Perplexity
JGA not recommended.

I would start with Frazer Jones and ask specifically for its UK interim payroll leadership team. It combines a specialist payroll practice with executive search and interim recruitment, making it a closer match to six-month Global Payroll Director cover than a general temporary-payroll staffing desk.

[frazerjones](https://frazerjones.com/payroll/)

Who to contact

| Provider | Why it fits your requirement | Best route |

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

| Frazer Jones | Its payroll practice offers both executive search and interim recruitment. London-based director Linda Giacomantonio focuses on UK interim payroll appointments; her published remit includes UK and global payroll, management, transformation, governance and audit. frazerjones +2 | Ask for Linda Giacomantonio and specify a director-level leadership mandate. Her published contact details are lindagiacomantonio@frazerjones.com and 07584 049504. [linkedin](https://linkedin.com/in/linda-giacomantonio-6298535a) |

| Korn Ferry | Its interim executive service explicitly covers interim directors and functional experts, including external leaders brought in while a permanent hire is found. This is a strong alternative for an executive-level search, although the cited service page does not establish a dedicated UK global-payroll specialism. [Trusted domain kornferry](https://kornferry.com/capabilities/talent-acquisition/interim-executives-professionals) | Ask its Interim Executives & Professionals team for evidence of recent UK-based global payroll leadership assignments before commissioning the search. |

Frazer Jones would be my first call for payroll-specific expertise; Korn Ferry would be the comparison option for the broader interim-executive approach. Neither source establishes that a suitable candidate is available immediately, so availability and relevant placement experience need to be confirmed.

Make the brief explicitly about leadership, not processing

I would send this brief:

We need a UK-based Interim Global Payroll Director for six months to bridge a permanent leadership search. This is an accountable functional leadership appointment, not temporary payroll processing support.

The interim will lead the existing payroll team and providers, own global payroll delivery, governance, controls and escalations, manage senior HR and Finance stakeholders, and provide a structured handover to the permanent head.

Please put forward candidates who have already led a comparable multi-country payroll function at Director or Global Head level. Confirm their country coverage, workforce scale, team leadership, relevant systems and outsourced-provider experience, availability, and proposed engagement terms.

Add your countries, employee numbers, reporting line, team size, systems, UK attendance requirements and any live transformation or compliance issues. Those details will help distinguish a genuine global functional leader from a senior practitioner whose experience is primarily hands-on processing.

What to ask before appointing a recruiter

• Relevant track record: “Which comparable interim Global Payroll Director or Head of Global Payroll mandates have you filled?”

• Candidate accountability: “Did those candidates own the function, team and controls—or support a project or payroll cycle?”

• Six-month suitability: “Can the candidate commit to the full assignment and a defined handover?”

• Commercial clarity: “What are the candidate rate, agency charges, engagement structure and extension or early-termination terms?”

Your requirement is best described as “six-month interim executive cover for the global payroll function while the permanent search runs”—not simply “temporary payroll support.” That matches the leadership-gap purpose of interim executive recruitment.

[Trusted domain kornferry](https://kornferry.com/capabilities/talent-acquisition/interim-executives-professionals)