Benefits Manager

Who you are

• 5 - 8 years experience running employee benefits, ideally across more than one country
• A good grasp of how benefits work in practice: pensions, risk and health cover, and the tax and compliance basics that sit behind them
• Comfort managing vendors and renewals, and a track record of getting good value
• Strong organisation. You keep lots of moving parts on track without dropping things
• Confidence with data and spreadsheets, and good judgement about what the numbers mean
• A self-starter mindset. You're happy owning your area without a big team around you
• Build the business case for what we invest in benefits, and show the return: what it costs, what people actually use and value, and what it does for retention and hiring
• Bring the numbers and the story together so leadership can make confident calls on benefits spend, and so we can explain to our people why we've invested where we have
• Track how our benefits are landing, be honest about what isn't working, and make the case to shift the money to what does
• Experience in a fast-growing tech or software business
• Exposure to benefits globally
• Understanding of different country payroll and tax processes
• Familiarity with HRIS and benefits platforms
• Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we’re looking for!

What the job involves

• Our benefits offering has room to grow, and we want someone to own it end to end
• You'll take our benefits from where they are today to something our people genuinely value and that helps us compete for brilliant talent, without turning it into a bureaucratic maze
• This is a hands-on delivery role. You'll be the person who makes benefits actually work day to day, across all the countries where we employ people
• Partner with in country People Ops to help manage our benefits programmes day to day across our employing countries, including pensions, insurances, health and wellbeing, leave and any local perks
• Manage brokers, providers and renewals. Push for better value and a better experience for our people, and keep a close eye on cost
• Track legislation changes & keep our benefits compliant in every country we operate in, and flag anything that needs a decision early
• Help managers understand what we offer and why, so they can talk to their teams with confidence
• Use data to spot what people actually use and value, and bring ideas for what we should add, change or drop
• Take the lead on the day-to-day of our global benefits review: gather the data on what we offer in each country, benchmark it against the market, and help shape the recommendations that come out of it
• Support benefits as we grow into new markets, and help scope new benefits from idea to launch
• Keep our benefits records, systems and vendor data clean, accurate and secure
• Partner with the local People Ops team to manage our benefits platforms and push it to be genuinely good: self-serve, quick to use, and clear enough that people can sort their own benefits in a few clicks without asking anyone

Benefits

• Equity option scheme: Everyone who works at Kraken owns a part of the business with shares in the Octopus Energy Group. So as the company grows we all benefit
• Pension scheme: We'll pay 5%. You decide on your contribution starting from 3%
• Holidays: We don't count your holiday days. We trust everyone to work hard and take as much time off as they need
• Flexible working: We're happy for you to work in a way that's best for you. Need to pick the kids up from school or work from home? That's not a problem. It's important to us that everyone has a positive work-life balance
• Free breakfast: Our offices are always stocked with fresh fruit, breakfast, snacks, great coffee and soft drinks.

Weekly on a Friday we all get together (including virtually) for company updates and drinks

• For parents: We can arrange access to tax free childcare, as well as maternity and paternity pay
• Free eye tests: We offer eye test vouchers for all colleagues who use Visual Display Units (VDU). Long spells of VDU work can be visually demanding so we want to make sure you're OK
• Car salary sacrifice: Save money on leasing an electric vehicle through our workplace salary sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to work scheme: Spread the cost of buying a bike, including accessories and safety equipment, up to a value of £2.5K. And save money on the repayments through the cycle to work scheme
• Get the right tech: Have a certain tech requirement? We’ll do our best to sort it for you
• Money coach: Get support with financial planning through our partnership with Octopus Money Coach
• Yoga + Headspace: Twice a week we have 45 Minute live yoga class open to all Kraken staff.

Need some calm in your life? We have Headspace licences available

• Team events and activities: Participate in team events and cohesion activities to build stronger connections
• Health Insurance: We’ll provide comprehensive coverage with Alan and access to Alan Mind.
• Transportation: If you cycle to the office we’ll support you by up to €600/year, if you use public transport we'll reimburse 75% of your Navigo pass. If you use both, we'll support you by up to €900/year
• Green energy discount: Enjoy a 32% discount on green energy compared to the regulated tariff
• Year-end gift voucher: Receive a €100 gift voucher at the end of each year
• Gymlib subscription: Get a subscription to Gymlib for access to a wide variety of fitness options
• Meal vouchers: Enjoy €10 Ticket Restaurant cards for meal expenses
• NGO support days: Benefit from three additional RTT days (Reduction of Working Time) to support NGO work, every year