Claude: both observations

Your brief is unusual: it combines senior payroll leadership, supplier governance, and a multi-country transition. I’d approach firms in three groups.

Specialist payroll and HR firms (best fit for your brief)

• Frazer Jones is a global HR recruitment and executive search firm. It offers executive search, permanent and interim payroll recruitment, and lists UK and EMEA payroll manager searches among its services. That European angle suits you. [frazerjones](https://frazerjones.com/?p=140035)

• Middlemore is a specialist search firm in global payroll, HR and HRIS. Its stated expertise covers payroll transformation, implementation, governance, compliance and vendor management. That is close to your supplier-governance and transition remit. [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore)

• JGA Recruitment describes itself as a specialist payroll and HR recruitment agency and has Manchester-based roles. It is worth a conversation, though I’d check its depth at head level and in multi-country work. [overseasjobs](https://overseasjobs.com/job/details/30281989/hr-payroll-manager)

Generalist firms with a Manchester finance and payroll presence

• Hays has a Manchester office and recruits payroll roles in the region. One example is a Senior Head of Payroll role, hybrid, at around £80,000 in the North West. [hays](https://hays.co.uk/job-detail/senior-head-of-payroll-north-west_4714062)

• Robert Walters has advertised a permanent Head of Payroll role in Manchester city centre, so it has an active client network locally. [robertwalters](https://robertwalters.co.uk/accountancyfinance/jobs/financemanager/1828433-head-of-payroll.html)

• Michael Page has recruited a hybrid Head of Payroll in Greater Manchester, though that example was public sector at £53,000 to £60,000. [page](https://manufacturing.page.com/job-detail/head-payroll/ref/jn-022025-6667818)

These firms have good local reach but may be thinner on candidates with European payroll vendor experience.

Retained executive search (if you want a confidential, wider search)

Some of the specialist firms above run retained searches. You could also consider a general executive search firm if you want to approach people who aren’t actively looking. I haven’t verified any specific firm for this niche, so I’d ask for evidence of comparable placements.

What to ask whichever firms you approach

1. Have they placed anyone who has led a payroll provider migration across the UK and Europe, as opposed to running a steady-state payroll?

2. Can they show candidates with supplier or vendor governance experience, such as SLAs, audits and multi-country provider management?

3. What are their fee model, rebate period and exclusivity terms? I haven’t found current fees, so confirm these directly.

4. Which Manchester-commutable candidates can they actually reach? For some profiles you may need to widen to the wider North West or to remote-plus-travel arrangements.

I’d brief two or three firms in parallel, with one specialist, one local generalist and optionally one search firm, rather than going to all of them. Salary benchmarks from live adverts vary widely, so I’d get current guidance from the specialists before fixing your range. The scope of your role may justify a figure above typical Manchester head-of-payroll postings.

I’d approach a small panel of two or three firms rather than all of them. Based on what I found, here is how I’d rank them, from most to least relevant.

Specialist payroll recruiters

• Portfolio Payroll (The Portfolio Group) is the strongest fit. It describes itself as the UK’s longest-established payroll specialist recruitment agency, covering the UK and Ireland, and offers executive search. It has a Manchester office, and it has recently advertised a Payroll Director role for a Manchester city-centre organisation. That suggests it already knows the local senior candidate pool. [Professional June 2025 +2](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/478805754/54/)

Large generalists with a Manchester presence

• Hays has a Manchester office and has placed senior payroll roles locally. One example was a Senior Head of Payroll role in Manchester at around £80,000, with hybrid working up to two days remote. It also handles multi-country UK and Europe payroll roles that involve managing external payroll providers. That experience is relevant to your supplier governance requirement. [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/16962713?lang_code=en) [hays](https://www.hays.co.uk/job-detail/payroll-specialist---europe-london_4745086)

• Robert Walters has also recruited a Head of Payroll in Manchester city centre. [robertwalters](https://www.robertwalters.co.uk/accountancyfinance/jobs/financemanager/1828433-head-of-payroll.html)

Firms stronger on the European and international side

• Morgan McKinley advertises EMEA payroll roles with vendor and bureau management responsibilities and offers executive search. Its payroll listings I found were London-based, so check its Manchester reach. [morganmckinley](https://www.morganmckinley.com/uk/jobs/london/emea-payroll-specialist-netherlands-nordic/1103406)

• Frazer Jones (SR Group) describes itself as a global HR recruitment specialist operating across the UK and Europe. It is a better fit if you want candidates with direct multi-country transition experience. [personneltoday](https://jobs.personneltoday.com/job/1401651965/global-payroll-specialist/)

How I’d use them

• Panel: Portfolio Payroll plus one of Hays or Robert Walters for local depth. Add Morgan McKinley or Frazer Jones if you want a more international pool.

• Terms: For a senior, permanent, strategically important hire, ask about a retained or shortlist-based executive search arrangement rather than purely contingent fees. Agree fees, guarantee periods and exclusivity up front.

• Brief: Make clear that the role is about supplier governance and a multi-country provider transition, not just running payroll. Candidates with vendor management, RFP and implementation experience across the UK and EU are rarer than good payroll managers, and recruiters will screen better with that distinction.

• Salary: The Manchester examples I found were around £65–85k for Head-level roles. Your European scope and transition remit may justify more, so ask each firm for current benchmarks, such as Portfolio’s annual payroll salary survey.

The listings I found are only a snapshot of what each firm advertises, and some are from 2025. Ask each firm for recent placements at Head of Payroll level and references from clients who have run a provider transition. Also note I haven’t checked other firms like Michael Page or Randstad, so they could be worth a quick look.