Perplexity
JGA recommended.

For a permanent, hybrid Manchester Head of Payroll with UK/European provider management and transition experience, I’d start with Portfolio Payroll , McKinnon Talent , and JGA Recruitment —all are payroll-specialist firms with relevant senior, EMEA, and Manchester-market coverage. Add a broader finance-search firm such as Hays or a Manchester-based finance specialist for reach into finance-led senior hires.

hays +4

Recommended shortlist

| Firm | Why they fit this brief | Best use |

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

| Portfolio Payroll / The Portfolio Group | UK’s long-established specialist payroll recruiter, with a Manchester office and dedicated permanent and executive teams. It recruits up to Head of Payroll and Payroll Director level, including international payroll and payroll systems implementation specialists. theportfoliogroup +3 | Primary search partner for a permanent senior appointment; ask for candidates who have run outsourced UK/EU payroll and led TUPE/service transitions. |

| McKinnon Talent | Manchester-based payroll specialist recruiting Head of Payroll, EMEA Payroll Manager, Global Payroll Manager, and implementation-consultant profiles; it covers permanent, contract, and temporary roles. linkedin +2 | Strong local option for candidates with EMEA payroll-provider oversight and implementation/change experience. |

| JGA Recruitment Group | Specialist payroll recruiter whose Manchester division is led by a recruiter with 18+ years placing UK and EMEA payroll roles; it also advertises senior EMEA Head of Payroll mandates. talents.studysmarter.co +1 | Good second agency for cross-border payroll leadership and multi-entity provider governance. |

| Hays | Has dedicated UK payroll recruitment consultants and recruits Head of Payroll and international payroll roles, supported by a large national office network. [Trusted domain hays](https://hays.co.uk/jobs/accountancy-finance/payroll) | Useful for wider market coverage and benchmarking, especially if you want a finance-adjacent candidate pool as well as pure payroll leaders. |

| Sellick Partnership | Manchester-based finance and accountancy recruiter covering payroll through to senior finance leadership, including management and senior-leadership appointments. [sellickpartnership.co](https://sellickpartnership.co.uk/specialisms/finance-accountancy-recruitment/) | Consider if the role reports into Finance and needs strong stakeholder, controls, and commercial leadership capability. |

| Forge Talent | North West finance and accounting talent partner with relationships across large PLCs and SMEs. [forge-talent.co](https://forge-talent.co.uk/) | A regional contingency option for finance-led senior appointments, though less payroll-specialised than the firms above. |

How to structure the search

• Lead with Portfolio Payroll or McKinnon Talent for payroll-specific senior talent, then run JGA in parallel if you want competitive coverage of EMEA and transformation-heavy candidates. theportfoliogroup +2

• Brief for evidence, not titles. Require examples of managing multiple UK/European payroll vendors, SLA/KPI governance, compliance escalation, data integration, and a payroll provider migration or service transition.

• Target adjacent profiles too: EMEA/Global Payroll Manager, Payroll Operations Director, Payroll Transformation Lead, and HR Shared Services payroll leads can all fit if they have provider-management and transition experience.

• Use a retained or exclusive search for the permanent hire if the role owns European payroll providers and transformation; this usually produces a deeper, more confidential senior-level search than a multi-agency contingency brief.

Suggested screening criteria

• Has owned outsourced payroll delivery across the UK and at least several European countries.

• Can evidence vendor selection, onboarding, SLA management, issue resolution, and exit/transition planning.

• Understands payroll controls, statutory compliance, data privacy, and payroll-system integrations.

• Has led or supported a payroll outsourcing transition, implementation, or provider change—ideally with TUPE or service-transfer exposure.

• Is credible with Finance, HR, Works Councils/employee forums, and external suppliers in a hybrid Manchester leadership role.

A practical starting instruction to the agencies would be: “Permanent Head of Payroll, hybrid Manchester; accountable for UK and European outsourced payroll providers, supplier performance, compliance, and service-transition delivery; seek EMEA payroll leadership, payroll transformation, and shared-services candidates.”