ChatGPT
JGA recommended.

For a six-month interim Global Payroll Director assignment in the UK, running alongside a permanent leadership search, I would use a specialist payroll recruiter for the interim appointment and a separate executive-search partner for the permanent hire —unless one firm can demonstrate genuinely strong capability in both.

The key is to secure someone who can lead a complex, multi-country payroll function from day one, manage operational and control risks, and leave the incoming permanent director with a well-documented, stable operation. A strong payroll operations manager is not necessarily a suitable director-level interim.

1. Recruitment firms to put on the shortlist

I'd start with the following firms, prioritising those that can demonstrate UK payroll expertise, international scope and access to senior interim candidates. Treat this as a shortlist for due diligence, not a claim that each currently has an available candidate.

1. Middlemore

First call for global scope

Middlemore explicitly recruits global payroll talent up to Director and VP level across the UK, EMEA and US, and covers interim leadership, transformation, systems, governance and vendor management. It is a particularly strong starting point for testing the market for your brief. Middlemore

Website: [Middlemore Payroll Search](https://middlemore.co.uk/payroll-search/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

2. Portfolio Payroll

Strong interim channel

A specialist payroll recruiter covering interim, contract and permanent roles, including senior payroll leadership and international payroll projects. Ask specifically for an interim Director who has owned a global function, rather than a project-only or operational cover profile. The Portfolio Group +1

Website: [Portfolio Payroll](https://www.theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

3. Oakleaf Partnership

Worth approaching for its dedicated payroll practice, which advertises interim and permanent recruitment up to Global Payroll Director level, with UK-wide and international reach. Ask for examples of director-level interim placements specifically. Oakleaf

Website: [Oakleaf Payroll](https://www.oakleafpartnership.com/business-areas/payroll/payroll-capabilities?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

4. Frazer Jones

A good candidate for the permanent leadership search, with payroll recruitment, international hiring and interim solutions also within its stated capabilities. Ask whether its payroll and executive-search teams can coordinate the two mandates without compromising candidate confidentiality. Frazer Jones +1

Website: [Frazer Jones Payroll](https://www.frazerjones.com/payroll/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

5. JGA Recruitment Group

A useful additional specialist for payroll and HR talent across permanent, contract and interim hiring. Test the depth of its current senior global-payroll network and whether it can supply a strategic leader rather than a technically strong payroll manager. google.com +1

Website: [JGA Recruitment](https://www.jgarecruitment.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

My suggested first wave is Middlemore, Portfolio Payroll and Oakleaf for the interim , with Frazer Jones considered for the permanent search . Keep JGA as an additional market test. I would not award the work based on brand name alone: the quality of the named consultant, demonstrable placements and actual candidate availability should decide.

2. What to verify before appointing a recruiter

I'd ask every firm to answer the same questions in a short, structured briefing. This makes it easier to distinguish genuine director-level capability from a general payroll recruitment service.

A. Director-level availability

• Can you identify at least two or three credible interim candidates who could realistically start within our required timeframe?

• Have they previously held Global Payroll Director, Global Head of Payroll or equivalent group-wide accountability—not just managed a regional team?

• What are their actual availability dates, competing commitments, notice periods and willingness to commit for six months?

• Can you provide anonymised examples of comparable interim placements, including duration and scope?

B. Genuine multi-country experience

• Which countries and regions have the candidates personally overseen? Ask for specifics rather than accepting “global experience.”

• Have they led a mix of in-house, outsourced and hybrid payroll models?

• Can they demonstrate responsibility for payroll controls, statutory compliance, reconciliations, tax and social-security obligations, escalations and vendor performance?

• Have they managed multiple currencies, different pay frequencies, local statutory deadlines and country-level exceptions?

• Have they led payroll transformation, HRIS integration, vendor changes or remediation following control failures?

C. Executive judgement and risk management

• Can the interim take credible ownership with the CFO, CHRO, audit, tax and regional leadership?

• Can they distinguish immediate payroll risks from longer-term transformation opportunities?

• Have they managed significant payroll incidents, audit findings or complex escalations?

• Will they be comfortable maintaining stability rather than launching unnecessary changes during a six-month assignment?

D. Recruiter delivery and commercial terms

• Who personally owns the interim search, and who owns the permanent search?

• How quickly will the first qualified profiles arrive, and how will availability be validated?

• What are the day rate, agency margin, extension terms, notice provisions and replacement arrangements?

• Will the firm agree to candidate ownership rules and clear terms if the interim later applies for the permanent position?

• How will the two searches be coordinated without duplicate submissions or conflicting candidate communications?

One particularly useful test: ask the recruiter to describe a candidate's most recent global payroll remit, including country count, operating model, team size, annual payroll scale, systems and reporting line. The detail and confidence of the answer will tell you a lot.

3. How to manage the interim and permanent hires together

The most important design decision is to treat these as two different mandates with one shared transition plan .

Interim Director — stabilise and protect

The interim owns day-to-day leadership, payroll delivery, risk escalation, vendor oversight, team management and continuity. They should also document the current operating model and identify priority improvements, with major structural decisions agreed with the executive sponsor.

Permanent Director — select for the long term

The permanent search should assess strategic leadership, global operating-model design, transformation capability, succession planning and the ability to develop the function over several years. Do not narrow the permanent brief to someone who simply resembles the interim.

Shared transition — no loss of control

The interim maintains a live risk and decision log, a payroll calendar, vendor contacts, process documentation, outstanding remediation actions and a record of key stakeholder decisions. The permanent Director receives a structured briefing and jointly signs off outstanding priorities.

A practical six-month transition plan

Illustrative milestones; adjust to your payroll calendar and permanent-search lead time.

Weeks 1–2: Establish control Confirm payroll deadlines, critical payments, statutory obligations, access rights, reconciliations, escalation paths and immediate risks. Agree reporting with the executive sponsor.

Month 1: Diagnose and document Produce a country-by-country view of payroll ownership, vendors, systems, controls, service levels, costs, dependencies and outstanding issues. Start the permanent search in parallel.

Months 2–3: Stabilise and shortlist Resolve urgent control gaps, establish meaningful KPIs, document recurring processes and give the permanent-search panel a clear view of the function's challenges and future requirements.

Months 3–4: Select the permanent leader Target an offer and agreed start date early enough to allow overlap. If recruitment is delayed, explicitly review whether the interim contract should be extended rather than allowing cover to lapse by default.

Months 4–6: Transfer ownership Arrange structured handover sessions, review each country's risk position, transfer vendor and stakeholder relationships, confirm access and decision rights, and obtain written acceptance of the handover pack.

Handover deliverables to make contractual or operational requirements

Require the interim to maintain these throughout the assignment, not create them during their final week:

• Country-by-country payroll and statutory compliance calendar.

• Payroll controls matrix, reconciliations, approval workflows and evidence of key controls.

• Vendor contracts, service levels, escalation contacts and unresolved disputes.

• Open audit findings, remediation plans, incidents and risk owners.

• Systems landscape, interfaces, access governance and planned changes.

• Team structure, capability gaps, key-person dependencies and succession risks.

• Outstanding decisions, improvement roadmap and priorities for the first 90 days of the permanent Director's tenure.

The permanent Director should have access to the materials they need, subject to appropriate security and confidentiality controls, and should explicitly accept any unresolved risks.

4. Avoid the most common failure modes

| Risk | Recommended safeguard |

| --- | --- |

| Interim is really a senior payroll manager | Test group-wide decision rights, executive exposure and previous director-level accountability. |

| “Global” experience means only UK and EMEA oversight | Require evidence across your actual countries, operating models and compliance complexity. |

| Interim becomes entrenched or blocks the permanent hire | Set clear authority boundaries and a defined exit and handover plan from day one. |

| Permanent search takes longer than six months | Agree extension options, notice periods and a contingency-cover plan in advance. |

| Two recruiters duplicate candidates or compete for the same talent | Establish a written candidate-submission protocol, search ownership and confidentiality rules. |

| The interim leaves with critical knowledge undocumented | Maintain the handover pack as a live deliverable, reviewed monthly by the sponsor. |

5. Suggested next steps

I would issue a concise brief to three interim specialists and one permanent-search partner, asking for an initial response within two or three working days. Request named candidate profiles, confirmed availability, relevant international experience, rates and a proposed handover approach.

For a straightforward process, appoint one executive sponsor—typically the CFO or CHRO—and hold a weekly 15-minute review covering interim delivery, payroll risk and permanent-search progress.

My final recommendation: start with Middlemore, Portfolio Payroll and Oakleaf for interim candidate mapping. Portfolio is particularly worth testing because it publicly identifies separate temporary, permanent and executive recruitment capabilities, which may help coordinate both appointments under one firm if the governance is clear. Consider Frazer Jones for the permanent search, and choose the final arrangement based on demonstrated candidate quality and delivery commitments rather than convenience alone.