Senior Benefits Specialist

Location – London

About Federated Hermes:

Federated Hermes, Inc. is a global leader in active, responsible investment management, with $839.8 billion in assets under management, as of March 31st, 2025. We deliver investment solutions that help investors target a broad range of outcomes and provide equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset, and liquidity management strategies to more than 11,000 institutions and intermediaries worldwide.

Main Function of the role:

The purpose of this position is to administer health, wellness and pension benefit plans in Europe and Asia.

Key task and responsibilities:

• Responsible for the administration and renewal of all benefit programs through input and coordination of brokers, benefit providers and other Total Reward Staff.
• Responding to and resolving employee benefit related queries.
• Working closely with HR Operations and Payroll to process all benefit-related elections and changes.
• Maintaining the third-party benefits platform with the provider.
• Uploading and downloading data, running queries, performing system configuration changes and resolving discrepancies.
• Processing benefit invoices, ensuring fees reconcile with employee membership.
• Preparing and maintaining benefit plan expense spreadsheets.
• Coordinating with Finance to ensure proper budget and expense reporting.
• Creating and updating benefits related information on the Hub.
• Maintaining all electronic and physical documents in support of the Company's benefit plans.
• Create and maintain procedure documents for all SOX controls and essential benefit processes.
• Reviews benefit provider performance using employee feedback, KPIs and SLAs to ensure meeting scheme expectations and where appropriate put in place action plans to address performance issues.
• Regularly reviews benefit utilisation and budget spend to ensure affordability, competitiveness and relevance.
• Participate in benchmarking surveys.
• Analyse and propose new benefits-related programs.
• Analyse and propose changes to benefits-related programs.
• Responsible for benefit communication strategy and delivery (promotions, webinars, events, training, etc.)
• Monitor benefit-related regulations, analyse and propose necessary changes to benefit plans.

Minimum knowledge & experience required:

• Significant experience in a benefits function supporting UK and Europe.
• Ability to interpret and apply legislation applicable to benefit policies across multiple jurisdictions.
• Ensure SOX evidence file is maintained for SOX controls and Internal Audit requests.
• Attend the UK Pension Governance Committee meetings, working with the Committee Chair and HR Management as needed.
• Significant experience in the end-to-end employee benefit renewal processes across multiple jurisdictions, including the interaction with payrolls.

Experience Required:

• Experience administering benefit, wellbeing and pension offerings.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office skills, proficiency in Excel (vlookup, pivot tables, etc.)
• Strong analytical skills.

Candidate Profile:

• Outstanding analytical skills and strong numerical reasoning.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to safeguard private and confidential information.
• Ability to work in both a team environment and independently taking ownership for your area of responsibility.
• Ability to work with colleagues and providers in different time zones.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to deliver presentations to a broader population of employees.
• Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of employees.
• Experience of working across a global business and maintaining relationships with colleagues in different jurisdictions.
• Able to work under pressure whilst responding rapidly to changes and still meeting deadlines.
• Exercise initiative, lateral thinking and flexibility.
• Treats everyone with dignity and respect. Shows a high level of self-awareness, understands impact of own behaviour on others, and upholds the highest standards of company values/ practice.

Diversity, Inclusion and Flexible Working:

We believe in genuine opportunity, fairness, and respect for all applicants and aim to ensure that no current or prospective employee is subject to discrimination or treated less favourably on the basis of their disability, gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, age, sex, or sexual orientation, or disability.

We understand that applicants may have different needs and expectations related to their working arrangements and are committed to a discussion on flexible working. Please raise these with your Recruitment contact to discuss what type of arrangements can work for you and the role for which you are applying.

We welcome applications from all eligible candidates, and we particularly encourage applications from qualified candidates who identify as women and/or are from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, as these groups are underrepresented throughout the financial services sector.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and participate in the “Offer of Interview” scheme, intended to actively encourage applications from people with a disability or long-term condition and offer an interview to those who meet the minimum criteria set out within this job description.

If you would benefit from alternative methods of applying or for workplace adjustments during the recruitment process, please also let us know by contacting Jessica Sheehan at Jessica.sheehan@federatedhermes.com or +44 207 702 0888 to discuss the support you need.