Pay, Rewards and Benefits Specialist (PO6)

Working on behalf of a Local Authority, Aatom Recruitment has an opportunity for Pay, Rewards and Benefits Specialist (PO6) on a 3 month contract with a possibility of an extension.

This position will be a total of 35 hours per week, with hours from 09:00am – 17:30pm.

Job Purpose:

To provide strategic and technical subject matter expertise, advice, guidance and management on pay, reward and benefits practice.

Job Specific Accountabilities:

• To lead on the design and ongoing delivery of pay and grading structures, benefits strategy and reward and recognition schemes.
• To lead on the provision and application of job evaluation, Labour Market Intelligence and recruitment and retention strategies for hard to fill roles, including use of Market Factors.
• To lead and provide strategic direction to the development of pay, performance management, reward, recognition and benefits strategies, policies and systems, ensuring the adoption of best practice and alignment to the objectives of a high performing modern council.
• To act as the council’s expert on remuneration, providing high quality consultancy advice to HR and others within the council on pay, reward and benefits ensuring practice is fair and equitable and in line with the reward strategy, local, regional and national agreements and e.g. HMRC regulations.
• To lead on pay negotiations (as delegated) with the council’s trade unions, including reporting to the Executive and associated committees such as Audit and Scrutiny Committees as appropriate and production and presentation of e.g. the council’s pay policy statement, gender pay gap data.
• To be the council’s expert on pay legislation, negotiating bodies and frameworks for e.g. equal pay, gender pay, minimum wage, London Living Wage, holiday pay, to protect the council from legacy or future risks, ensuring legislative and other case law changes are monitored and implemented in a timely way to minimise risk and cost.
• To understand the market in order to lead on the provision and application of competitive benefits packages, specifying and procuring products and services, plus managing contracts that maintain Islington as an employer of choice
• To be responsible within HR for collaborative work with payroll and pensions colleagues, driving take-up by ensuring benefits are clear and easily accessible including ability to sign up for schemes and consideration of total benefits statements.
• To work collaboratively with the resourcing lead to develop recruitment and retention strategies for hard to fill roles, working closely with HR colleagues and managers and using regular benchmarking and labour market intelligence to enable the council to remain competitive.

Knowledge, Qualifications and Experience:

• CIPD qualification or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience.
• Evidence of continued professional development.
• Substantial experience of leading on pay and reward matters within a complex, unionised organisation, (including strategy development, negotiations and implementation).
• Experience of leading on the delivery of advice, guidance, both within the HR service and to others within the Council on remuneration, overall reward management; employee benefits and strategic management of the Council’s job evaluation scheme.
• Monitoring, analysis and interpreting HR management information to inform pay and reward strategies.
• Assessment or provision of benefit packages.
• Knowledge of local authority pay arrangements including pension provision.
• Ability to benchmark salary and other data, plus cost of benefits, to assess and devise programmes that best fit the council.
• Ability to understand, assimilate, interpret, present and clearly communicate complex information.
• Strong writing and presentation skills to prepare business cases and informational materials on compensation and benefits plans for employees.
• Ability to create and build effective relationships with a range of senior managers, stakeholders and professional staff.
• Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills with the ability to build credibility and maintain effective working relationships both internally within HR and the wider council, with trade unions and externally with other employers, government departments and professional associations.

To get more information about this role and how to apply please contact Kartik.