Specialist Pay Lead

Job summary

Pay and Reward policy underpins the employee lifecycle and employment contract, shaping the day‑to‑day experience of the people who work for us. As we take forward an ambitious programme to strengthen coherence and capability across water‑sector regulators, this is an exciting time to join Defra’s HR Centre of Expertise.

We are a team of dedicated professionals supporting both Civil and Public Services across six organisations, c.25,000 employees and three pay bargaining units. Defra is currently leading a major reform to reset the water sector, including the creation of a new regulator. This is a flagship programme backed by significant investment and a mandate for bold change.

The People Workstream sits at the heart of this reform, ensuring the workforce, structures, and culture are ready to deliver, and this role is your opportunity to be part of shaping the foundations of a new regulatory landscape. In this role, you will lead the specialist advisory capability for the early stages, and dependent upon the outcome of these you will then lead on the pay workstream— bringing together pay and reward considerations across Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Ofwat.

This programme will require detailed development of future pay structures, options for harmonisation, and frameworks that enable a coherent regulatory workforce model. It is likely to involve significant technical pay design, scenario modelling and alignment of existing terms and conditions across the four organisations.

You will be responsible for the research, development and end‑to‑end implementation of new policy approaches that enable greater alignment, portability and transferability across regulators. You will shape options on pay structures, progression, reward frameworks and regulatory workforce coherence, ensuring any proposals are grounded in strong evidence, operational insight and business need. You will also maintain an active programme of policy review and continuous improvement across your workplan.

Working closely with the Group Head of Reward, you will play a key role in ensuring our strategies align with government priorities, organisational capability requirements and leading practice. You will lead a range of team activity, ensuring the advice your team provides to colleagues across the Water Reform Programme —is timely, accurate and well‑reasoned.

There couldn’t be a better time to join Defra Group HR as we respond to unprecedented change, strengthen regulatory capability, and contribute to protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations.

Job description

Dependent upon the outcome of the current programme work your role is likely to include:

• Leading the design and development of future pay structures for any new water regulator, including job families, progression frameworks, reward architecture and options appraisal across Natural England, the Environment Agency, DWI and Ofwat.
• Managing technical pay policy work, including Pay Flex cases, Equal Pay considerations, modelling affordability lines, pay scenario testing, and supporting ministerial/Cabinet Office approval pathways.
• Overseeing the harmonisation of terms and conditions across the four organisations as appropriate to the new Target Operating Model (TOM), including identifying alignment risks, mapping differences, and developing recommendations that support a coherent regulatory workforce model.
• Leading the HR and pay elements of any potential TUPE/Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP) transfer, ensuring policy, legal, and operational readiness; developing clear advice; and coordinating with legal, unions and departmental sponsors.
• Directing a small team of reward specialists, ensuring clear work planning, quality assurance, capability development and strong alignment to the wider Reward strategy.
• Providing expert technical advice to HR colleagues, wider Water Programme colleagues including casework teams, workforce planning leads, business partners and organisational change programmes, ensuring advice is timely, accurate and consistent.
• Working collaboratively with customers and stakeholders, building strong internal and external partnerships to influence policy choices, shape regulatory alignment models, and secure collective buy‑in to the final proposals.
• Leading the production of evidence-based policy materials, including business cases, pay modelling outputs, consultation documents, and Trade Union engagement materials, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a consistent narrative.
• Ensuring legislative compliance, including alignment with pay remit guidance, TUPE/COSOP duties, employment law, and legal horizon scanning to shape policy development and mitigate risk.
• Coordinating HR dependencies across the programme, ensuring business partners, resourcing, employee relations and change teams are fully briefed and equipped to deliver downstream impacts.

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience

You will have/be;

• used to leading a team of specialists

• previous experience in Pay and Reward policy design and development

• experience of complex working environments (ideally in a multi-org group context but not essential), building effective and productive relationships and influencing multiple senior stakeholders

• proven experience in pay structure design, job evaluation, reward architecture or similar analytical reward disciplines

• experience of supporting TUPE/COSOP transfers, organisational design or integration programmes involving multiple legacy organisations

• excellent attention to detail and the ability to convey complex information clearly both orally and in writing

• excellent skills in writing, data interpretation and analytical skills
• evidence of working collaboratively across a range of teams and stakeholders including Trades Unions
• excellent knowledge of employee relations and employment legislation

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Ability and Experience.

Application Process

Online Test

After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numerical Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 26th May 2026. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

Do not leave completing the tests until the last minute in case you experience any access or technical issues. There may not be technical support available after business hours and after 2pm on the closing date of 26th May 2026.

While the tests should work on most operating systems and modern browsers with a good internet connection, we cannot guarantee that every combination will work. At the beginning, the test will check which browser you are using, and alert you if it is likely to be incompatible. It is highly recommended that you complete the online tests on a desktop computer, not a mobile phone or tablet.

Please note that online tests associated with this vacancy are not subject to time limits; for further information visit the Reasonable adjustments for online tests - a candidate guide.

There will be maintenance for online tests on Sunday 3 May - 4pm to midnight and Sunday 10 May - midday to 1pm. This means you will be unable to access the online tests between these times. Your progress will be saved, and you will be able to continue once the tests are available again.

If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• A CV submitted through an on-line tool accessed through the Civil Service Jobsite; there is no requirement to upload your personal CV.
• A 750-word Personal Statement detailing your suitability for the role based on the 'Essential Experience' bullet points within the Person Specification section of the advertisement above.
• A 250-word statement demonstrating how you meet the behaviour - Changing and Improving.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Your CV should consist of your career history, including any key achievements and your main responsibilities in each role and be no longer than 2 pages. Your CV will be used to provide further context on your Personal Statement and scored against the essential criteria.

Further details around what this will entail can be found on the application form.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, there will be an initial sift assessing the Personal Statement. Those who pass the initial sift will be progressed either to a full sift or straight to interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Behaviour, Experience and Strength questions. The Behaviours are as follows:

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

During the interview, Experience will be assessed by questions.

Your interview will be virtual via MS Teams.

Further Information

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra Group's location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Near Miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions within Defra Group which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

NSV

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Higher Security Clearance

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : HR Resourcing Delivery
• Email : HRResourcingDelivery@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here

Attachments

Defra Core Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1518kB)