Our Team
HR Employee Services are a team of well qualified and experienced HR, Payroll, Pension and Health & Safety advisors and administrators, situated in Oldbury, West Midlands.
The HR Employee Services team currently has over 40 full-time and part-time staff delivering HR, Payroll, Pension and Health & Safety services providing services direct to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and Sandwell schools.
Management Structure
Vivek Krishnakumar – Head of HR – Employee Services
Vivek is the Head of Employee Services and provides strategic leadership across the HR Admin, HR Helpdesk, Payroll, Reconciliation, Oracle Improvement and Pensions teams. As a member of the HR Senior Leadership Team, Vivek works closely with the Chief People Officer and senior operational leaders to design and deliver high-quality, customer-focused HR services and a resilient, efficient payroll function. This work supports organisational performance and the successful delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan.
Yvonne Brown – Payroll Manager
Yvonne is a CIPP qualified Payroll professional with over 35 years at SMBC within the Payroll department . Yvonne has comprehensive knowledge and experience in the Public Sector, including Local Government and Teachers Conditions of Service. She leads a team of experienced Payroll Specialists, guiding and supporting them to deliver accurate, compliant and timely payroll services.
Kate Phillips – Payroll & Pensions Lead Manager
Kate has been with Sandwell for over 8 years and is CIPP accredited. Having always worked in customer focused roles previous to Sandwell MBC she is experienced in handling a variety of situations and prides herself in customer service. Administering the Local Government, Teachers Pensions, NEST and NHS pension schemes committed to supporting all clients both past and present.
Dora Elkington CMIOSH MSc – Interim Corporate Health & Safety Manager
Dora has 17 years’ experience as a Health and Safety Practitioner, this includes working within the private, healthcare, and public sector. Dora holds an MSc in The Science of Occupational, Environmental, Health and Safety and is a Chartered member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Dora is passionate about H&S and strives to share her knowledge, to support and engage with managers in relation to all H&S matters. Dora is keen to share her learning and knowledge to support the development of the Health and Safety strategy within Sandwell Council and Schools.
Robina Dangerfield – HR Employee support Manager
Robina is the manager responsible for delivering HR Employee support services which includes HR Helpdesk, HR Administration (Council and Schools) and HR Recruitment. She has over 35 years’ experience of working in HR and is the UK Visa and Immigration Authorising officer for Sandwell.
Having started her career in the Payroll Department and then moving into HR she has carried out a variety of roles enabling her to gain a wide range of experience covering many areas of HR, Payroll and Project Management. She has an in-depth knowledge of business objectives and strategies that align with HR programs and policies.
Robina is a CIPP qualified Payroll professional as well as holding Payroll Administration, Customer Service and Prince 2 qualifications.
Beverley Tinker – HR Reconciliation and Payments Manager
Bev brings over 20 years of experience in HR Employee Services. She leads the Payroll Reconciliation Team, Payroll Control Team, and The Payments Team. Which is responsible for producing the payrolls, reconciling and processing payments on behalf of SMBC and Schools. The team operates independently from Payroll to ensure that all protocols and audit requirements are fully upheld.
Core responsibilities include managing Payroll BACS, administering third‑party payments, balancing files submitted to HMRC, processing invoice payments, overseeing service level agreements, maintaining the Family Pooling Scheme, and a wide range of additional reconciliation and payment functions.