Reward Manager

Why we need this role

#LI-DNI

The Reward is responsible for shaping, delivering and continuously enhancing the organisation's global reward strategy, ensuring reward programmes support business performance, attract and retain diverse talent, and promote a fair, competitive and engaging employee experience. The role provides strategic leadership across pay, incentives, reward governance, recognition, grading and benchmarking, partnering closely with senior leaders, People & Culture colleagues, Finance and external partners to d rive informed reward decisions and sustainable workforce investment.

Reporting to the VP Reward, the Reward Director plays a key role in translating reward strategy into practical, effective and scalable Reward programmes that support organisational priorities. You will lead the ongoing improvement of reward frameworks, policies and annual processes so they are commercially sound, simple to use, globally consistent where appropriate, locally relevant where needed, and clearly understood by leaders and employees. 

You will bring strong market insight, analytical judgement and stakeholder influence to ensure Colt’s reward approach supports business performance, internal fairness, employee engagement and effective talent attraction and retention. You will also lead reward projects, manage members of the Reward team and act as a trusted reward adviser to senior stakeholders across the business. 

What you will do

• Lead the development, governance and continuous improvement of Colt’s reward programmes, with particular focus on the annual pay review, bonus, AIP and SIP, ensuring they remain competitive, governed and aligned to Colt’s business priorities. 
• Design and enhance reward frameworks, policies, pay structures and incentive programmes that support attraction, retention, engagement and motivation while promoting fairness, consistency and market competitiveness.
• Lead key annual compensation activities and provide oversight of reward processes, ensuring high-quality delivery, appropriate governance and a positive employee and manager experience
• Propose, model and track pay and AIP budgets, working closely with Finance to support planning, affordability, governance and decision quality. 
• Lead reward benchmarking and market analysis activities, using external data and internal insights to assess competitiveness and inform strategic reward recommendations
• Own or contribute to reward aspects of grading, job evaluation and job architecture, ensuring reward frameworks support internal equity and market competitiveness. Comparable market postings also highlight job evaluation, grading frameworks, internal equity and compensation structure benchmarking as core senior reward accountabilities. 
• Act as a trusted reward adviser to senior leaders, People & Culture and Finance partners, providing expert guidance on pay, incentives, reward frameworks and help them understand reward data, pay positioning and the implications of reward decisions. 
• Prepare and deliver reward analysis, recommendations and governance materials for senior stakeholders, ensuring complex reward matters are translated into clear and actionable business insights
• Lead and drive the implementation of reward schemes, leading project teams and managing team members to deliver quality outcomes . 
• Across functions and geographies, balancing global consistency with local business and market requirements while driving continuous improvement
• Lead, develop and support members of the Reward team while managing relationships with external reward providers and advisers to ensure effective delivery of reward programmes and services
• Contribute to reward inputs for Remuneration Committee-related papers and matters where required by the VP Reward.

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Key relationships

• VP Reward
• Reward team members
• People & Culture leadership
• Human Resources Directors and business partners
• Finance
• Senior business leaders
• Legal and compliance colleagues where relevant
• External reward, benchmarking and advisory partners

What we're looking for

• Significant experience leading Reward, Compensation or Total Rewards programmes within a complex, multinational environment
• Proven success designing and implementing reward strategies, programmes and frameworks that support business performance, talent attraction, retention and engagement
• Strong expertise in compensation management, incentive design, annual reward cycles, benchmarking, grading and reward governance
• Demonstrated ability to partner with senior leaders, People & Culture and Finance to influence strategic people and reward decisions
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience in reward budgeting, forecasting, modelling and data-driven decision-making
• Advanced analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to translate complex information into practical business recommendations
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the confidence to provide constructive challenge and build trusted relationships at all levels
• Proven ability to lead complex projects, manage change and deliver results across global and matrixed organisations
• Experience leading, developing and empowering high-performing teams while fostering an inclusive, collaborative and growth-oriented culture
• Demonstrated commitment to fairness, equity, inclusion and ethical decision-making, with the ability to balance employee experience, governance requirements and organisational priorities