Payroll & Systems Manager

Payroll & Systems Manager

Date: 1 Sept 2025

Search suburb or city: West Melbourne, VIC, AU, 3003Alexandria, NSW, AU, 2015

Company: Australian Red Cross Lifeblood

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of payroll services and people systems across Lifeblood
• Permanent position with WFH flexibility – location flexible
• Circa $175k + Superannuation + Salary Packaging

Discover life-giving possibilities

Lifeblood is more than just a job or a career, it's an opportunity to be part of something that matters. As an organisation, our purpose is simple: to give life. Together, we want to help you build a fulfilling career with Lifeblood.

About the role

The Payroll & Systems Manager is a key senior role in our People & Culture team, leading the end-to-end delivery of payroll services and people systems across Lifeblood. Blending payroll expertise with agile product ownership, this role drives innovation, ensures compliance, and creates a seamless experience for our people.

As Product Owner for platforms including Chris21/HR21 and Humanforce, you'll lead a cross-functional team to streamline processes, unlock system value, and deliver practical, people-focused solutions. You'll bring deep knowledge of payroll legislation, HR operations, and agile ways of working to prioritise enhancements that align with our goals and meet statutory obligations such as PAYG, super and leave provisioning.

Reporting to the Director of People & Culture Operations, you'll shape the strategic vision for payroll and systems, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. You'll also work closely with ICT, P&C colleagues, business leaders and external vendors to ensure our systems are robust, scalable and user-friendly.

Sound interesting? Here's what we are looking for;

• Extensive senior-level payroll experience (5+ years) in large or complex environments, including full end-to-end processing and strategic leadership.
• Advanced knowledge of payroll systems (Chris21 preferred), HRIS platforms (SAP SuccessFactors), and Time & Attendance systems (Humanforce), with experience in systems administration and process automation.
• Strong understanding of industrial awards, enterprise agreements, executive remuneration, and their application in payroll operations.
• Demonstrated success in leading system and process improvements, with a focus on compliance, automation, and user experience.
• Experience applying human-centred design principles and managing system incidents and service enhancements.
• Proven ability to lead and develop operational teams, balance priorities, and build a high-performance, collaborative team culture.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to navigate across all organisational levels.
• Excellent communication skills with high attention to detail and analytical capability.
• Up-to-date knowledge of payroll legislation, tax, superannuation, and compliance frameworks.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office and advanced data reporting and analysis.
• Demonstrated integrity, discretion, and commitment to confidentiality, quality, and continuous improvement.

This is a permanent position rotating between WFH and one of our Processing Centres. We are flexible on location (within Australia). Lifeblood is proud to accommodate flexible working and we are open to conversations around what this means to you.

Thrive in a diverse culture that cares for your wellbeing

We're a diverse and inclusive bunch. We're proud to foster an environment where all people can come together to achieve their very best. Whether it's workplace safety or work/life balance, we look after our employees' varying needs. As part of the Lifeblood team, you'll have access to a generous salary packaging program, plus a great range of rewards like discounts on insurance, groceries, food & beverage, department stores, travel, and more.

Excited about this opportunity? Apply now and discover life-giving possibilities.

Next steps

When it comes to recruitment we like to move fast, this means we progress suitable candidates through the hiring process as soon as we can.

We are a 2025 Circle Back Initiative Employer and commit to respond to every applicant. You'll hear from us with an outcome after your application has been reviewed and assessed.

If selected, you'll be required to complete a few background checks and we'll help you through this process.

If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

For further details on this position, please contact Tayler on

**Please note we cannot accept applications via email so please apply online

This vacancy is being managed directly by Lifeblood's Talent Engagement team. We won't accept candidates from external recruitment agencies on this occasion.