Claude
JGA recommended.

Here are agencies whose recent listings show they place payroll leadership roles in Manchester or oversee UK/European payroll. I haven’t verified their search capability, fees or current candidate pools, so treat this as a starting list.

Seen recruiting for Manchester payroll leadership

• Hays (Manchester): It advertised a permanent, hybrid Senior Head of Payroll role in the North West at around £80,000. That role was a large shared-service environment, so they clearly work at this level. [hays](https://www.hays.co.uk/job-detail/senior-head-of-payroll-north-west_4714062)

• Robert Walters: It has advertised a permanent Head of Payroll role for a Manchester city-centre client, leading multiple payrolls for a large workforce. [robertwalters](https://www.robertwalters.co.uk/accountancyfinance/jobs/financemanager/1828433-head-of-payroll.html)

• Michael Page: It has recruited a permanent Head of Payroll in Greater Manchester on a hybrid basis, though that one was public sector at £53-60k. [page](https://manufacturing.page.com/job-detail/head-payroll/ref/jn-022025-6667818)

• Investigo: It placed a Manchester Head of Payroll role at £80-90k plus bonus, covering global payroll for a large complex organisation. [investigo](https://www.investigo.co.uk/job/head-of-payroll-3)

• JGA Recruitment: It describes itself as a specialist payroll and HR agency and has advertised Manchester payroll management roles. Its listings so far are more mid-level, so check it can handle a head-of-function search. [overseasjobs](https://overseasjobs.com/job/details/30281989/hr-payroll-manager)

Relevant for the UK and European supplier angle

• Morgan McKinley: It runs an executive search arm and has recruited UK and European payroll roles that involve liaising with external vendors. [morganmckinley](https://morganmckinley.com/jobs/london/payroll-benefit-specialist-eu/1094702)

• Vaco/Highspring: It has recruited a Europe payroll manager role overseeing service delivery across multiple external payroll partners. That is close to your supplier-management brief, though the role was London-based and more junior than yours. [vaco](https://jobs.vaco.com/job/14415/global_payroll_manager_europe/en)

Other options (from general knowledge, not from this search):

Frazer Jones and Badenoch + Clark are well-known for senior HR, finance and payroll searches, and a retained executive search firm may suit a head-of-function role during a provider change.

Choosing between them

• Ask for evidence of Head of Payroll placements in the last 12 months, ideally with multi-country outsourced models.

• Specify the profile: experience of provider transitions or RFPs, vendor governance, and a CIPP or equivalent qualification.

• Decide between contingent and retained. Contingent gives you speed and several agencies in parallel, while retained gives deeper headhunting of passive candidates, which can matter for a role this senior.

• Check salary expectations against the market. The listings above ranged from about £53k (public sector) to £80-90k plus bonus, and a role with European scope will likely sit at the upper end.

If you’d like, I can draft a briefing note for agencies covering the role scope, requirements and what you want from their search process.