Payroll Advisor

About Summerset

Summerset is a people-first organisation focused on creating retirement communities where residents can enjoy a high quality of life. From building new villages through to welcoming residents into their homes, the company relies on the dedication, skill, and care of its teams to bring each community to life.

As a rapidly expanding trans-Tasman business, Summerset continues to grow its reach and ambitions, offering opportunities to learn, contribute, and be part of meaningful work. Joining the team means your contribution is valued and your development is supported.

This is a chance to help shape the future of retirement living while building a career with purpose.

Role Overview

Working within the People & Culture function, this busy and detail-focused position is responsible for delivering payroll services that are accurate, timely, and fully compliant across Summerset entities in both New Zealand and Australia. The role supports a varied workforce that includes salaried employees, wage earners, and rostered shift staff.

Reporting to the Payroll Manager, you will carry out end-to-end payroll activities, help maintain clean and reliable data in the HRIS (TechnologyOne), and act as a trusted point of contact for managers, employees, and other stakeholders.

What You’ll Do

You will be part of a small payroll team and expected to contribute confidently from day one, with support available as you settle in.

• Run complete payroll processing across multiple entities and locations, ensuring compliance and accuracy throughout.
• Manage fortnightly payroll cycles, including salaries, wages, allowances, deductions, and other payments.
• Handle payroll for rostered and shift-based employees, making sure hours, overtime, penalties, and related entitlements are interpreted correctly.
• Support payroll changes across the employee lifecycle while staying aligned with New Zealand and Australian legal requirements.
• Assist with time and attendance systems by checking roster and timesheet data, loading imports, and helping managers resolve discrepancies.
• Apply payroll, employment, tax, and leave/holiday legislation from both NZ and Australia in day-to-day processing.
• Carry out audit checks, validate data, and contribute to payroll reporting.
• Provide prompt, accurate, and customer-focused payroll support while building strong relationships across the business.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience delivering full payroll processing across multiple entities or jurisdictions, ideally in a complex multi-site environment.
• Confidence managing fortnightly payroll runs with strong accuracy and timeliness.
• Experience with payroll administration for rostered and shift workers, including interpretation of rosters, hours, overtime, penalties, and entitlements.
• Ability to manage payroll changes while meeting NZ and Australian compliance obligations.
• Hands-on experience supporting time and attendance systems, including roster checks, timecard validation, imports, and discrepancy resolution.
• Sound knowledge of payroll, tax, employment, and leave/holiday legislation in New Zealand and Australia.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to perform checks, verify data, and support reporting.
• Excellent communication skills and a service-oriented approach when dealing with staff, managers, and stakeholders.

Additional Information

Summerset values diversity and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds, including those with transferable skills from other industries. You do not need to meet every requirement to apply; the organisation considers the whole person and aims to build an inclusive workplace where people feel respected, supported, and able to thrive.

Equal opportunity is central to recruitment at Summerset.

Benefits

• Flexible working hours, including two work-from-home days.
• Free Southern Cross health insurance, covering up to 75% of costs for GPs, dentists, physiotherapists, and more.
• Professional development support and tailored career progression opportunities.
• Birthday leave.

Application Note

Applications close on 12 July. The role may close earlier if there is a high volume of applications, so interested candidates are encouraged to apply promptly.