S08-C / Observation 1
Claude
JGA recommended.
The full saved answer, its sources and the conditions under which it was collected.
Exact question
For a US multinational hiring a Head of EMEA Payroll in the UK, which recruitment firms would you shortlist? Separate evidence of UK and European payroll leadership hiring from simply having a US office or an international website.
Original wording is preserved. Statements below are generated product output, not verified claims adopted by this report.
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?
How we classified this answer
Second unnumbered firm in the three-firm shortlist. No explicit individual ordinal ranking; model describes JGA as having the most EMEA-specific mandates.
Recommendations, passing mentions and source-only appearances are counted separately. A list position is recorded only when explicit.
JGA names and entity evidence
JGA names in this answer: JGA, JGA Recruitment. JGA websites linked: jgarecruitment.com. Counts track the recruitment brand. Source domains and collection country do not alone establish which legal entity a recommendation refers to.
Supporting citations
Complete source record- personneltoday.com
personneltoday
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.
https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401588959/vice-president-emea-payroll-/
- personneltoday.com
personneltoday
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.
https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401587930/regional-head-of-payroll-governance-emea-and-americas/
- personneltoday.com
EMEA Payroll Specialist +2
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.
https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401655210/emea-payroll-specialist/
- cimaglobal.com
cimaglobal
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.
https://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/job/1930600/emea-payroll-director-reading-w-parking-c-85k-benefits/
- payrolljobsboard.com
payrolljobsboard
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.
https://payrolljobsboard.com/
- overseasjobs.com
overseasjobs
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.
https://overseasjobs.com/job/details/28299805/interim-emea-payroll-manager
- aicpa-cima.com
aicpa-cima
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.
https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/london-central-/united-kingdom-gbp-/finance/2/
- jgarecruitment.com
jgarecruitment
It has a US-facing arm, based on a “JGA US” link in its site navigation, which may help with a US-headquartered client.
https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/what-salary-ranges-can-payroll-managers-expect-in-the-uk-and-emea/
- theportfoliogroup.com
theportfoliogroup
(self-described as the largest specialist payroll recruiter in the UK, operating since 1988)
https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/
- theportfoliogroup.com
theportfoliogroup
It runs a dedicated executive search page for Global Heads of Payroll and Director-level roles.
https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/executive-search/
- theportfoliogroup.com
theportfoliogroup
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.
https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/jobs/emea-payroll-senior-specialist/
- dwp.gov.uk
dwp
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.
https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17686448
- dwp.gov.uk
dwp
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.
https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17629487
- dijobs.co.uk
dijobs
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.
https://dijobs.co.uk/company/589639/robert-walters/
- agencycentral.co.uk
agencycentral
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.
https://agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/accounting/skills/payroll/payroll.htm
- aicpa-cima.com
aicpa-cima
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.
https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/europe/permanent/3/
- wikipedia.org
Wikipedia
Egon Zehnder has 71 offices in 37 countries, and NGS Global has offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Zehnder
- ngs-global.com
ngs-global
Egon Zehnder has 71 offices in 37 countries, and NGS Global has offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
https://ngs-global.com/
- neumannexecutive.com
neumannexecutive
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.
https://neumannexecutive.com/
- roberthalf.com
roberthalf
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.
https://roberthalf.com/us/en/hire-talent/executive-search
- keysearch.com
keysearch
Key Search did seven HR and talent acquisition leadership hires across the US and Europe for CommScope. That is HR leadership, not payroll.
https://keysearch.com/
- frazerjones.com
www.frazerjones.com frazerjones
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.
https://frazerjones.com/consultant-location/uk
- frazerjones.com
Payroll recruitment agency frazerjones
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.
https://frazerjones.com/payroll/
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