HR and Payroll Administrator

Role Purpose The HR & Payroll Administrator is responsible for supporting accurate, compliant and efficient HR and payroll administration across a federated group of companies. The role will manage the end-to-end monthly payroll administration process across multiple legal entities, working closely with People, Finance, business leadership and employees to ensure that payroll changes are properly authorised, accurately processed and appropriately reflected in payroll, accounting and statutory reporting. The successful candidate must be comfortable operating within a multi-entity environment where different businesses may have different organisational structures, payroll configurations, cost centres and operational requirements, while maintaining consistent group governance, controls and standards. The role requires practical experience working with SimplePay, PaySpace and Xero, strong payroll and HR administration capability, and a sound understanding of South African payroll legislation and statutory reporting requirements. Key Responsibilities 1. Monthly Payroll Processing Coordinate and administer monthly payroll processing across the Group. Process payroll based on approved monthly payroll input sheets received from authorised stakeholders. Validate payroll inputs before processing, including: New employees Terminations Salary changes Bonuses and incentives Allowances Deductions Reimbursements Unpaid leave Overtime, where applicable Benefit changes Once-off payments Ensure that all payroll changes are appropriately authorised and supported by the required documentation. Perform pre-payroll and post-payroll validations to identify discrepancies before payroll is finalised. Prepare payroll summaries and supporting schedules for review and approval. Ensure payroll is processed accurately and within agreed monthly deadlines. Maintain a clear audit trail of payroll inputs, approvals and changes. 2. Payroll Systems Administration Maintain and administer payroll configurations across SimplePay and PaySpace, including: Payroll components and earning/deduction codes. Employee payroll profiles. Payroll calendars and processing configurations. Company and legal entity configurations. Cost centres and organisational structures. Reporting lines and organisational hierarchy changes. Leave structures, leave types, accrual rules and payroll integration. Employee benefits and payroll-related configurations. Payroll calculation rules and recurring payroll components. Employee self-service configurations and access. Identify configuration issues, investigate payroll discrepancies and coordinate corrections where required. 3. HR Administration Support the broader employee lifecycle across the Group, including: Employee onboarding administration. Employee record creation and maintenance. Changes to job titles, departments, reporting lines and organisational structures. Transfers between Group entities. Salary and remuneration changes. Employee benefit updates. Leave administration. Termination administration. Maintaining accurate employee records and supporting documentation. Preparing employee documentation and payroll-related confirmations where required. Ensure HR and payroll records remain aligned across the relevant systems. 4. Federated Group Administration Support payroll and HR administration across multiple companies within the Group. This includes: Maintaining appropriate separation between legal entities while supporting consistent Group standards. Understanding differences in payroll structures, cost centres and operational requirements between businesses. Coordinating payroll inputs from designated representatives across Group companies. Supporting employee transfers between Group entities. Ensuring employees are correctly associated with the appropriate employing company, payroll, cost centre and reporting structure. Working collaboratively with decentralised business stakeholders while maintaining central payroll governance. Maintaining consolidated Group reporting where required. Supporting the standardisation of HR and payroll processes across Group companies. 5. Payroll Accounting & Finance Integration Work closely with Finance to maintain accurate payroll accounting. Responsibilities include: Maintaining General Ledger and payroll mappings. Updating payroll-to-GL mappings when organisational or accounting structures change. Ensuring payroll components are mapped to the correct GL accounts and cost centres. Supporting payroll journal preparation and posting. Reconciling payroll totals against payroll journals. Investigating payroll-to-GL variances. Supporting payroll reconciliations within Xero. Providing payroll schedules and supporting documentation to Finance. Assisting with payroll-related month-end and year-end activities. Supporting payroll cost reporting by entity, department and cost centre. 6. Statutory Payroll Compliance Ensure payroll administration complies with applicable South African legislation and statutory requirements. Responsibilities include: Preparation and submission of EMP201 returns. Preparation and submission of EMP501 reconciliations. UIF administration and submissions. SARS mid-year payroll submissions. SARS year-end payroll submissions. IRP5/IT3(a) certificate preparation and reconciliation. Maintaining accurate PAYE, UIF and SDL calculations and records. Supporting tax directive processing where applicable. Investigating and resolving payroll-related SARS queries. Maintaining records required for statutory and audit purposes. Keeping abreast of legislative and payroll-related regulatory changes. 7. Payroll Compliance & Advisory Support Provide payroll-related guidance to employees, managers and internal stakeholders. Assist stakeholders with interpreting payroll calculations, deductions, leave and remuneration-related queries. Advise business stakeholders on payroll processing requirements and deadlines. Identify payroll compliance risks and escalate issues appropriately. Support the implementation of improved payroll controls and processes. Ensure payroll practices remain aligned with Group policies and applicable legislation. 8. Employee Self-Service Administer and support employee self-service functionality across the relevant HR and payroll platforms. This includes employee access to: Payslips. IRP5 and tax certificates. Leave balances. Leave requests. Personal payroll information. Employee documentation where available. Assist employees with access issues, payroll queries and self-service functionality. 9. Payroll Reconciliations & Controls Perform regular payroll control activities including: Month-on-month payroll variance analysis. Headcount reconciliation. Gross-to-net payroll reconciliation. PAYE, UIF and SDL reconciliation. Payroll-to-General-Ledger reconciliation. Leave balance checks. Duplicate or unusual payment checks. Validation of banking details and employee master data changes. Reconciliation of payroll reports against approved payroll input sheets. Escalate material discrepancies before payroll approval. 10. Reporting Prepare regular and ad-hoc reports including: Monthly payroll summaries. Payroll cost by Group company. Headcount reports. Payroll variance reports. Leave reports. Employee movement reports. Salary and remuneration reports. Cost centre and departmental payroll reports. Statutory payroll reports. Payroll audit and compliance reports. Ensure that employee and payroll information is handled confidentially and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements. Systems & Technology The successful candidate should have practical working knowledge of: SimplePay PaySpace Xero Microsoft Excel Microsoft 365 Strong Excel skills are important, including the ability to work confidently with payroll input sheets, reconciliations, formulas, lookups, pivot tables and large datasets. Minimum Requirements Relevant qualification in Human Resources, Payroll, Finance, Accounting or a related discipline. Approximately 3–5 years' experience in payroll and HR administration. Demonstrable experience processing monthly payroll. Experience working within a multi-company, multi-entity or federated Group environment. Practical experience using SimplePay and/or PaySpace, with experience across both strongly preferred. Experience working with Xero or a comparable accounting platform. Good understanding of South African payroll legislation and statutory requirements. Experience with EMP201, EMP501, UIF and SARS payroll submissions. Experience reconciling payroll and General Ledger information. Strong Microsoft Excel capability. Preferred Experience Preference will be given to candidates with experience in: Administering payroll across multiple legal entities. Supporting centrally governed but operationally decentralised organisations. Employee transfers between Group companies. Payroll system configuration. General Ledger and cost-centre mapping. Payroll system migrations or implementations. Employee self-service platforms. Payroll audits and compliance reviews. Standardising payroll processes across multiple businesses. Key Competencies Accuracy & Attention to Detail Payroll accuracy is critical. The individual must be comfortable validating large amounts of employee and financial information and identifying anomalies before payroll is finalised. Confidentiality The role handles highly sensitive employee, salary, banking and personal information and requires exceptional discretion. Ownership Takes responsibility for the payroll cycle from receipt of inputs through validation, processing, reconciliation and finalisation. Stakeholder Management Able to work effectively with employees, People teams, Finance teams, managers and executives across multiple Group companies. Process Discipline Comfortable working within formal payroll cut-offs, approval processes, audit trails and defined governance controls. Problem Solving Able to investigate discrepancies across payroll systems, employee records, accounting data and approved payroll inputs. Multi-Entity Thinking Understands that a federated Group requires both consistency and flexibility — maintaining Group standards while recognising different legal entities, operating businesses, cost structures and organisational requirements. Key Measures of Success Success in the role will be measured through: Accurate and on-time monthly payroll processing. Minimal payroll corrections after payroll finalisation. 100% completion of required statutory submissions within deadlines. Accurate reconciliation between payroll and the General Ledger. Completeness and accuracy of employee payroll records. Timely processing of employee changes. Effective resolution of employee payroll queries. Accurate leave and organisational structure administration. Consistent adherence to payroll approval and governance controls. Improvement and standardisation of payroll administration across the Group. Role Profile This role will suit an individual who enjoys combining HR administration, payroll operations, financial accuracy and systems administration. The ideal candidate is highly organised, comfortable working across several Group companies simultaneously and capable of balancing employee service with the strict controls, confidentiality and accuracy required in payroll. They should be confident enough to question unusual payroll inputs, investigate discrepancies and ensure that payroll is not processed simply because an instruction was received — but because the change has been properly authorised, validated and reconciled.