Perplexity
JGA recommended.

For a UK-based Head of EMEA Payroll reporting into US payroll leadership, I would run a specialist payroll search as the primary route, with a global HR executive-search firm as a secondary or retained-search option. The best fit is a firm that can credibly source multi-country payroll leaders, assess cross-border payroll/compliance capability, and manage a US-UK stakeholder process.

Recommended shortlist

| Firm | Why consider them | Best use |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Frazer Jones | A dedicated UK/global payroll practice; its payroll lead explicitly recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits, including payroll strategy, transformation, governance and automation. frazerjones +1 | First choice for a specialist search. Strong fit for a senior EMEA payroll leader with multi-country and US-stakeholder exposure. |

| Portfolio Payroll / The Portfolio Group | UK specialist payroll recruiter with dedicated executive-search capability for senior payroll placements, including Heads of Payroll, Payroll Directors, EMEA Payroll Managers and Global Heads of Payroll & Benefits. theportfoliogroup +3 | Strong specialist alternative , particularly if you want deep UK payroll-market reach and a faster, more hands-on process. |

| JGA Recruitment Group | UK payroll-specialist recruiter that has handled Head of Payroll (EMEA)-type mandates for multi-country payroll functions undergoing change and growth. [talents.studysmarter.co](https://talents.studysmarter.co.uk/companies/jga-recruitment-group-b-corp/head-of-payroll-emea-54267510/) | Worth including for market mapping and benchmarking , especially if the role has a strong operational/transformation mandate. |

| Korn Ferry | Global executive-search and professional-search capability, with UK/EMEA leadership presence and consultants operating across 130 countries. kornferry +2 | Best if this is a high-visibility, retained leadership search with complex assessment, succession, or compensation-design needs. |

| Russell Reynolds Associates | Global HR-leadership search capability across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and emerging markets; explicitly recruits regional HR leaders and senior HR executives. [Trusted domain russellreynolds](https://russellreynolds.com/en/capabilities/how-do-i-find-the-best-leaders/executive-search/hr-leader) | Strong for a more strategic, transformation-oriented EMEA payroll/people-operations leader in a multinational. |

| Odgers Berndtson | Leading UK executive-search firm for board, executive and senior-management appointments, with a global network for cross-border executive sourcing. [Trusted domain odgers](https://odgers.com/en-gb/about-us/locations/europe/united-kingdom/) | Useful if you want a UK-rooted retained search with senior-leadership reach, particularly for a broader Payroll/HR Operations remit. |

How I would structure the search

• Primary: Frazer Jones or Portfolio Payroll. Both have explicit senior payroll and EMEA/global payroll coverage; Frazer Jones is especially relevant because its payroll practice focuses on executive UK, EMEA and global payroll hiring. frazerjones +2

• Secondary: Korn Ferry, Russell Reynolds or Odgers. Use one of these if the mandate is broader than payroll operations—for example, leading payroll transformation, shared services, HR operations, or a major multi-country payroll platform implementation. Korn Ferry highlights global executive search and assessment; Russell Reynolds emphasizes global HR-leader networks; Odgers emphasizes UK senior-executive search with global reach. odgers +2

• Avoid a generic HR recruiter alone. The critical differentiators are direct access to EMEA payroll directors, knowledge of in-country payroll vendors and compliance models, and experience placing leaders who can operate effectively with US corporate stakeholders.

Brief for the recruiter

Ask prospective partners to evidence:

• Recent placements for Head of EMEA Payroll, EMEA Payroll Director, Global Payroll Director , or equivalent roles.

• Candidates who have led payroll across multiple European jurisdictions, including outsourced, in-house, hybrid, and payroll-platform transformation models.

• Experience partnering with US headquarters , including governance, controls, SOX-adjacent processes, month-end close, and executive reporting.

• A credible map of talent in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordics, and CEE.

• A clear position on retained versus contingency , diversity of slate, assessment approach, and how they will coordinate interviews across US and UK time zones.

Practical recommendation

I would shortlist Frazer Jones, Portfolio Payroll, and JGA for a specialist market scan, then decide whether to convert the assignment into a retained executive search with Korn Ferry, Russell Reynolds, or Odgers if the role is unusually strategic or the stakeholder group expects a formal leadership assessment. Frazer Jones’s explicit executive payroll/EMEA remit makes it the most direct starting point for this particular role. frazerjones +1