Payroll Data & Process Lead - EEx

Ko wai mātou – About us
Kia ora.  We’re Foodies.  You know New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square right?  That’s us!  With 300+ stores and over 27,000 Foodies across Te Ika-a-Maui, our North Island Co-op has the privilege of helping New Zealanders get more out of life.  Locally owned, we reflect the communities we serve, and we celebrate our people - our taonga, every day for being uniquely them.

Te Tūranga – About the role
The Employee Experience (EEx) Programme is our co-op-wide reset of how our people and payroll experience works; simpler, smarter, and designed for the moments that matter. We’re modernising systems and streamlining processes so it’s easier for our teams (stores, Distribution Centres (DC’s) and Support Centre) to get stuff done and focus on customers.

As the Payroll Data & Process Lead, you’ll own the integrity of payroll data, processes, and outputs. Your work will ensure payroll outcomes are explainable, auditable, and aligned to Finance and reporting needs, creating confidence across the business that payroll is right, every time.

This is a rare opportunity to play a critical role in ensuring payroll is accurate, trusted, and future‑ready across Foodstuffs North Island.

Key responsibilities include:

• Owning the design and integrity of payroll data structures, pay elements, and costing frameworks
• Defining and maintaining payroll outputs that are accurate, explainable, and enterprise‑ready
• Establishing reconciliation logic and controls across pre‑payroll, pay run, and post‑payroll stages
• Leading leave interpretation and design (including Holidays Act requirements, balances, accruals, and liabilities)
• Ensuring payroll outputs align with Finance, GL, liabilities, audit, and statutory reporting needs
• Supporting testing, parallel runs, cutover, and post‑go‑live stabilisation
• Embedding strong controls, auditability, and risk mitigation frameworks across payroll processes
• Partnering cross‑functionally with Payroll, Finance, People & Capability, and programme teams

This is a 24 month fixed term contract.

Ngā painga - What we offer
We’re committed to providing awesome experiences for our people, including offering a range of benefits:

• Free carparking - we’ve got over 1,000 carparks including EV plugs
• Onsite café with subsidised meals, mini mart, 5% discount at our retail stores
• Flexible working options, a day off on your birthday
• Inhouse learning and development programmes and courses, flu vaccinations, and social network groups (we call them Tribes).

He kōrero mōu - About you
You’re a payroll expert who thrives on getting the detail right and understands the importance of data integrity, compliance, and trust. You’re equally comfortable working in complexity and bringing structure, clarity, and control to it.

You’ll also bring:

• Significant experience in payroll data, process design, or payroll systems implementation in complex environments
• Strong working knowledge of NZ payroll legislation, including the Holidays Act and leave liabilities
• Proven experience designing payroll outputs, reconciliations, and finance integrations
• The ability to interpret policy, employment agreements, and legislation and translate them into payroll‑safe design
• Strong analytical capability, with the ability to trace issues, identify root causes, and clearly communicate insights
• Experience supporting testing cycles, parallel runs, and payroll transformation programmes
• A structured, detail‑driven, and risk‑aware mindset with a strong focus on payroll accuracy and compliance
• Excellent stakeholder skills and the confidence to challenge, influence, and guide decision‑making

We’re interested in your diverse experiences, your strengths and how adaptable you are to learn and grow.  If you don't meet every requirement, but feel this role could be for you, we’d still love to hear from you!

Experience awesome. Achieve awesome. Be awesomely you.

We’re proud to have a focus on Diversity & Inclusion here at Foodies and welcome courageous behaviour, encourage togetherness, inspire our people to be their best selves in our Foodies whānau.

We encourage you to apply with all your awesomeness and welcome your diverse background, including any disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or neurodiversity.

If you require accessibility support to ensure you can fairly access our recruitment process, please reach out to [email protected]. Accommodations could include, interview location, sign language interpreter, assistive technology.

Are you stocked up & ready to head to the checkout – apply now!