Interim People & Payroll Systems Specialist

I am urgently seeking an Interim People & Payroll Systems Specialist (Analyst) for a large Higher Education Institute in East London. This will be a salaried fixed term contract for 6 months initially, paying £53,041 to £60,753 per year depending upon experience. The role will be full time with Hybrid working, 2 days per week on site.

Working within People & Culture (HR), you will report to the Head of Systems & Insight and the role will be responsible for being a key contributor to the design, implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of system and process solutions, which comply with UK legislation to meet business requirements and align to the overarching Digital First strategy. The ideal candidate will: –

• Be a subject matter expert for MHR iTrent (all modules) with Payroll module a key requirement.
• Provide Business Objects and iTrent reporting to support Systems & Insights Specialist with operational reporting, with a focus on payroll reporting.
• Lead on iTrent Payroll module set up, collaborating with key teams such as Payroll and Finance and external suppliers to maintain and improve system functionality for our people.
• Support on Reward activities including, but not limited to, calculating bonus payments, processing cost of living annual increments and tracking performance review ratings for moderation purposes.
• Act as a subject matter expert for iTrent including but not limited to Payroll configuration, including bug fixes and query resolution.
• Have expertise to deliver Payroll projects in iTrent, working closely with Payroll, P&C teams and with MHR externally to ensure changes fully tested, documented and implemented.
• Ensure data validation processes are designed and completed, with appropriate testing, exception reporting and automation implemented to maintain data quality and integrity.

Essential experience includes: –

• Previous experience with iTrent Core and Payroll module and Business Objects reporting.
• Expert understanding of transactional HR processes and their impact on HR, Payroll and Finance systems and processes.
• Intermediate SQL understanding.
• Automation and system configuration experience.
• Strong attention to detail, with analytical and business process knowledge.

Desirable experience includes: –

• Working knowledge of system integrations (APIs).
• Working knowledge of Power BI or other data visualisation tools

If you have the relevant skills and experience and you are available to start in January 2026, please apply now with your up to date CV and contact details.