Head of Payroll Operations, Compensation and Benefits

Head of Payroll Operations, Compensation and Benefits

eir’s purpose is to connect for a better Ireland. Our performance ambition is to be the number one choice for telecommunications and technology solutions, delivering for our customers today and into the future. The role of Human Resources is to ensure that eir has the leadership, culture, skills and capabilities required to execute the business strategy brilliantly, bring our purpose to life and deliver our performance ambition.

The Head of Payroll Operations, Compensation and Benefits is a senior functional leader and strategic partner to the business, accountable for shaping and leading eir’s reward, compensation, benefits, pensions and in-house payroll agenda across the Island of Ireland. The role holder will ensure that eir’s total reward proposition is future-focused, externally benchmarked, financially sustainable, legally compliant and strongly aligned to business performance, employee experience, internal equity and market competitiveness. Through strong leadership, governance and execution, the role will enhance eir’s Employee Value Proposition and Employer Brand, supporting our ability to attract, motivate, reward and retain high-performing talent.

This senior leadership role sits on the HR Leadership Team and is a member of eir’s extended leadership team. The role holder is accountable for leading the Reward, Benefits and in-house Payroll function, including people leadership, functional strategy, governance, operational performance, financial control and regulatory compliance. The role partners with eir’s senior leadership team, managers, employee representatives and key corporate functions to build trust, secure buy-in and deliver outstanding outcomes for approximately 3,000 employees across the Island of Ireland.  The role has significant accountability for operational resilience, statutory compliance, payroll governance, financial controls, employee experience and continuous improvement.

• Set and lead the Group-wide strategy for payroll operations, compensation, reward, pensions, recognition and employee benefits, ensuring full alignment with eir’s business strategy, HR strategy, values, culture and performance ambition.

• Lead eir’s in-house payroll operations across the Island of Ireland, ensuring employees are paid accurately, on time and in accordance with contractual, statutory, tax, pension, benefit and collective agreement obligations.

• Own the design, governance and delivery of eir’s total reward proposition, including base pay, variable pay, short- and long-term incentives, commission, recognition, employee benefits and executive reward programmes.

• Lead pension governance and administration, including scheme oversight, provider and administrator relationships, contribution accuracy, regulatory compliance, employee communications, payroll integration and financial oversight.

• Provide strategic leadership and governance of executive reward arrangements, including long-term incentive plans, ensuring appropriate controls, approvals, benchmarking and alignment with business performance outcomes.

• Lead reward, recognition and retention programmes for critical and high-performing talent, ensuring a clear link between reward, performance, engagement, retention and eir’s values and behaviours.

• Oversee employee communications and engagement relating to reward, benefits, pensions and payroll, ensuring the total reward proposition is clearly understood, valued and consistently experienced by employees and leaders.

• Establish and maintain a strong governance and controls environment across payroll, compensation, pensions and benefits, with compliance built in by design across all processes, systems, frameworks, decision rights and approval pathways.

• Lead the development and implementation of eir’s reward framework and job architecture, ensuring pay transparency, equal pay principles, consistency, internal equity, external competitiveness and robust job evaluation, benchmarking and market positioning practices.

• Lead transformation, automation and continuous improvement across reward, benefits and payroll, simplifying and harmonising processes while strengthening data quality, employee experience, controls and decision-making.

• Act as a trusted senior adviser to the CPO, CFO, HR Leadership Team, senior management and business leaders on payroll, reward, pensions and benefits matters, providing insight, challenge, expert judgement and clear recommendations.

• Provide regular reporting, insight and analysis to the CPO, CFO, HR Leadership Team and relevant governance forums on payroll accuracy, reward costs, benefits trends, pension matters, gender pay gap and pay transparency readiness, compliance status, control effectiveness, risk, audit findings and emerging legislative or regulatory changes.

• Maintain reward, payroll and benefits policies, procedures, process maps and controls, ensuring they are clear, accessible, current and compliant with employment legislation, pay transparency obligations, equality legislation, tax requirements, pension obligations, data protection requirements and corporate governance standards.

• Ensure organisational readiness for current and emerging reward, payroll and employment-related legislation, including pay transparency requirements, gender pay gap reporting, equal pay obligations, pension auto-enrolment, national minimum wage changes and associated statutory reporting obligations.

• Lead internal and external audit preparation, regulatory review activity and remediation planning relating to payroll, pensions, compensation and benefits, ensuring evidence, controls, documentation and actions are managed to a high standard.

• Provide senior leadership to the Reward, Benefits and Payroll team, building capability, accountability, service excellence and a culture of proactive risk management, continuous improvement and strong functional ownership.

Qualifications and Experience Needed

• Proven experience operating at Head-of-Function or equivalent senior leadership level, with accountability for the end-to-end payroll, reward, compensation, benefits and pensions agenda in a complex organisation.

• Strong track record of leading large-scale reward, benefits, payroll or pensions transformation, including the implementation of legislative, regulatory, policy or operating model change.

• Strong understanding of the Irish and EU employment legislative environment relevant to payroll, reward and benefits, including pay transparency, equality, working time, national minimum wage, pensions, tax, data protection and statutory reporting obligations.

• Deep technical and strategic expertise across reward, executive reward, incentives, pay transparency, equal pay, gender pay gap reporting, payroll operations, pensions, benefits administration, compliance and governance.

• Commercially astute, with the ability to balance performance, cost, risk, compliance, employee experience and long-term organisational sustainability.

• Highly credible and influential at executive and senior leadership level, with the confidence to provide expert advice, constructive challenge and clear recommendations.

• Highly numerate, with strong data, analytics, financial modelling and reporting capability.

Top Leadership Characteristics for Success

• Delivers results consistently in a fast-paced, complex and highly regulated environment.

• Demonstrates deep ownership, accountability and judgement in decisions with financial, people, compliance and reputational impact.

• Creates clarity and alignment, balancing strategic thinking with disciplined execution and strong operational control.

• Models eir’s values and behaviours, sets a high standard for leadership excellence and builds a team culture grounded in service, accountability, compliance and continuous improvement.