Role/Team overview
Our HR team is all about making Sky a great place to work that’s both fair and inclusive for our people. We do OUR best to help everyone be at THEIR best. From hiring fantastic people to offering great benefits, from supporting learning and careers to making sure everyone gets paid on time – it all makes a difference. We want our people to have everything they need to design awesome products, create amazing TV, deliver the best customer service and much, much, more.
We are looking for an experienced senior professional to lead critical workforce compliance, employment tax and payroll activity across major business integration and transformation programmes. The role will support key projects, working alongside Sky's existing Employment Tax and Payroll subject matter experts.
The successful candidate will combine strong technical judgement with practical delivery capability. They will lead complex, data-driven reviews of contractor and contingent workforce arrangements, develop process, governance and controls, and help ensure that new businesses and workforce populations can be integrated into Sky in a compliant and sustainable way.
What you’ll do :
M&A integration and due diligence
- Lead employment tax, payroll and workforce compliance workstreams supporting acquisitions, integrations, separations and other corporate change.
- Assess risks identified through due diligence and translate findings into clear integration, remediation and assurance plans.
- Develop practical and scalable approaches for bringing acquired businesses into Sky governance frameworks, controls and operating processes.
- Partner with Legal, Finance, People, Payroll, Procurement and external advisers to manage dependencies, decisions and risk mitigation.
- Provide clear, evidence-based recommendations to programme leaders and senior governance forums.
Worker population, data and payment analysis
- Establish complete and accurate populations across employee and non-employee worker categories, including self-employed workers, PSC directors, freelancers, agency workers and Statement of Work arrangements.
- Lead data gathering and reconciliation across Workday, Accounts Payable, payroll, procurement, contract records and other relevant systems.
- Build a reliable view of worker identity, engagement route, payment history, contractual basis and hiring manager ownership.
- Undertake payment profiling, ranking and risk segmentation to support targeted sampling and further review.
- Validate data completeness and accuracy, identify discrepancies and maintain a clear audit trail of sources, assumptions and decisions.
- Escalate promptly any previously unidentified populations or gross payments operating outside expected processes.
Contractor and off-payroll compliance reviews
- Lead reviews of engagement and onboarding arrangements for off payroll workers, including freelancers, self-employed individuals, PSCs, agency workers and Statement of Work suppliers.
- Design proportionate, risk-based sampling approaches, including selection of higher-value or otherwise higher-risk engagements.
- Coordinate the collection and review of contracts and supporting evidence to confirm alignment with the basis on which workers are engaged and paid.
- Work with technical specialists to assess compliance with employment status, off-payroll working and relevant HMRC requirements.
- Bring practical understanding of TV, production or media workforce models, or quickly develop this sector knowledge.
Employment tax and payroll governance
- Review and strengthen governance and controls across key employment tax and payroll risks, including PAYE and NIC, PSA and P11D reporting, travel and expenses, share schemes and payroll controls.
- Identify process gaps and design sustainable policies, control frameworks, roles and responsibilities, approval routes and monitoring arrangements.
- Ensure integration plans consider data, systems, process, ownership, documentation and ongoing assurance requirements.
- Support internal audit, external audit and HMRC enquiries where required.
Essential
- Significant experience in workforce compliance, employment tax, payroll compliance, internal audit, risk and controls, workforce advisory or a closely related field.
- Experience gained in a large in-house function, professional services firm or specialist consultancy.
- Strong understanding of contingent workforce and worker engagement models, with sufficient employment tax and payroll knowledge to identify risks and work effectively with technical specialists.
- Proven experience leading complex, data-driven compliance, governance or transformation reviews.
- Strong data analysis and reconciliation capability, with confidence working across fragmented HR, finance, payroll, procurement and contract data.
- Ability to design and execute risk-based sampling, evidence gathering, controls testing and remediation activity.
- Excellent project management, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.
- Ability to operate independently, structure ambiguous problems and deliver at pace with a high degree of technical credibility and practical judgement.
- Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain complex issues simply and make actions and decisions explicit.
Desirable
- Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, carve-outs, separations or business integrations.
- Workday experience and familiarity with Accounts Payable, procurement, payroll or contingent workforce systems.
- Experience of UK off-payroll working, employment status, PAYE and NIC, PSA/P11D, travel and expenses or share scheme compliance.
- Experience in media, broadcasting, production, entertainment or another sector with significant freelance and project-based populations.
- Experience supporting HMRC reviews or other regulatory enquiries.
- A relevant professional qualification in tax, accountancy, payroll, audit, risk, project management or a related discipline.
Benefits and perks
There's one thing people can't stop talking about when it comes to life at Sky: the perks.
- Free Sky TV or NOW package, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema
- Pension package with up to 9% employer contribution
- Private healthcare with mental health support
- Aviva Digital GP and dental insurance
- Discounts on Sky products, including Sky Mobile, Sky Broadband, Sky Glass and Sky Protect
- Sharesave and Tech schemes
- A range of Sky VIP rewards and experiences
How you’ll work
We've adopted a hybrid working approach to give more flexibility on where and how we work. The hybrid working expectations for this role are 3days in the office per week.
Your office base
Osterley/Livingston Watermark
Osterley
Our Sky Group HQ. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and workspaces, there’s plenty of space to see your big ideas come to life. Here you’ll find 13 subsidised restaurants and cafes. You can re- energise at our gym, catch the latest films at our cinema, get your car washed and even get pampered at our beauty salon.
Our Osterley Campus is just a 10-minute walk from Syon Lane train station, or you can get one of our free shuttle buses from Osterley, Gunnersbury and Ealing Broadway stations. Plus, there’s free onsite
parking available for cars, motorbikes and bicycles.
Livingston Watermark
Sky Watermark is our central site for Livingston, sitting between Glasgow and Edinburgh. With vibrant office spaces, chill-out areas, and an onsite canteen, it’s a great place to work and connect.
The nearest train station is Livingston North. A Sky shuttle bus runs between the station and campus every 20 minutes throughout the day. Plus, there’s onsite parking available for cars, motorbikes and
Bicycles.
Additional information
This is an initial 12 month fixed-term role. The balance of activity will evolve across Project Iron and Project Keystone, so the successful candidate must be comfortable moving between detailed review work, technical and operational problem solving, stakeholder leadership and programme delivery.
Diversity and inclusion
It’s our people that make Sky Europe’s leading entertainment company. That’s why we work hard to be an inclusive employer, so everyone can be their best. We welcome different perspectives and experiences and aim to make our recruitment process accessible. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the process.
Who we are
We’re Sky, a leading media and entertainment company who connect millions with entertainment, sports, news and arts through innovative products and services. Working with us means you’ll be bringing the joy of a better experience to more people, every day. All so we can do better and deliver better for our customers, colleagues and society.
We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We're a Disability Confident Accredited Employer, and welcome and encourage applications from all candidates. We will look to ensure a fair and consistent experience for all and will make reasonable adjustments to support you where appropriate. Please flag any adjustments you need as early as you can.
Just so you know: if your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a criminal record check. And depending on the role you have applied for and the nature of any convictions you may have, we might have to withdraw the offer.
To be eligible for this role you are required to have the appropriate right to work in the UK. Please be aware Sky does not offer sponsorship for this position.
