Claude
JGA not recommended.

The right firm depends on the level and where the role sits (finance or HR), but here is how I’d approach it. I haven’t checked current firm performance, so treat this as a starting list to vet.

Retained executive search (best fit for a director-level rebuild)

• Page Executive (Michael Page’s executive arm), Robert Walters and Hays all have large UK finance and HR operations teams and run payroll and shared-services searches.

• Frazer Jones is an HR-focused search firm in London. It’s worth a call if the role will report to the CHRO or HR Operations.

• Odgers Berndtson, Korn Ferry or Russell Reynolds are the large generalist firms. They’re probably overkill unless the role is board-visible or reports to the CFO or CEO, which may be justified given the control failures.

Contingent finance and HR recruiters

• Robert Half is strong on finance and accounting, which helps if the role sits under the CFO.

What to look for when you speak to them

• Multi-country payroll experience. Ask each firm for recent placements of directors or heads of global payroll, not just UK payroll managers. Vendor-managed, multi-provider and in-country models are very different environments.

• Controls and transformation background. Your problem is rebuilding governance, so you need someone who has done process redesign, provider consolidation, reconciliation controls and SOX-style audit readiness, not only run a steady-state function.

• Candidate sources. Good candidates often come from global payroll outsourcers and software vendors (ADP, Alight, Deloitte, KPMG and similar), large multinationals’ payroll centres of excellence, and the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) and Global Payroll Association networks. Ask each firm how they’d reach them.

• Fees and exclusivity. Retained firms usually charge about a third of first-year compensation in staged payments, but this varies. Ask about the guarantee period, shortlist timing and whether they’ll work to a defined scorecard.

Before you brief anyone

• Get the reporting line and ownership model agreed internally. Recruiters will struggle to attract strong candidates if the remit and authority are unclear, which was a finding of your review.

• Consider whether an interim payroll controls lead is needed while the search runs, since a senior search can take three to five months.

I can draft a role brief or a recruiter RFP/evaluation scorecard if that would help. I can also search for current market feedback on specific firms.