People Operations Specialist

Location: London, minimum of 2 days per week in the office Salary: From £33,000 + 10% discretionary bonus Level: Junior to mid level position with scope across core People Operations activities About the Role We are looking for a People Operations Specialist to join our People Team. In this role, you will ensure our people data, systems and core processes are accurate, reliable and running to a high standard. Working across Humaans (our HRIS), payroll inputs, benefits and reporting for both the UK and US, you will help strengthen decision making, streamline workflows and directly improve the employee experience through digitalisation and automation. You will also play a vital role in payroll accuracy and compliance, making sure every employee is paid correctly and on time. If you love variety, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and embrace change with energy, this could be your right role. Why SMG? At SMG, we hire for the future, which is fast-moving and changing shape. Do you have the potential to help shape our business? We’re looking for brilliant, diverse talent who want to grow with us—people who are curious, ambitious, and eager to learn, whether as specialists or across teams. Our culture is everything. If you’re someone who stays honest, stays hungry, stays foolish, and has fun, you’ll feel right at home here. We value those who take ownership of their growth and bring fresh perspectives. That’s why we’re committed to equity, inclusion, and building a place where everyone feels empowered to grow. At SMG, it’s not just about filling a role but building the future together. We’re proud to be ranked the #1 Best Marketing and Media Agency and to have received World-Class accreditation from Best Companies. 10% discretionary bonus £1,800 yearly wellbeing fund (on top of your salary!) Free Headspace subscription £500 yearly “Learning Fund” for learning 4 extra Wellbeing Days off per year Summer & Winter conferences + year-round celebrations 4pm finishes every Friday Flexible and hybrid working Explore all our benefits here Are We What You’re Looking For? We move fast, adapt quickly, and like to challenge each other. We're looking for people who enjoy the buzz of change, the satisfaction of building something better, and the joy of working with a close-knit, values-driven team. This isn’t for everyone, but if you thrive in this environment, we’d love to meet you! A Little Bit About You You’ll bring: Proven experience in People Operations or HR Operations, ideally in a mid sized organisation Strong understanding of end to end payroll processes (UK essential; US desirable) Advanced Excel skills, including formulas, PivotTables and data cleaning Hands on experience using a HRIS for data management, workflow design and reporting (bonus points if that HRIS was Humaans!) Strong analytical ability to interpret people data, create dashboards and spot trends or anomalies Sound understanding of employment data compliance, confidentiality and GDPR Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills to manage cyclical tasks alongside project work Experience supporting or running benefits administration across multiple regions Clear, professional communication skills with a collaborative, solution focused mindset Demonstrated initiative in improving systems, data quality or workflow efficiency Experience documenting processes and creating standard operating procedures Don’t meet every single requirement? We still want to hear from you. If you believe you’d thrive in this role, your unique perspective might be just what we’re looking for. What You’ll Be Doing Your days will be dynamic. You might find yourself: Managing and maintaining Humaans daily, ensuring data accuracy, improving workflows and driving automation Preparing accurate monthly payroll changes for the UK and US, including starters, leavers, compensation changes, absences and benefits Maintaining benefit enrolments, changes and queries and ensuring correct data flow into payroll Building and updating people dashboards and reports across headcount, turnover and absence Running monthly data audits and spotting opportunities to streamline processes Supporting compensation updates and annual cycles with clean and reliable data Covering for the People Operations Coordinator when needed and supporting the People Ops inbox Supporting People Ops projects, documentation improvements and process enhancements Maintaining L&D administration, including Learning Fund support and training coordination Our Values: Stay honest. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Have fun. Explore what that means to us here Useful Links Before You Apply: Learn about our agencies Our hiring process EDI at SMG FAQs Still Curious? We always send a confirmation email - check your spam if you don’t see it. Problems? Email: careers@smg.team Our full data retention policy can be found here.