ChatGPT: both observations

For your situation, I’d prioritise specialist payroll recruiters with proven access to global payroll leadership talent , rather than relying solely on a generalist executive search firm.

You need someone who can do more than run payroll accurately. The new Global Payroll Director must rebuild the operating model, establish clear accountability across countries and providers, strengthen financial controls, and restore confidence in payroll reporting and employee payments.

I’d start with the following recruiters in the UK, using a mix of specialist payroll search and senior executive recruitment.

1. My recommended shortlist

1. Oakleaf Partnership

Strong specialist fit

Oakleaf’s dedicated payroll practice covers Global Payroll Directors, global payroll implementation leaders and senior payroll management, including international assignments. It also reports experience recruiting for global-head-of-payroll roles.

Why speak to them: A good first call for candidates who combine payroll operations with transformation and control improvement.

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

2. Frazer Jones

Frazer Jones offers payroll executive search, permanent recruitment and interim payroll hiring, backed by an international HR recruitment network. Its published specialist contacts include a UK Head of Payroll and a UK Payroll Director.

Why speak to them: Particularly relevant if you want a senior, strategically minded leader who can influence Finance, HR, IT and executive stakeholders, not just manage day-to-day processing.

Source: [Payroll recruitment and executive search](https://frazerjones.com/get-in-touch/book-a-consultation/payroll/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) .

3. Portfolio Payroll

Portfolio Payroll specialises in payroll recruitment, with dedicated permanent, executive and temporary/contract recruitment services. Its executive search offering explicitly covers senior payroll managers and directors.

Why speak to them: A strong option for reaching the specialist payroll talent market and testing the depth of the available candidate pool.

Contact: 020 7247 9455. [Recruitment services and enquiries](https://portfoliopayroll.com/payroll/recruitment-services/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) .

4. JGA Recruitment Group

JGA focuses on payroll and HR recruitment, with permanent hiring and structured search options.

Why speak to them: Useful as a further specialist channel to identify candidates with international payroll experience, particularly if you want to compare the strength of different recruiter networks.

Contact: 01727 800377. [JGA Recruitment Group website](https://jgarecruitment.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) .

5. Hays

Hays has a dedicated payroll recruitment specialism and has advertised permanent Global Payroll Director positions in the UK, including roles requiring international compliance, governance and transformation experience.

Why speak to them: A useful additional channel for benchmarking the market and reaching candidates with experience in complex, multi-region organisations.

Source: [Hays Global Payroll Director role](https://hays.co.uk/job-detail/global-payroll-director--london_4819608?utm_source=chatgpt.com) .

2. Who I’d contact first

I would run a focused initial competition between three firms:

| Recruiter | Role in your search |

| --- | --- |

| Oakleaf Partnership | Specialist payroll talent and international payroll experience |

| Frazer Jones | Senior payroll leadership and executive-level assessment |

| Portfolio Payroll | Additional depth in the specialist payroll candidate market |

For Oakleaf and Frazer Jones, ask for the consultant who personally handles Global Head of Payroll and Payroll Director appointments, rather than a general HR recruiter. Frazer Jones has a particularly relevant contact in John O’Brien, its UK Executive Director and Head of Payroll.

3. The brief I’d give every recruiter

Make the assignment explicitly about payroll remediation and transformation , not simply business-as-usual payroll leadership.

Ask each recruiter to demonstrate access to candidates who have:

• Fixed recurring payroll errors across multiple countries, with measurable improvements in accuracy and on-time payments.

• Built or repaired control frameworks , including reconciliations, approvals, exception reporting, audit trails and segregation of duties.

• Established clear ownership between central payroll, local country teams, Finance, HR, IT and external payroll providers.

• Led global payroll transformation , including systems, vendor consolidation, process standardisation and data quality.

• Operated at executive level , with the confidence to escalate risks and report control effectiveness to senior leadership.

I would also ask for two or three anonymised examples of comparable placements, a proposed search strategy, realistic salary benchmarking, and a clear explanation of how they will assess candidates' actual remediation experience.

4. One important hiring consideration

Because you have recurring errors and weak controls today, consider whether you need an experienced interim payroll transformation specialist to stabilise the function while the permanent search runs. That is a separate option, not a substitute for the permanent Director you want.

My recommendation: Start with Oakleaf Partnership and Frazer Jones, add Portfolio Payroll for market coverage, and compare the quality of their candidate evidence before signing an exclusive mandate.

For your situation, I’d prioritise recruiters who specialise in senior payroll appointments, international payroll and payroll transformation , rather than relying solely on a generalist executive-search firm.

You need more than an experienced payroll operator. The permanent Global Payroll Director must be able to stabilise pay across countries, rebuild the control environment, establish clear accountability between central and local teams, and lead vendors and systems through sustained improvement.

My recommended recruiter shortlist

These are the firms I’d approach first for a UK-based appointment, in priority order.

1. Middlemore

First call

Middlemore explicitly specialises in global payroll recruitment, including senior leaders and Directors across the UK, EMEA and the US. Its stated expertise covers global payroll transformation, governance, compliance, vendor management and implementation.

Why it fits: Probably the closest match to a brief requiring both a permanent senior hire and a proven track record of rebuilding international payroll operations.

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

2. Frazer Jones

Ask specifically for John O’Brien, Executive Director and Head of Payroll . He recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits.

Why it fits: A strong option for a senior leadership appointment where you need international reach, executive-level credibility and an understanding of how payroll fits within the wider HR function.

Website: [John O’Brien — Frazer Jones](https://www.frazerjones.com/consultants/john-obrien/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Frazer Jones

3. Oakleaf Partnership

Oakleaf has a dedicated payroll practice covering permanent and interim recruitment, including Global Payroll Directors and Global Heads of Payroll. It also reports experience placing senior payroll leaders.

Why it fits: A good specialist to test for candidates who have moved beyond payroll delivery into global operating-model redesign, leadership and transformation.

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

4. Page Executive

Approach Alexander Paul Vann , who leads its People and Pay Governance practice and specialises in areas including international payroll, payroll transformation, reward governance and senior appointments.

Why it fits: Particularly relevant if the role reports to the CFO, CHRO or another executive and needs to reset governance, decision rights and senior stakeholder accountability, not just fix processing errors.

Website: [Alexander Paul Vann — Page Executive](https://www.pageexecutive.com/recruitment-expertise/consultant/alexander-paul-vann?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Page Executive

5. Portfolio Payroll

A specialist payroll recruiter covering permanent, executive, temporary and contract appointments, with a dedicated payroll recruitment team.

Why it fits: Worth including to widen the candidate pool and benchmark the availability of senior payroll talent. Ask specifically for its executive-search capability rather than a standard payroll-manager shortlist.

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

6. Hays

Hays has advertised permanent Global Payroll Director roles in the UK, including positions requiring multi-region leadership, compliance, payroll transformation and systems improvement.

Why it fits: A useful additional channel for reaching candidates who are already operating at Global Payroll Director level. Ask for a senior payroll specialist who can run a targeted search rather than simply advertise the vacancy.

Website: [Hays — Global Payroll Director search example](https://www.hays.co.uk/job-detail/global-payroll-director--london_4819608?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Hays UK +1

How I would run the search

I’d start with Middlemore, Frazer Jones and Oakleaf as the initial three, then use Page Executive as a complementary executive-search channel if the position is genuinely director-level with broad organisational authority.

I would not appoint all six on day one. Give the first three the same brief and ask each to demonstrate the depth of its relevant candidate network.

What the recruiter must be able to find

Use these as explicit screening requirements:

• Control remediation: Has personally rebuilt payroll controls after recurring errors, audit findings or material compliance weaknesses.

• Global operating model: Has led payroll across multiple countries, with clear ownership between global, regional and local teams.

• Governance and accountability: Has established approval matrices, reconciliations, segregation of duties, escalation paths and meaningful KPIs.

• Transformation delivery: Has improved payroll systems, integrations, vendor performance and data quality without destabilising live pay.

• Executive influence: Can work effectively with Finance, HR, Tax, Internal Audit, IT and senior leadership.

• Permanent leadership experience: Has built and developed a team, rather than only delivering a temporary recovery project.

I would favour someone who can demonstrate a measurable improvement in payroll accuracy and control effectiveness, not simply someone who has managed a large international payroll.

The brief I would send recruiters

Email

Subject

Confidential search — Permanent Global Payroll Director (UK)

We are seeking a permanent Global Payroll Director, based in the UK, to lead the recovery and transformation of our multi-country payroll function. A recent review identified recurring payroll errors, weaknesses in the control environment and unclear ownership across the function. We need an experienced global payroll leader who can take end-to-end accountability for stabilising operations and building a robust, sustainable operating model.

Key requirements

◦ Proven leadership of multi-country payroll operations.

◦ A track record of remediating control weaknesses and improving payroll accuracy.

◦ Experience defining global governance, country-level responsibilities and clear decision rights.

◦ Strong expertise in payroll reconciliations, audit readiness, compliance and vendor oversight.

◦ Experience delivering payroll transformation, systems improvements and process standardisation.

◦ Credibility with senior stakeholders across Finance, HR, Tax, IT and Risk.

Please outline your experience recruiting permanent Global Payroll Directors or Global Heads of Payroll, examples of relevant placements, your proposed search methodology and the candidates you believe would be most relevant to this mandate. Please also provide an indicative search timeline, fee structure and details of how you would assess candidates' hands-on experience of payroll control remediation. We are particularly interested in candidates who have successfully rebuilt a global payroll function following a period of operational instability.

One final recommendation

Make the interview process evidence-led. Ask shortlisted candidates to explain how they would approach their first 90 days, how they would identify the root causes of recurring errors, and how they would establish control ownership across countries. Use a fictional case study rather than asking them to disclose confidential information from former employers.

That will help distinguish a capable global payroll operator from the transformation leader you actually need.