Claude
JGA recommended.

There’s no independent league table of payroll recruiters, so what follows comes from what firms say about themselves and from roles they’ve advertised. Treat it as a longlist to test, not a ranking.

Payroll-specialist firms worth a first call

• Frazer Jones : Its head of payroll, John O’Brien, recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits. The firm describes itself as the UK’s leading executive payroll recruiter. They have also advertised director-level payroll roles, and they’ve historically been strong in financial services and professional services. [frazerjones](https://www.frazerjones.com/de/?p=2395)

• Middlemore : This is a specialist search firm covering global payroll, HR, HRIS, finance and reward. They offer executive search, talent mapping and salary benchmarking, and say their work spans global payroll transformation, governance, compliance and vendor management. That’s close to your brief. [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore) [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore)

• Oakleaf Partnership : They describe themselves as the UK’s largest independent HR recruitment consultancy. They have run head-of-global-payroll searches covering EMEA, LATAM and APAC, though the examples I saw were at lower salary levels than a director role. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401574274/head-of-global-payroll/)

• JGA Recruitment Group : They call themselves a specialist payroll and HR recruitment agency. The roles I found were senior-practitioner level, so ask whether they can handle a director-level search. [studentjob](https://www.studentjob.co.uk/vacancies/5280719-global-payroll-expert-remote-uk-100k-in-bury)

Broader firms with payroll desks

Hays has advertised a newly created Payroll Director role at a global software business. Page Personnel, part of the Michael Page network, covers payroll within finance recruitment. Both are larger generalists, so find out who would actually run your search and what their payroll network looks like. Altum Consulting has also recruited for an interim Global Director of Payroll, and its job description closely mirrors your problem: a global payroll governance framework covering controls, audits and quality standards.

[Group Payroll Manager

+2](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/job/4462555/group-payroll-manager/)

Questions to ask each firm

1. Have they placed a global payroll head into a function that was in remediation, not just one that was running smoothly?

2. Which candidates would they approach directly, not just those who apply? Retained or exclusive search generally works better for a rebuild than contingent.

3. What do they see as the real market range for the salary and package?

4. Do they know your likely candidate pool, such as people from multi-country organisations with in-country providers and a single global payroll platform?

5. Can they offer an interim as a bridge while the permanent search runs? That’s often worth considering when controls are weak and errors are ongoing.

I’d speak to three or four: one or two payroll specialists such as Frazer Jones and Middlemore, plus one generalist for comparison. You can also ask the CIPP and the Global Payroll Association for recommendations. Middlemore is listed in the GPA’s directory, which suggests they’re active in that community. It will also help to define the role before you brief anyone. If ownership is unclear today, specify who the director reports to and which country payrolls and vendors they will control.