Claude: both observations

I’ll research this properly, looking for firms with documented payroll leadership placements in the UK/Europe rather than just a global footprint.

My shortlist is Frazer Jones, JGA Recruitment and Portfolio Payroll, with Hays and Robert Walters as benchmarks. I found no named placements or case studies for any firm, only job adverts and the firms’ own marketing. Adverts show a firm is mandated, not that it filled the role, and several are old or undated.

Evidence of UK/EMEA payroll leadership hiring

Frazer Jones

(HR specialist, retained search plus permanent and interim)

• Its past senior EMEA mandates include a VP EMEA Payroll role covering 16 country payrolls and a Regional Head of Payroll Governance, EMEA & Americas, which indirectly managed all country heads of payroll. Both were London roles at £90-100k, but both closed in 2019. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401588959/vice-president-emea-payroll-/) [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401587930/regional-head-of-payroll-governance-emea-and-americas/)

• More recent evidence is thinner. In 2022 it was recruiting an EMEA Payroll Specialist for a global fintech reporting to a Global Head of Payroll. Its UK team includes an Executive Director | Head of Payroll, and it offers executive search, contingent and interim services across payroll. [EMEA Payroll Specialist +2](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401655210/emea-payroll-specialist/)

• It is the only one with a retained-search model, and it works with HR and finance leadership, which suits a role reporting into a US CFO or CHRO.

JGA Recruitment

(payroll, HR and reward specialist)

• It has the most EMEA-specific mandates. One was an EMEA Payroll Director role covering c.40 entities and 6,000 staff, at £70-85k, though that advert is undated. A Head of Payroll (EMEA) role in London at £85-100k appears on a payroll job board, but I couldn’t verify its date. [cimaglobal](https://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/job/1930600/emea-payroll-director-reading-w-parking-c-85k-benefits/) [payrolljobsboard](https://payrolljobsboard.com/)

• It also shows current interim and manager-level work, such as an Interim EMEA Payroll Manager search for a London technology company and a UK/EMEA Payroll Manager role at a global software business. [overseasjobs](https://overseasjobs.com/job/details/28299805/interim-emea-payroll-manager) [aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/london-central-/united-kingdom-gbp-/finance/2/)

• It has a US-facing arm, based on a “JGA US” link in its site navigation, which may help with a US-headquartered client. [jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/what-salary-ranges-can-payroll-managers-expect-in-the-uk-and-emea/)

Portfolio Payroll

(self-described as the largest specialist payroll recruiter in the UK, operating since 1988)

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

• It runs a dedicated executive search page for Global Heads of Payroll and Director-level roles. [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/executive-search/)

• Its EMEA evidence is real but below head level. It has an EMEA Payroll Senior Specialist role at a global retailer’s European HQ in London, plus Dublin-based international payroll roles. The only Head of Payroll role I saw was a Manchester role at £60-70k, which is national rather than EMEA. [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/jobs/emea-payroll-senior-specialist/) [theportfoliogroup](https://theportfoliogroup.com/payroll/jobs/emea-payroll-senior-specialist/)

Hays and Robert Walters

(generalists, useful for market mapping)

• Hays is advertising a senior EMEA Payroll Manager role leading transformation across multiple countries, and ran an interim UK and European Payroll Manager search in December 2025. Its Global Head of Payroll adverts date from 2019. [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17686448) [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/17629487)

• Robert Walters has a May 2026 multi-country Payroll Manager role across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. It says it covers payroll hiring up to Head of Payroll level. [dijobs](https://dijobs.co.uk/company/589639/robert-walters/) [agencycentral](https://agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/accounting/skills/payroll/payroll.htm)

• Both show EMEA hiring at manager level, but I saw no recent head-level mandates. Ask whether a dedicated payroll desk would run your search.

Unverified:

Oakleaf Partnership has an EMEA Payroll Manager role at up to £90k for a pharmaceutical client, and Executive Headhunters Ltd describes itself in an agency directory as covering senior to executive-level payroll. I found nothing more on either.

[aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/jobs/payroll/europe/permanent/3/)

[agencycentral](https://agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/accounting/skills/payroll/payroll.htm)

Global reach only, no payroll leadership evidence found

• Egon Zehnder has 71 offices in 37 countries, and NGS Global has offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Zehnder) [ngs-global](https://ngs-global.com/)

• Neumann Executive focuses on CEOs, board members, C-suite executives and managing directors, and Robert Half Executive Search targets C-suite and senior management roles at growth and middle-market companies. [neumannexecutive](https://neumannexecutive.com/) [roberthalf](https://roberthalf.com/us/en/hire-talent/executive-search)

• Key Search did seven HR and talent acquisition leadership hires across the US and Europe for CommScope. That is HR leadership, not payroll. [keysearch](https://keysearch.com/)

I wouldn’t shortlist these. A Head of EMEA Payroll typically pays around £85-110k, and the firms’ own salary guides put senior EMEA payroll roles at £90-110k+. That is probably below the level where C-suite search houses engage, though that is my judgement.

[jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/blog/what-salary-ranges-can-payroll-managers-expect-in-the-uk-and-emea/)

Questions for the shortlisted firms

• Which three Head-of-Payroll roles covering EMEA or multiple countries did you fill in the last 24 months, for what kind of client, and who led them?

• Can you place someone who has run outsourced multi-country models (for example ADP, CloudPay or Activpayroll) and SOX-controlled environments?

• Do you have US-based consultants who can brief a US HQ stakeholder?

• Will this run as retained or contingent search, and what is the guarantee period?

Would you like me to draft a short RFP or briefing note you could send to these firms?

I’d shortlist four firms and keep a few others as supplementary. Most of the evidence below is from job adverts and firm profiles, so it shows the kind of mandates each firm handles rather than confirmed placements or fees. Many of the head-level adverts are also several years old.

Shortlist

1. Frazer Jones (part of SR Group)

• UK/EMEA payroll leadership: Its payroll lead says he recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits (self-description on the firm’s site). Its adverts include a Regional Head of Payroll Governance for EMEA & Americas in London at £90-100k (2019) and a Global Payroll Specialist role covering UK, EMEA and APAC at £90-110k (2022). [John O’Brien +2](https://frazerjones.com/consultants/john-obrien)

• Not evidence of EMEA hiring: The firm describes itself as a leading executive payroll recruiter, and its payroll head recently hosted an event in New York. Both are positioning, not a track record in your search.

2. Oakleaf Partnership

• UK/EMEA payroll leadership: It has the closest title match to your role, a Head of EMEA Payroll search for a Berkshire manufacturer covering 22 countries and 22k employees at £80-90k (2022). It also ran searches for a Global Head of Payroll & Benefits at £85-100k and a Regional Head of Payroll Governance, EMEA & America, for a global bank. [head of emea payroll +2](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401655991/head-of-emea-payroll/)

• Not evidence of EMEA hiring: “UK’s largest independent HR recruiter” is the firm’s own claim.

3. James Gray Associates (JGA)

• UK/EMEA payroll leadership: It is a payroll, HR and reward specialist that says it works across the UK, Europe and Asia. It advertised an EMEA Payroll Director role covering about 40 entities and 6,000 staff, though the advert is undated. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/234549040/57/) [cimaglobal](https://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/job/1941686/emea-payroll-director-reading-w-parking-c-85k-benefits/)

• Not evidence of EMEA hiring: The salary band (£70-85k) suggests mid-market clients, so test whether it can reach senior candidates at a US multinational.

4. Portfolio Payroll (The Portfolio Group)

• UK/EMEA payroll leadership: It is the longest-established UK payroll-only recruiter, founded in 1988, with a separate executive division. Its 2026 adverts include an international payroll role managing EMEA and APAC payrolls. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/234549040/57/) [itjobboard](https://www.itjobboard.co.uk/job/16690596/international-payroll-specialist/)

• Not evidence of EMEA hiring: The adverts I found are coordinator, specialist and lead level, not head level. It is better for mapping the market and for hiring the team below the Head than as sole lead on this search.

Supplementary or caution

• Robert Walters, Michael Page, Morgan McKinley, Hays: All show real EMEA payroll activity, but at manager level. Robert Walters has multi-country payroll manager roles covering the UK, Europe and the Middle East, and Morgan McKinley and Michael Page have EMEA specialist and manager searches. Hays’ only head-level example I found is a 2019 Global Head of Payroll role in London. Use them for breadth, not as lead firms. [1890279 payroll manager emea +3](https://www.robertwalters.co.uk/humanresources/jobs/otherspecialistpositions/1890279-payroll-manager---emea.html)

• Olympus Talent: It markets itself as a global executive search firm for payroll leadership, operating in 140+ countries. The only source I found is promotional text on a third-party vendor’s page, and the “Best Staffing & Recruiting Business of the Year” award appears to be self-reported. I would treat it as unverified until it supplies references. [usemultiplier](https://www.usemultiplier.com/?p=199754)

Global presence without UK/EMEA evidence

• Lucas Group: It describes itself as North America’s premier executive search firm. Its payroll search I found was US-based and only mentioned EMEA as a scope requirement. That shows a US footprint, not UK or European payroll leadership hiring. [kornferry](https://interimjobs.kornferry.com/jobs/director-global-hrim-payroll-shared-services-1545942)

• Page Personnel: It cites a 21-country network, but its payroll head search I found was a six-month interim in Rochdale for up to £80k. A network claim is not the same as placing a Head of EMEA Payroll. [aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/job/5348091/global-head-of-payroll/)

Before you appoint

Ask each firm for the following:

• Its last three UK or EMEA head-level payroll placements in the past 24 months, with referenceable clients.

• Whether it works on a retained or contingent basis.

• Which European countries its candidate network covers.

• Whether it has handled US-parent reporting lines.

I found no payroll-specific evidence for the large retained executive search houses. If your budget supports retained search, ask whether they have a dedicated payroll or HR operations practice before including them.