Dobbies Garden Centres
Payroll & Reward Manager
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About The Role
Dobbies is looking for an experienced Payroll & Reward Manager to lead our Payroll team and own the end-to-end delivery of pay, benefits, and reward across the business.
This is a hands-on leadership role for a payroll and reward professional who combines strong technical payroll expertise with people management skills. You'll take ownership of payroll processes from weekly and monthly payroll processing and statutory compliance (HMRC, pensions, NMW) through to benefits management, bonus schemes, and Gender Pay Gap reporting whilst coaching and developing a team that delivers a great experience for every Dobbies colleague.
If you're a confident Payroll Manager, Reward Manager, or Compensation & Benefits Manager ready for a role with real breadth, influence, and visibility at senior level, we'd love to hear from you.
What you'll be doing
Payroll & Compliance
- Owning the end-to-end payroll process, ensuring all weekly and monthly processing, reporting, and statutory deadlines are consistently met
- Managing HMRC and pension submissions in full compliance with current legislation and company policy
- Driving a programme of continuous improvement across payroll operations
- Undertaking key statutory reviews including Gender Pay Gap, National Minimum Wage (NMW), Annual Pay Review, and preparing annual Reward Statements
- Managing P11D submissions, ensuring accurate and timely issue
Reward & Benefits
- Managing relationships with external benefits providers, including life assurance, GIP (Group Income Protection), and CCV
- Overseeing the bonus scheme end-to-end
- Acting as the in-house expert on all reward-related queries for the People Team and managers UK-wide
Systems & Business Partnering
- Reviewing and coordinating system upgrades and testing to keep payroll systems fit for purpose and legislatively compliant
- Business partnering with Finance and IT teams to ensure accurate reporting and a robust end-to-end payroll process
- Preparing and checking key business reports
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Leadership & People
- Leading, coaching, and developing the Payroll team, empowering direct reports to make confident decisions
- There is already an established team, however, there may be elements of training and mentoring: providing direct, honest, and developmental feedback for both direct and indirect teams
- Creating a positive, engaged, and high-performing team culture
- Educating store and business managers on payroll best practice: helping teams get paid efficiently and supporting colleagues through everything from simple queries to financial hardship
What we're looking for
- Proven experience in a Payroll Manager, Reward Manager, or Pay & Benefits Manager role, ideally managing end-to-end payroll for a multi-site UK business
- Strong working knowledge of UK payroll legislation, HMRC requirements, and pension auto-enrolment
- Experience managing employee benefits, bonus schemes, and statutory reporting (Gender Pay Gap, NMW, P11D)
- Confident, technically minded, and comfortable overseeing payroll systems and process improvement
- A confident people leader: experienced in coaching, developing, and motivating a team
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to business partner confidently with Finance, IT, People, and senior leadership
- A proactive problem-solver who can resolve conflict and handle challenging situations with empathy and professionalism
What We Offer
- Holiday – enjoy a well-deserved break with 33 annual leave days per year (pro-rata for part-time)
- Discount – treat yourself with generous uncapped discount across our stores with 50% off in our Restaurants, 25% off in the Garden Centre, and 10% off in our food halls
- Hybrid working – a combination of office and home working to help balance your work-life balance
- Pension – save for the future with our company-contributed enhanced Group Pension Plan
- Season ticket loans – spread the cost of travel with an interest-free loan
- Access to Stream – support your financial wellbeing, with the ability to access earnings ahead of payday, save for the future, and financial advice
- Access to Retail Trust – seek confidential support, access to a Virtual GP, free counselling service, and discounted retail rewards with our employee wellbeing platform
- Access to Dobbies Academy – continue your development with our eLearning platform and development programmes
- Study assistance – invest in your professional development with funded courses and qualifications
- The little things to keep you going through the day – free tea, coffee, and milk
- Collaborative office space – with access to our wellbeing room, learning resources, and even a book swap
- Invites to our annual company conference, summer, and Christmas social events
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About Us
At Dobbies, we’re proud to have a history dating back to 1865. We were founded by James Dobbie and are the only garden centre retailer to have stores in every nation across the UK.
Our passion and joy for gardens and plants is what makes us special. In our stores, we showcase this through own brand and branded products, concession partners, and services. We champion garden living all-year-round.
Many of our stores feature a restaurant or coffee shop, where customers can enjoy refreshments or meals in a relaxed and welcoming environment.
We offer a calendar of events and experiences that bring people and communities together, and we have a national charity partner that both our colleagues and customers raise money for.
We’re committed to being a great place to work. We’re one team, and we encourage our colleagues to be the best version of themselves, every day; to share their wins and celebrate success. Together, we make it work for our customers.
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