Head of Reward

Head of Reward - 12 month contract - North London (hybrid)

Overview Oliver James has partnered with a leading organisation to appoint a Head of Reward into a key strategic leadership role.

This position is responsible for shaping and delivering the organisation's reward strategy across a large, diverse workforce - spanning frontline employees through to senior leadership. You'll play a critical role in ensuring compensation and benefits frameworks are competitive, equitable, and aligned to business objectives, while also driving modernisation through HR technology, particularly SAP SuccessFactors.

This is a high-impact role with significant exposure to senior stakeholders and will suit an experienced reward leader comfortable operating in complex, unionised environments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Design

• Develop and implement a comprehensive total reward strategy aligned to business objectives
• Design and manage job family frameworks and grading structures within SuccessFactors
• Establish salary bands and compensation frameworks that promote fairness and transparency
• Develop reward policies covering promotions, allowances, and pay structures

Compensation & Benefits

• Lead annual salary and bonus review processes
• Partner with finance on budgeting and forecasting for reward cycles
• Ensure consistency of global frameworks alongside local market relevance
• Review and enhance benefits offerings and associated employee communications
• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation (e.g. gender pay gap, equal pay)

HR Systems & Data (SuccessFactors)

• Act as SME for reward-related SuccessFactors modules (Compensation, Variable Pay, Employee Central)
• Utilise system data for modelling, reporting, and strategic decision-making
• Lead configuration and optimisation of SuccessFactors as part of wider HR transformation

Payroll

• Oversee payroll operations, ensuring accuracy and timeliness
• Work closely with finance to reconcile payroll data and budgets

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead and develop payroll/reward team members
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on reward strategy
• Collaborate with HR, finance, and business leaders to deliver reward initiatives
• Engage with trade unions and support collective negotiations where required

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in a senior reward leadership role
• Strong expertise in SAP SuccessFactors, particularly Compensation and Job Profile Builder
• Experience operating within complex, unionised environments
• Strong analytical capability with experience managing complex compensation structures
• Solid understanding of payroll processes and relevant legislation
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills

Desirable Skills

• Experience within transport, logistics, or similarly complex operational environments
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to link reward strategy to business performance
• Experience leading reward transformation or HR system implementations