Benefits Adviser

Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust; York; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading organization is seeking a Benefits Adviser to enhance employee understanding and participation in benefits programs. This full-time role focuses on delivering impactful communications and managing external relationships to ensure competitive and compliant employee benefits, contributing to overall well-being and engagement. Strong experience in HR and analytical skills are essential for success in this position.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in benefits advisory roles.
• Proven experience supporting employee benefits.
• Experience in analysing benefits data to inform decisions.

Responsibilities

• Support on employee benefits programs and deliver presentations.
• Manage relationships with external benefit providers.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation.

Skills

Communication

Problem Solving

Analytical Skills

Education

Experience in HR and payroll systems

Strong knowledge of employee benefits

Job description

Permanent, Full Time (35 hours per week)

About the role

The Benefits Adviser plays a crucial role in supporting JRF, JRHT, and the Group Centre by providing support on employee benefits programs. This position works closely with both JRF and JRHT to ensure that benefit offerings align with their people strategy and evolving needs. Rather than leading the implementation of specific programs, the partner acts as a key consultant, offering tailored recommendations to meet the unique objectives of JRF and JRHT.

As our Benefits Adviser, you’ll engage with employees and stakeholders to deliver clear and informative presentations about the benefits programs. This involves explaining the details of various benefit offerings through in-person site visits, webinars, Microsoft teams and written communication. You’ll ensure that employees fully understand the available benefits, how to use them, and the value they provide, helping increase employee awareness, satisfaction, and participation in the benefits programs. You’ll work proactively to boost usage rates by encouraging greater employee engagement with the benefits offerings and you’ll play a key role in demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of the benefits programs, ensuring employees recognise the value these benefits bring to their overall well-being.

You’ll also be responsible for managing relationships with external benefit providers, alongside the group shared services procurement team ensuring that the offerings remain competitive, cost-effective, and aligned with the organisation's goals. The role also involves support to JRF, JRHT and Group shared services policies, ensuring that they are up to date and compliant with employment legislation. You’ll manage the administration, reporting and relationship of the benefit offerings, including pensions, healthcare, maternity leave and other offerings, ensuring smooth eligibility, enrolment, and communication processes.

About you

You’ll have significant experience in a generalist benefits/advisory support role with strong knowledge and experience of HR and payroll systems. You’ll have proven experience in supporting with employee benefits, including both internally provided and externally procured benefits with knowledge of employee benefits best practices, market trends, and regulatory requirements, including salary sacrifice schemes and pensions.

With demonstrable flexible project management skills and techniques and an understanding of HR processes, organisational culture, and how benefits contribute to employee experience and engagement, you’ll have well-developed communication skills, able to provide advice and support to internal and external stakeholders. A strong innovator with excellent problem solving and delivery skills, you’ll be able to work with senior leaders to analyse issues, develop solutions and implement them.

You’ll have experience in working with procurement teams to tender, benchmark, and negotiate contracts with benefit providers to ensure value for money and you’ll be experienced in analysing benefits data, identifying trends, and using insights to inform decision-making and recommendations. With excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to persuade and influence people at all levels, you’ll be comfortable communicating initiatives and benefits to colleagues on an individual and group basis, both face to face and via webinars and Microsoft Teams. With strong analytical skills, utilising data to identify key trends in benefit offerings, you’ll have high attention to detail and confidence with numerical calculations & spreadsheets.

How to apply

If you share our passion and this role sounds like you, then we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Please submit your CV and supporting information via our online application platform.

The closing date for applications is Friday 20th June 2025.

We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward should enough quality applications be received prior to the current closing date.

Additional Information

Applications are welcome from all, regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socioeconomic background.

We positively encourage applications from people from marginalised backgrounds, including but not limited to those with experience of living in poverty.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.

In support of our approach to flexible working, we are happy to receive applications from those seeking full-time employment, as well as those who may want to share the role on a part-time basis. When making your application, please state whether you want to be considered for either full or part-time work and, if part-time, the number of hours per week you would be looking for.

At JRF we’re at our best when we’re continually building on trust, showing we care and making a difference – and hope others will do the same. So, for those roles which allow it, we’re developing a more blended approach to how and where you work. This means you can expect to work flexibly between the office and home (with an expectation of two days a week in your home office).

We encourage you to read our EVP, which is located here: https://jrf-jrht-brand.frontify.com/share/7C1kD2FusMtEVnje2ijA

We are a Disability Confident Employer. This means that we are committed to the recruitment, progression and retention of disabled individuals. We shall also offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the job. If you have a disability, please tell us if you would like to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.

If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know.