Perplexity
JGA not recommended.

For a confidential replacement of a UK-based Global Payroll Director , use a retained, research-led search rather than advertising. The strongest shortlist combines UK payroll-specialist searchers with established HR/finance executive-search firms that can run a discreet, mapped candidate approach. robertwalters.co +2

Recommended firms

| Firm | Why approach them | Best fit |

| Frazer Jones | Has a dedicated UK payroll team; its payroll lead recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits, and the firm explicitly handles sensitive executive-search projects confidentially. frazerjones +1 | First call for a global-payroll leadership mandate |

| Portfolio Payroll / The Portfolio Group | The largest UK specialist payroll recruiter, with a dedicated executive-search team for senior payroll directors and board-level payroll experts; it states it works discreetly and can reach candidates not accessible through standard adverts. theportfoliogroup +2 | Deep payroll-market coverage and speed |

| Robert Walters Executive Search | Offers UK executive search using market mapping, confidential outreach and assessment to reach leaders not visible through conventional channels. [Trusted domain robertwalters.co](https://robertwalters.co.uk/our-services/executive-search.html) | Broader global/functional leadership pool |

| Morgan McKinley | Provides discreet, confidential executive search for senior HR leaders, with global senior-level access and talent mapping. [morganmckinley](https://morganmckinley.com/uk/employers/recruitment-solutions/hr-recruitment) | If the role sits close to HR/People leadership |

| Stone Executive | A research-led HR executive-search firm that maps the senior market and approaches passive candidates directly rather than advertising. [stoneexecutive.co](https://stoneexecutive.co.uk/industries-and-functions/function/human-resources-executive-search) | Confidential, retained HR-leadership search |

| Sellick Partnership | Manages confidential senior campaigns and offers retained executive search with market mapping, profiling and end-to-end process control. [sellickpartnership.co](https://sellickpartnership.co.uk/specialisms/senior-executive-recruitment/) | Sensitive senior appointments requiring tight process control |

How to sequence outreach

1. Start with Frazer Jones and Portfolio Payroll. They are the two most directly relevant options for a Global Payroll Director because both have explicit senior/global payroll-search capability. theportfoliogroup +1

2. Add one broad executive-search firm —Robert Walters, Morgan McKinley, or Stone Executive—to benchmark the market and avoid over-reliance on a single payroll network. robertwalters.co +2

3. Run it as a retained search. Ask for a written confidentiality protocol, a “do-not-contact” list covering the incumbent and internal team, blind candidate outreach, staged disclosure of your company name, and control over references and offer communications. stoneexecutive.co +2

Brief to give each firm

• Title, reporting line, location, and global remit—without naming the company initially.

• Key scope: multi-country payroll ownership, vendors/EORs, compliance, transformation, systems, and team leadership.

• Explicit constraints: no advertising, no social-media posting, no approaches to named competitors or internal staff, and no disclosure of employer identity before candidate qualification.

• Required controls: candidate NDA/confidentiality acknowledgment, search-status reporting, interview scheduling outside normal channels if needed, and reference handling only after offer-stage consent.

For this assignment, I would approach Frazer Jones first , then Portfolio Payroll , and use Robert Walters or Morgan McKinley as a discreet second search channel. robertwalters.co +3