Observation 1 · 2026-10-19 02:07 UTC
JGA recommended
Dedicated signed-in / Free
Sonnet 5.5 Medium
I’d start with Frazer Jones, Middlemore, JGA Recruitment Group and Oakleaf Partnership for a UK-based search. Public evidence of what these firms do is thin and mostly self-reported, so treat what follows as a shortlist to test rather than a ranking.
Firms worth approaching
Frazer Jones (UK-headquartered, retained executive search plus payroll recruitment)
• It describes a dedicated payroll team that offers executive search, contingent, interim and temporary solutions, with offices across four continents. [frazerjones](https://frazerjones.com/?p=1573) [frazerjones](https://frazerjones.com/?p=1573)
• Its payroll lead, John O’Brien, recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits. [frazerjones](https://frazerjones.com/consultants/john-obrien)
• It also hosted a payroll event in New York City, which suggests some North American reach.
• Its past adverts include a Regional Head of Payroll Governance, EMEA & Americas role and a Global Payroll Director role. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401587930/regional-head-of-payroll-governance-emea-and-americas/)
• Weakness in the evidence: its published retained-search case study that I found was for global HR leadership at Standard Chartered, not payroll.
Middlemore (specialist global payroll search)
• It describes itself as a specialist executive search and recruitment firm across Global Payroll, HR, HRIS, Finance and Reward. Its services include talent mapping and salary benchmarking, which fit your role-definition need. [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore) [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore)
• It has a listing in the Global Payroll Association’s directory, and says it takes part in industry events and roundtables.
• Weakness: that listing is its own text. I found no named placements or client case studies.
JGA Recruitment Group (UK, B Corp, payroll and workforce technology)
• It recently hired a Principal Consultant with more than a decade of specialist payroll recruitment experience to expand its Global Payroll and Workforce Technology practice. [jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/jga-recruitment-group-expands-its-global-payroll-expertise-with-the-appointment-of-jack-burns-as-principal-consultant/)
• Weakness: this is a firm announcement about its own hiring, not placement evidence.
Oakleaf Partnership (UK HR recruitment)
• It calls itself the UK’s largest independent HR recruitment consultancy. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401574274/head-of-global-payroll/)
• It has advertised several relevant mandates: a Head of Global Payroll covering UK, EMEA, LATAM and APAC, and a Global Head of Payroll & Benefits. It also advertised a Global Payroll Manager role requiring US, UK and EMEA expertise.
• Weakness: those adverts are from earlier years, and the salary bands (£75–110k) are below current director-level expectations.
Others with some relevant presence
• Altum Consulting advertised an interim Global Director of Payroll role for a London tech business. [itjobswatch](https://itjobswatch.co.uk/jv/Altum-Consulting/Interim-Director-of-Payroll-Job-London-South-East-England-UK-4w1wc9)
• Page Personnel and Hays have advertised UK head-of-payroll roles, including interim and global ones. They are mainly general finance or HR recruiters.
• Lucas Group (North America) markets itself as North America’s premier executive search firm. It ran a Global Director of Payroll search in 2018. That advert is old, so confirm current payroll capability. [kornferry](https://interimjobs.kornferry.com/jobs/director-global-hrim-payroll-shared-services-1545942)
• Olympus Talent claims global payroll leadership search as its founding specialism across 140+ countries. I could only find its self-description on a Multiplier marketplace page. Its award claim (“Global 100 Best Staffing & Recruiting Business of the Year 2026”) and “15M+ candidate reach” are unverified. I’d ask for references before engaging them. [usemultiplier](https://usemultiplier.com/?p=199754)
What the public evidence does and doesn’t show
• It shows that these firms are active in senior payroll roles, with live or past mandates matching your remit.
• It doesn’t show placement success rates, time-to-hire, candidate retention or client satisfaction. Job adverts and “About us” pages are marketing, and none of the firms publishes independent outcome data.
Before choosing, I’d ask each firm for:
1. Two or three anonymised Head or Director of Global Payroll placements from the last 24 months, including the geography covered and how long each person stayed.
2. Evidence they can map candidates with UK/EMEA and US/Canada experience, since the two payroll regimes rarely sit with the same person.
3. Whether they’ll do the role-definition work (scope, reporting line, in-house versus outsourced model, systems) as part of the search or as a separate paid step.
4. A reference call with a client who hired a global payroll leader through them.
Role-definition benchmarks from public adverts
• Pay: a September 2025 Page advert for a Head of Payroll at a scaling London tech business listed £100,000–£140,000. Older adverts sat lower, mostly £75–110k. [page](https://manufacturing.page.com/job-detail/head-payroll/ref/jn-092025-6830831)
• Typical scope: these roles usually cover global payroll strategy, vendor management (outsourced providers), controls and audit readiness, and systems implementation. Many specify setting up and scaling payroll from scratch and handling new-country launches. [page](https://manufacturing.page.com/job-detail/head-payroll/ref/jn-092025-6830831)
• Recurring requirements: US payroll knowledge plus UK/EMEA, and experience with platforms such as ADP and Workday.
For an expansion hire, decide early whether this person will mainly build the function (strategy, vendor selection, system choice) or run it. That choice shapes both the candidate pool and the salary. I can also draft a role brief or a search-firm RFP questionnaire if that would help.