Senior Payroll Specialist

Job Description:

Better and fairer care. Always

• Bring specialist payroll expertise to one of Australia's most trusted names in care

• Shape how payroll gets done — process, documentation and best practice

• Coach and mentor the next generation of payroll professionals | Brisbane

St Vincent's has been a leader in Australia's health and aged care landscape for more than 165 years. Since our founders, the Sisters of Charity, opened our first hospital in 1857, our services and people have been behind some of Australia's most important medical breakthroughs. Today, as we expand care beyond hospital walls and create more connected models of care, St Vincent's is helping shape a better, fairer health and aged care system.

We are looking for a special kind of person — a St Vincent's kind of person. Someone who combines deep technical expertise, sound judgement and a genuine understanding that behind every pay run are the people delivering care to Australians every day.

The Opportunity
Reporting to the Group Payroll Strategy & Delivery Manager, we are seeking an experienced Senior Payroll Specialist to sit at the technical heart of our Group Payroll function.

This is more than a processing role. Working alongside the Payroll Team Leads and Payroll Manager, you'll make sure every pay run is accurate and on time and then go further. You'll review and refresh our process documentation so it reflects how the work is actually done, map the integrations between our payroll systems and the wider SVHA technology landscape, and bring specialist knowledge to bear on what payroll best practice should look like here.

You'll also be a senior presence in the team, coaching and mentoring junior colleagues so that consistent methodology becomes the norm rather than the aspiration.

If you've reached the point where you want your expertise to shape a function rather than just service it, this is that role.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the Payroll Team Leads as a senior member of the team, ensuring accurate and timely processing of all pay runs.

• Review payroll process documentation to ensure it remains relevant to current ways of working.

• Document payroll system integrations with other SVHA systems.

• Apply specialist knowledge and capability with a view to payroll best practice at all times.

• Coach and mentor junior team members, driving consistent process methodology across the team.

• Provide technical leadership through incident response, resolution and post-incident analysis of major incidents.

• Deliver prompt resolution to customers directly or by consulting with colleagues and vendors, meeting the delivery standards of the function.

• Contribute to departmental documentation and training resources.

• Work independently while consulting with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.

• Ensure compliance with relevant legislation, standards and industrial instruments.

About You
You are a payroll professional with genuine depth— the person colleagues seek out when something doesn't reconcile, and the one who reaches for the process document rather than the assumption.

You understand the interdependencies between what you do and what happens downstream, and you're as comfortable talking to a facility finance lead as you are to a technology team about an integration. You bring structure and logic to problems under time pressure, and you take real satisfaction in leaving a process better documented than you found it.

To be successful you will bring:

• Minimum 5 years' experience in a senior payroll role.

• Sound knowledge of payroll principles and processes.

• Previous experience with ADP Payforce National.

• Previous experience with Workday for HR.

• Demonstrated experience documenting payroll processes.

• Familiarity with computer operating systems and confidence learning new applications.

• Exceptional problem-solving skills, with the ability to prioritise and execute in a high-pressure environment.

• Excellent communication skills and a strong customer service focus.

Highly regarded:

• Experience with CHRIS21 / iChris.

• Experience with Kronos / UKG Dimensions.

• Previous experience in a health organisation.

Why Join St Vincent's?
At St Vincent's, our people are inspired by a shared commitment to Compassion, Justice, Integrity and Excellence. We are building a better and fairer health and aged care system, and we believe our greatest strength lies in our people.

You will join an organisation that:

• Makes a meaningful difference in the lives of patients, residents and communities every single day.

• Gives you real ownership of payroll practice, documentation and improvement and not just processing volume.

• Offers the depth and complexity that comes with a 30,000-strong national workforce.

• Backs continuous improvement and gives you the standing to raise a better way of doing things.

Pre-Employment Checks

Your employment is conditional upon the completion of all role-required pre-employment checks, including relevant immunisations (Category B).

Equal Opportunity
We celebrate diversity and inclusion and are committed to equal employment opportunity for everyone.

 

How To Apply
Please submit your resume and a cover letter outlining your interest in the role via the Apply Now button.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and the advertisement may close earlier than the published closing date if a strong field of suitable candidates is identified. We therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Closing Date:

17 August 2026 11:59pm

Reconciliation Action Plan:

At St Vincent's we acknowledge the importance of creating a work environment that is welcoming, safe, equitable and inclusive for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Employees. As part of our Commitment to Reconciliation and Closing the Gap in employment related outcomes, we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

For further information, visit https://www.svha.org.au/about-us/reconciliation or get in contact at [email protected]

View Reconciliation Action Plan

Code of Conduct:

View Code of Conduct