Strategic Pay and Reward Specialist

Why Southwark?

Are you ready to redefine how pay, reward, and recognition work, within an organisation in a period of corporate wide change and big aspirations? At Southwark Council, we’re not standing still, we’re driving forward an ambitious people strategy that supports a high-performing, inclusive, and modern public service.

Vision

• Transform Shape the future of our pay, reward, and benefits, influencing how 5,000 employees are recognised and valued
• Lead Play a key role in successfully delivering our reward projects, business as usual and implementing the outcome of a pay and reward review, aligned with the replacement of our ERP
• Drive cultural change Be part of a proudly diverse, anti-racist, and inclusive organisation committed to equity and transparency in everything we do.

What You'll Be Doing

We’re looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Pay and Reward Specialist to lead our reward portfolio. You’ll be at the heart of shaping policy, engaging stakeholders, and ensuring our people strategy underpins the success of Southwark 2030, our organisation’s strategic plan.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction for pay, performance management, benefits, and reward strategies across the Council
• Lead the review of pay and grading and non-financial recognition initiatives
• Ensure the effective application of reward policies including market supplements, recruitment and retention initiatives, incremental progression, and allowances, including additional duties and acting up payments
• Partner with trade unions and senior HR leaders on pay negotiations and workforce consultation
• Drive the integration of pay and reward principles within the ERP implementation, improving governance and sustainability
• Conduct research, pay benchmarking, and lead policy development to shape evidence-based recommendations
• Champion equality, inclusion, and transparency across all pay and reward practices
• Lead and inspire a small, high-impact team delivering complex change at scale

What We're Looking For

You have a proven track record in reward transformation and systems implementation, ideally within Local Government or a similar large, complex unionised organisation. You bring:

• Deep expertise in pay and reward design, job evaluation, and related employment law
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with confidence navigating trade union engagement and pay negotiations, along with influencing senior leadership discussions and decisions
• A solutions-focused, proactive mindset with the ability to manage multiple workstreams in a dynamic environment
• Demonstrable ability to build trust with trade unions, HR colleagues and key partners
• A commitment to driving fairness, innovation, and inclusion in everything you deliver
• Strong communication, planning, and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workloads effectively
• Excellent interpersonal skills, tact, diplomacy, and a employee-focused mindset
• Proactivity, enthusiasm, and professionalism, with a passion for improving pay and reward.

Additional Information

A part of your application you'll be required to submit an up to date CV in addition to a supporting statement, no longer than 1 side of A4.

Salary: £59,526 - £74,040 + JNC annual allowance of £2,724

Recruitment timetable:

Please note these dates cannot be rescheduled.

Application Closing Date: 11:59 PM on 11th January 2026

Shortlisting: 15th January 2026

Technical Assessment (Psychometric): 16th January 2026 (online)

Internal Stakeholder Panel: 20th January 2026 (MS Teams)

Interview Date: 26th January 2026 (in person)

About Southwark Council

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals, and attend our universities.

Benefits and more information:

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role, in which case we will move the key dates for the process. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Attachments

• Strategic Pay and Reward Specialist - Job Description & Person Specification.pdf