Payroll Administrator

Who are we?

At Pearson, we're committed to a world that's always learning and to our talented team who makes it all possible. From bringing lectures vividly to life to turning textbooks into laptop lessons, we are always re-examining the way people learn best, whether it's one child in our own backyard or an education community across the globe. We also create incredible assessment clinical and professional tests to help people to growth in their personal and professional lives. We are bold thinkers and standout innovators who motivate each other to explore new frontiers in an environment that supports and inspires us to always be better. By pushing the boundaries of technology — and each other to surpass these boundaries — we create seeds of learning that become the catalyst for the world's innovations, personal and global, large, and small.

What you'll do

We're looking for a curious, analytical, and detail-oriented Payroll Administrator to support Pearson's European region. In this role, you'll help deliver accurate, timely, and compliant payrolls across a portfolio of European countries, while contributing to global transformation initiatives that are shaping the future of payroll operations.

You'll do more than process payroll. You'll work across data, systems, and vendors to strengthen process integrity, identify improvement opportunities, and participate in projects that advance standardization, automation, and AI readiness. This role is ideal for someone early in their career or exploring a career transition who wants to combine operational precision with meaningful business impact.

Who you will work with

This role reports to the European Regional Payroll Leader.  You will work closely with the other regional analysts and administrators, the broader global payroll team, HR Care, HRBPs, Finance, Technology, and external vendors.

Why you will love this role

• Work across multiple countries and vendors - no two days are the same

• Contribute to global transformation and AI-readiness projects

• Gain skills in global business operations, governance, and automation

• Eager to grow and make an impact beyond traditional payroll processing

• Collaborate with experts across HR, Finance, and Technology

Responsibilities

• Coordinate payroll inputs and outputs across multiple countries, ensuring data completeness, accuracy, and timeliness

• Aggregate, validate, and submit payroll data to external providers; support reconciliation of gross-to-net results

• Monitor and track payroll performance metrics across the region, highlighting trends and opportunities for improvement

• Partner with country payroll leaders, HR, Finance, and vendors to resolve data or process discrepancies

• Maintain up-to-date documentation, controls, and process calendars to support governance and audit readiness

• Support special projects that align with our global payroll transformation roadmap, such as vendor consolidation, process harmonization, and technology migration

• Contribute to efforts that prepare payroll data for analytics, automation, and AI-driven insights

Required skills/experience

• Degree in Accounting, Finance, HR, Business Administration, or related field (or equivalent work experience)

• 2+ years of experience in operations, data administration, customer service, payroll, HR (or transferable skills) 

• Intermediate-level proficiency with Microsoft Excel (e.g. pivot tables, v-lookup, charts)

• Strong attention to detail, analytical mindset, and commitment to data integrity
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across diverse teams and time zones
• Eagerness to learn modern operations practices, automation tools, and digital transformation concepts
• Curiosity, initiative, and the confidence to ask questions and suggest improvements
• Must be fluent in English