Payroll Specialist

Job Description Summary

Job Description

Payroll Specialist

12 Month Fixed Term Contract

Location: Edinburgh (We believe in the power of in-person collaboration, and our hybrid model requires colleagues to be in the office a minimum of 40% of their time)  

Salary: A competitive salary from £30,880 – £46,320 depending on the experience you can bring  

Closing date: 7th September 2026

People are living longer and we’re excited by the opportunities this brings to help people live their best lives. We’re here for everyone who wants to make the most of their time on the planet and leave it a little better than they found it – however grand or humble their ambitions. 

We help people live their best lives. We help them with the big stuff, for the moments that matter: Pensions, Savings, Investments. At Aegon, we strive in creating a diverse organisation that plays a meaningful role in driving greater equity, inclusion and belonging. 

The Payroll & Benefits team is essential to delivering an exceptional employee experience, making sure every UK-based employee across Aegon UK, Aegon Asset Management, Enterprise Technology, and Aegon Financial Planning is paid accurately and on time. In this fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, precision and compliance aren’t just important – they’re essential.

We’re looking for a Payroll Specialist to take ownership of day-to-day payroll operations and benefits administration. In this role, you’ll be a trusted expert on payroll processes, HMRC legislation, and compliance. From managing monthly payroll to supporting future HR projects, your work will have a direct impact on the success of our business and the experience of our people.

In this role, you’ll collaborate with multiple teams, including our People (HR) function, Finance & Tax, Audit & Risk, and the Pension team. You’ll also provide expert advice and support to managers and employees, ensuring queries are resolved quickly and accurately. This is a role where your expertise will be valued and your impact will be felt across the organisation.

Full training and ongoing support will be provided by our experienced Payroll & Benefits team, ensuring you have everything you need to succeed in the role.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Deliver the full UK payroll and benefits cycle, ensuring accurate and timely payments for employees. This includes processing new hires, leavers, and changes, managing PAYE reporting to HMRC, and maintaining compliance with SOX controls.
• Handle statutory payments such as SSP, SMP, ShPP, and SAP, and perform complex manual calculations when required.
• Complete cyclical processes such as P11D, PSA, annual pay review, bonus cycles, and tax year-end activities.
• Act as a payroll expert on HR projects, including benefit changes, restructures, and TUPE, working closely with technical teams to implement and test changes in Workday.

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Previous experience in a high-volume payroll and benefits environment, within a fast-paced financial services organisation.
• Expert knowledge of UK payroll legislation, PAYE, NI, pensions, and data protection.
• Strong experience with HMRC statutory reporting (RTI, P11D, tax year-end).
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Highly numerate, detail-oriented, and able to thrive under pressure.
• Experience handling complex manual payroll calculations, such as redundancy payments and sickness adjustments.
• Highly numerate with exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
• Comfortable working to tight deadlines.
• Customer-focused, with a collaborative approach to working across teams.

What’s in it for you?

• We’re serious about your future and our enhanced pension scheme is now in place. We ask you to contribute 3% of your salary to your pension and we’ll put in 9%. If you decide to contribute more, we’ll match it up to a combined total of 20% of your salary (that’s 7% from you and 13% from us). 
• A discretionary bonus, depending on personal and company performance.
• 34 days leave per year (including bank holidays, pro-rated for part-time).

We also offer private medical cover, life assurance, critical illness cover, enhanced parental leave and a variety of lifestyle benefits to help our employees live their best lives, including retail discount vouchers, cycle2work scheme, subsidised restaurant and online GP appointments.  To find out more about what to expect at Aegon, visit our careers site.

Joining our Payroll & Benefits team means becoming part of a group that keeps the business moving. If you’re looking for a role where your attention to detail and problem-solving skills make a real impact every day this is the team for you.

The legal bits 

We’ll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK. If we offer you a job and you accept, there are some checks we need to complete before you can start with us. This will include a credit and criminal record check, as well as providing satisfactory references.