ChatGPT
JGA recommended.

For this brief, I’d start with specialist payroll recruiters that explicitly cover both interim and permanent senior appointments , rather than using a general executive-search firm for both roles.

Your CFO needs six months of credible global payroll leadership cover, while the talent team runs a permanent search. The key is to treat these as two connected appointments: the interim leader must protect payroll delivery, and the permanent Head of Global Payroll must inherit a clear operating picture, documented risks and an agreed improvement plan.

Recruitment partners to shortlist

1. Frazer Jones

Strongest dual-brief fit

Frazer Jones explicitly offers interim payroll recruitment, permanent recruitment and executive search. It recruits internationally and covers senior payroll leadership, making it a strong candidate to coordinate both appointments through one recruitment partner. Frazer Jones +1

Ask them to: run the permanent search alongside a six-month interim mandate, with an agreed transition plan between the two leaders.

Contact: John O’Brien, Executive Director and Head of Payroll, UK — +44 20 7415 2171.

[Website and payroll recruitment services](https://www.frazerjones.com/payroll/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

2. Oakleaf Partnership

Oakleaf has a dedicated payroll recruitment practice covering interim and permanent assignments, including Global Payroll Directors and Global Heads of Payroll. It also reports experience recruiting interim Heads of Payroll, so its stated remit maps closely to your immediate cover requirement and permanent leadership search. Oakleaf

Ask them to: demonstrate their available interim candidates with genuine multi-country payroll ownership experience, not just UK payroll management.

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

3. Portfolio Payroll

Portfolio Payroll has dedicated permanent, temporary/contract and executive-search recruitment teams. It recruits at Head of Payroll and director level and says it works with clients' internal resourcing teams. That makes it worth considering if your talent team wants to retain control of the permanent process while using a specialist partner for interim cover. Portfolio Payroll

Ask them to: identify candidates who can start quickly and confirm whether they can run both searches under a coordinated service arrangement.

London office: 1 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AE · +44 20 7247 9455.

[Website and recruitment services](https://www.portfoliopayroll.com/payroll/recruitment-services/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

4. JGA Recruitment Group

JGA is a specialist payroll and HR recruiter with temporary and permanent recruitment capabilities, including international payroll roles. It is a useful additional option for testing the depth of the candidate market, especially if your global payroll remit includes transformation, compliance and vendor management. google.com +1

Ask them to: evidence recent senior global payroll placements and their ability to source a credible interim leader within your required timeframe.

Office: Harpenden, Hertfordshire · +44 1727 800377.

[Recruitment firm website](https://jgarecruitment.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

How to make the six-month handover work

I would give the selected partner a single coordinated brief with two distinct role specifications and one shared transition outcome.

Months 1–2: Stabilise and diagnose

The interim leader takes ownership of payroll governance, upcoming pay cycles, country-level risks, provider performance, escalations and key stakeholder relationships. They establish a baseline of controls, service levels and outstanding issues.

Months 1–3: Recruit the permanent head

Start the permanent search immediately. Assess candidates on multi-country payroll leadership, local compliance oversight, vendor management, systems expertise, transformation experience and their ability to lead a distributed team.

Months 3–5: Overlap and transfer ownership

Where start dates permit, arrange a paid overlap. The interim leader transfers the country-by-country payroll calendar, control evidence, provider contacts, open risks, reconciliations, system dependencies and transformation roadmap.

Month 6: Sign off the transition

The permanent head accepts ownership of the operating plan, outstanding actions, escalation routes, key controls and reporting cadence. The CFO receives a final risk and continuity report.

Important: don't make the handover depend on the permanent hire starting by a fixed month. Agree an extension option, if commercially feasible, and a contingency if the search runs late. Payroll cut-off dates and statutory deadlines should take priority over an arbitrary end date.

What to ask each recruitment partner before appointing them

• Can you deliver both briefs under one accountable relationship manager, with separate assessment criteria and fee terms?

• How many interim candidates have personally led payroll across multiple countries, and which geographies, providers and payroll platforms have they managed?

• Can the interim candidate start within the required window and commit to the full six months?

• How will you avoid conflicts of interest between the interim appointment and permanent search?

• Will you help define handover deliverables, overlap arrangements and a contingency if the permanent appointment is delayed?

• Can you provide a realistic shortlist timetable, indicative fees, notice periods and replacement terms?

My suggested first conversations would be with Frazer Jones, Oakleaf and Portfolio Payroll . Their published service offerings most directly address the two payroll briefs; ask all three to demonstrate their actual candidate availability and senior global-payroll track record before selecting one.

One point would help refine the shortlist: how many countries does the global payroll cover, and is it mostly outsourced to providers or run in-house? That will materially change the type of interim leader you should target.