Senior Rewards and Benefits Manager (North America)

About the role

The Senior Reward Manager, North America will lead the design, development and delivery of compensation programs across the United States and Canada for legal professionals and business services employees. As the senior reward subject matter expert for the region, the role ensures compensation frameworks support the firm's strategic objectives, remain competitive within relevant talent markets and align with global reward principles.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation and ongoing development of compensation programs across the United States and Canada, ensuring alignment with business priorities, market practice and the firm's global reward philosophy.

• Provide expert advice and guidance to HR and business leaders on compensation matters including salary structures, job architecture, market positioning, pay decisions and incentive design.

• Lead the annual compensation review process for North America, including planning, modeling, governance, stakeholder engagement, budget management, recommendations and executive reporting.

• Maintain and enhance compensation frameworks, salary structures and job architecture, ensuring alignment with global methodologies and evolving regulatory requirements.

• Develop meaningful reward analytics and insights to support decision making, workforce planning and reward strategy development.

• Ensure compliance with all applicable compensation-related legislation and reporting requirements across the United States and Canada.

Benefits & Retirement Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight and governance of North American benefits and retirement programs, ensuring plans remain competitive, compliant and aligned to the firm's people strategy.

• Partner with brokers, vendors, Finance and HR stakeholders to review program effectiveness, market competitiveness and cost efficiency.

• Oversee annual benefits review and renewal activities, providing recommendations to senior stakeholders regarding program design and future direction.

• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments impacting benefits and retirement plans and ensure appropriate governance and risk management practices are maintained.

• Support benefits communication strategies that drive employee understanding and appreciation of the firm's total reward offering.

Global Reward Projects & Transformation

• Partner with the Global Head of Reward and global reward team to deliver strategic compensation projects and initiatives across the firm.

• Support the development and implementation of global reward frameworks, policies and governance processes that drive consistency across regions whilst allowing for local market requirements.

• Lead or contribute to global initiatives including compensation benchmarking, job architecture, pay transparency, market positioning and reward transformation programmes.

• Identify opportunities to improve reward processes, data quality, reporting capabilities and overall reward effectiveness across the organisation.

• Build strong relationships with HR, Finance and business stakeholders globally to ensure effective collaboration and successful project delivery.

Governance, Risk & Reporting

• Provide regular reward reporting, analysis and insights to senior leaders, supporting evidence-based decision making.

• Ensure appropriate governance, controls and audit readiness across compensation, benefits and reward processes.

• Manage reward-related risks and ensure compliance with applicable legislation, regulatory requirements and internal policies.

• Develop and maintain clear documentation, policies and procedures supporting reward operations and governance activities.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in compensation and reward management, with substantial experience operating in a senior reward role within a complex, matrixed organisation.

• Deep expertise in compensation strategy, market benchmarking, salary structures, job architecture and annual compensation review processes.

• Strong knowledge of North American compensation practices, legislation and reward market trends, including both United States and Canadian markets.

• Experience designing and modelling compensation programs, incentive plans and reward scenarios, translating complex data into practical business recommendations.

• Exposure to benefits and retirement programme governance, including working with external providers, consultants and brokers.

• Demonstrated experience leading strategic reward projects, ideally across multiple geographies and business functions.

• Strong analytical capability with advanced experience using reward data to generate meaningful insights and support executive decision making.

• Demonstrated exceptional stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and build credibility with senior leaders across HR, Finance and the business.

• Strong project management and change management experience, with a proven track record of delivering complex initiatives from design through implementation.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex reward concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, including modelling, reporting and executive-level presentations.

Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Business Services Competencies

• Technical Excellence

• People and Team

• Client/Stakeholder Relationships

• Service Delivery and Commercial Awareness

• Personal Effectiveness

Pay

Negotiable based on experience and qualifications.

Schedule

Full-time position.