership placements in the UK/Europe rather than just a global footprint.

My shortlist is Frazer Jones, JGA Recruitment and Portfolio Payroll, with Hays and Robert Walters as benchmarks. I found no named placements or case studies for any firm, only job adverts and the firms’ own marketing. Adverts show a firm is mandated, not that it filled the role, and several are old or undated.

Evidence of UK/EMEA payroll leadership hiring

Frazer Jones

 (HR specialist, retained search plus permanent and interim)

• Its past senior EMEA mandates include a VP EMEA Payroll role covering 16 country payrolls and a Regional Head of Payroll Governance, EMEA & Americas, which indirectly managed all country heads of payroll. Both were London roles at £90-100k, but both closed in 2019. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401588959/vice-president-emea-payroll-/) [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401587930/regional-head-of-payroll-governance-emea-and-americas/)

• More recent evidence is thinner. In 2022 it was recruiting an EMEA Payroll Specialist for a global fintech reporting to a Global Head of Payroll. Its UK team includes an Executive Director | Head of Payroll, and it offers executive search, contingent and interim services across payroll. [EMEA Payroll Specialist +2](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401655210/emea-payroll-specialist/)

• It is the only one with a retained-search model, and it works with HR and finance leadership, which suits a role reporting into a US CFO or CHRO.

JGA Recruitment

 (payroll, HR and reward specialist)

• It has the most EMEA-specific mandates. One was an EMEA Payroll Director role covering c.40 entities and 6,000 staff, at £70-85k, though that advert is undated. A Head of Payroll (EMEA) role in London at £85-100k appears on a payroll job board, but I couldn’t verify its date. [cimaglobal](https://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/job/1930600/emea-payroll-director-reading-w-parking-c-85k-benefits/) [payrolljobsboard](https://payrolljobsboard.com/)

• It also shows current interim and manager-level work, such as an Interim EMEA Payroll Manager search for a London technology company and a UK/EMEA Payroll Manager role at a global software business. [overseasjobs](https://overseasjobs.com/job/details/28299805/interim-emea-payroll-manager) [aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/london-central-/united-kingdom-gbp-/finance/2/)

• It has a US-facing arm, based on a “JGA US” link in its site navigation, which may help with a US-headquartered client. [jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/what-salary-ranges-can-payroll-managers-expect-in-the-uk-and-emea/)

Portfolio Payroll

 (self-described as the largest specialist payroll recruiter in the UK, operating since 1988) 

[theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/)

• It runs a dedicated executive search page for Global Heads of Payroll and Director-level roles. [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/executive-search/)

• Its EMEA evidence is real but below head level. It has an EMEA Payroll Senior Specialist role at a global retailer’s European HQ in London, plus Dublin-based international payroll roles. The only Head of Payroll role I saw was a Manchester role at £60-70k, which is national rather than EMEA. [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/jobs/emea-payroll-senior-specialist/) [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/jobs/emea-payroll-senior-specialist/)

Hays and Robert Walters

 (generalists, useful for market mapping)

• Hays is advertising a senior EMEA Payroll Manager role leading transformation across multiple countries, and ran an interim UK and European Payroll Manager search in December 2025. Its Global Head of Payroll adverts date from 2019. [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17686448) [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17629487)

• Robert Walters has a May 2026 multi-country Payroll Manager role across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. It says it covers payroll hiring up to Head of Payroll level. [dijobs](https://dijobs.co.uk/company/589639/robert-walters/) [agencycentral](https://agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/accounting/skills/payroll/payroll.htm)

• Both show EMEA hiring at manager level, but I saw no recent head-level mandates. Ask whether a dedicated payroll desk would run your search.

Unverified:

 Oakleaf Partnership has an EMEA Payroll Manager role at up to £90k for a pharmaceutical client, and Executive Headhunters Ltd describes itself in an agency directory as covering senior to executive-level payroll. I found nothing more on either. 

[aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/europe/permanent/3/)

[agencycentral](https://agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/accounting/skills/payroll/payroll.htm)

Global reach only, no payroll leadership evidence found

• Egon Zehnder  has 71 offices in 37 countries, and  NGS Global  has offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Zehnder) [ngs-global](https://ngs-global.com/)

• Neumann Executive  focuses on CEOs, board members, C-suite executives and managing directors, and  Robert Half Executive Search  targets C-suite and senior management roles at growth and middle-market companies. [neumannexecutive](https://neumannexecutive.com/) [roberthalf](https://roberthalf.com/us/en/hire-talent/executive-search)

• Key Search  did seven HR and talent acquisition leadership hires across the US and Europe for CommScope. That is HR leadership, not payroll. [keysearch](https://keysearch.com/)

I wouldn’t shortlist these. A Head of EMEA Payroll typically pays around £85-110k, and the firms’ own salary guides put senior EMEA payroll roles at £90-110k+. That is probably below the level where C-suite search houses engage, though that is my judgement. 

[jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/what-salary-ranges-can-payroll-managers-expect-in-the-uk-and-emea/)

Questions for the shortlisted firms

• Which three Head-of-Payroll roles covering EMEA or multiple countries did you fill in the last 24 months, for what kind of client, and who led them?

• Can you place someone who has run outsourced multi-country models (for example ADP, CloudPay or Activpayroll) and SOX-controlled environments?

• Do you have US-based consultants who can brief a US HQ stakeholder?

• Will this run as retained or contingent search, and what is the guarantee period?

Would you like me to draft a short RFP or briefing note you could send to these firms?
