Join #TeamAyrshire as a Lead Practitioner!

Are you an experienced Health & Social Care professional who’s ready to take the next step into leadership? Do you enjoy supporting others to grow, bringing out the best in a team and making a real difference to people’s lives?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

We’re looking for a passionate, organised and motivated Lead Practitioner to join our fantastic #TeamAyrshire in North Ayrshire. This is a full-time, permanent opportunity (39 hours per week) where you can use your experience, develop your leadership skills and help shape the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care and support

The role

As a Lead Practitioner, you’ll play a key role in supporting, guiding and inspiring our Support Practitioners to deliver the very best care and support.

You’ll be a positive role model for your team, helping colleagues feel supported, confident and motivated in their roles. Through effective leadership, coaching and mentoring, you’ll help create a culture where people feel valued, professional standards are upheld and the individuals we support remain at the heart of everything we do.

Working in partnership with our Service Lead, you’ll also help ensure our services run effectively, meet contractual requirements and operate within agreed budgets.

For a full list of key responsibilities, please see the role profile on the Cornerstone website.

About you

You don’t just need experience in Health & Social Care — you need a genuine passion for people and the confidence to help others do their best.

We’re looking for someone who can bring:

• Health & Social Care knowledge – an understanding of what makes a service effective, safe and responsive to people’s needs.
• A person-centred approach – a genuine commitment to delivering high-quality care and support that respects each individual’s needs, choices and aspirations.
• Professional knowledge – a sound understanding of the SSSC Codes of Practice and Health & Social Care Standards.
• Strong relationship-building skills – the ability to develop positive, professional relationships with the people we support, their families, colleagues and other stakeholders.
• Great communication skills – the ability to communicate clearly, confidently and effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• A collaborative mindset – someone who leads by example, works well with others and understands the importance of professional boundaries, accountability and safeguarding the people we support.

You’ll also need to be willing to work towards and achieve an SVQ Social Services and Healthcare at SCQF Level 7 and a PDA in Health & Social Care Supervision, if you haven’t already achieved these qualifications.

Shift patterns

As a Lead Practitioner, you will work 5 out of 7 days. There may be occasions where we will need you to be flexible to work evenings, sleepovers, waking nights and weekends due to the needs of our services. On call duties will also form part of your role on a rotational basis.

If you’re ready to bring your experience, enthusiasm and leadership skills to a role where people matter, we’d love to hear from you!

The successful candidate will be required to join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme and be committed to working towards a relevant SVQ in Social Services and Healthcare and a PDA in management with the support from our Training Academy.

If you’re successful in joining our team, we will need you to register with the SSSC within 3 months of starting your employment with us.

Looking for a finance role where your skills can make a genuine difference?

At Cornerstone, the work we do is all about helping the people we support live their best lives, and our Finance team plays an important part in making that possible.

We’re looking for an experienced Finance Business Partner to join us on a full-time basis. This is a hybrid role, with a minimum of 2 days per week working from one of our offices in Glasgow, Dundee or Aberdeen, with the remaining hours worked from home.

You’ll work closely with managers and colleagues across Cornerstone, providing financial insight, guidance and constructive challenge to help us make informed decisions and use our resources effectively. You’ll have the opportunity to bring your financial expertise to a role where the decisions you influence ultimately help us deliver high-quality services and better outcomes for the people we support.

Could this be the role for you?

If you enjoy looking beyond the numbers, building strong relationships and helping others make confident financial decisions, we'd love to hear from you.

You’ll work as part of a wider team where collaboration, flexibility and different perspectives are valued.

What we're looking for

You'll combine strong technical finance skills with a collaborative, solutions focused approach. You'll be comfortable analysing large volumes of complex information and explaining the key messages clearly to colleagues at all levels.

You'll bring

• A business degree or relevant qualification at SCQF level 8 or above
• AAT, an quivalent accounting qualification or a minimum of 5 years' experience
• Experience in management accounting, budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting
• Excellent analytical, organisational and Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel
• Confidence communicating complex financial concepts and constructively challenge assumptions
• Experience developing financial processes and controls

It would be helpful if you also have

• Experience in a charity, social care or public sector environment
• Knowledge of Charities SORP and FRS 102
• Experience developing financial policies and procedures

Why Cornerstone

Our values, Caring, Person-Centred, Professional and Pioneering underpin how we work and the services we provide.

This role provides you with an opportunity to use your financial expertise to influence decision-making across a national organisation, strengthen our approach to financial planning and management, and support the delivery of high-quality services and better outcomes for the people we support across Scotland.

So, if you are an experienced finance professional looking for a role where you can use your expertise to provide insight, influence decisions and make a meaningful difference across a large organisation, we would like to hear from you. Apply now!

The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Level 2 Disclosure check through Disclosure Scotland.

Please note - If you have spent more than 12 months out with the UK (excluding France, Germany. Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania or Spain) within the last 10 years while over the age of 18, you will be asked to provide a criminal record certificate from the relevant government/police authority as part of our pre-employment checks.

A senior role with the opportunity to shape payroll across Cornerstone.

We have a great opportunity for an experienced payroll professional to lead and influence payroll practice across Cornerstone.

You'll lead the delivery of a high-quality payroll and pension service, strengthen controls and compliance, and drive improvements to systems, processes and ways of working.

Leading your team, you'll ensure around 1,800 colleagues are paid accurately, compliantly and on time, while creating a supportive environment and providing professional advice across the organisation.

Based at our Glasgow, Dundee or Aberdeen office, this role offers hybrid working alongside occasional travel across our branch locations (travel expenses would be reimbursed as set out in Cornerstone’s expense policy with travel reimbursed by HMRC legislation).

About the role

At Cornerstone, our purpose is to enable the people we support to live valued lives in their communities.

As our Payroll Lead, you'll play an important role in ensuring our payroll service supports this purpose while meeting our financial, legal and regulatory responsibilities.

You'll have overall responsibility for the effective delivery of Cornerstone's end-to-end payroll and pension service, providing leadership to our Payroll Business Partners, Payroll Specialists and Payroll Officers.

This is a broad and influential role, combining strategic oversight with hands-on operational leadership. You'll provide assurance that payroll is accurate, compliant, well controlled and delivered to a consistently high standards.

You'll act as a senior point of escalation for complex and sensitive payroll matters, while working closely with Finance, People, HMRC, pension providers, auditors, advisers and system providers.

You'll also play a key role in using payroll data, insight and analysis to identify risks, improve service quality and support better decision-making.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the accurate, timely and compliant delivery of monthly payroll and pension services.
• Lead, support and develop the Payroll Team, creating a positive, accountable and customer-focused environment.
• Review and approve payroll before final submission, ensuring appropriate checks, reconciliations and authorisations are completed.
• Maintain effective payroll controls, segregation of duties and clear audit trails.
• Oversee statutory submissions, pension administration, payroll reconciliations, journals, month-end reporting and year-end activities.
• Ensure compliance with payroll, tax, employment, pension and data protection requirements.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and ensure changes are effectively implemented.
• Produce clear payroll analysis and management information for Finance, People and senior leaders.
• Use data to identify trends, exceptions and emerging risks and drive continuous improvement.
• Lead the development and improvement of payroll systems, processes, controls and data quality.
• Provide professional advice and constructive challenge on complex payroll matters.
• Build effective relationships with HMRC, pension providers, auditors, advisers and payroll system providers.
• Represent payroll in relevant organisational meetings, projects and working groups.

What we're looking for

You'll be an experienced payroll leader with the knowledge and confidence to manage a complex, end-to-end payroll service within a large or multi-site organisation.

You'll be comfortable working at both a strategic and operational level, balancing accuracy, compliance, risk and customer service while leading and developing a team.

You'll have strong attention to detail and the ability to interpret complex legislation and translate requirements into clear, practical processes and guidance.

Essential qualifications and experience

• Significant experience of managing or leading an end-to-end payroll and pension service within a large or complex organisation.
• Current and detailed knowledge of PAYE, RTI, National Insurance, statutory payments, pension administration and automatic enrolment.
• Degree-level qualification, CIPP/IPPM qualification or equivalent extensive experience in a senior payroll leadership role.
• Strong leadership and people-management skills, including experience of coaching, developing and motivating payroll colleagues.
• Experience of payroll reconciliations, journals, financial controls, month-end and year-end reporting.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, with excellent attention to detail.
• Advanced Excel and payroll data-analysis skills.
• Ability to interpret legislation and translate complex requirements into effective processes, controls and practical guidance.
• Strong risk management, problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills.
• Experience of improving payroll systems, processes, data quality and service performance.
• Strong communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to manage sensitive and confidential information with integrity and discretion.

Desirable

• Chartered or advanced professional payroll qualification.
• Relevant leadership or management qualification.
• Experience of Access Select Pay or a comparable payroll system.
• Experience of integrated HR and payroll systems or payroll modelling.
• Experience of audit or working with auditors and external advisers.
• Experience within social care, the charity sector, the third sector or another regulated environment.

Why Cornerstone

Our values, Caring, Person-Centred, Professional and Pioneering, underpin how we work and the services we provide.

As Payroll Lead, you'll have the opportunity to influence and strengthen an essential organisational service, develop colleagues and lead meaningful improvements to our payroll systems and processes.

You'll play a key role in ensuring our people are paid accurately and on time, while providing the financial control, assurance and insight that supports Cornerstone to deliver high-quality care and support services across Scotland.

So, if you're an experienced payroll leader looking for a role where you can use your expertise to lead, develop and drive meaningful improvement, we'd like to hear from you. Apply now!

Shortlisted candidates will be invited along to an interview on Friday 23rd October 2026.

The successful candidate will need to undertake a Level 2 Disclosure check through Disclosure Scotland.