Reward Operations Specialist

Location: Remote

The opportunity

We’re recruiting on behalf of an established organisation for an experienced Reward Operations Specialist to join its People function.

This is a hands-on operational role with a strong focus on payroll, alongside responsibility for pensions, employee benefits and wider reward administration. You’ll play a key role in ensuring colleagues are paid accurately and on time, maintaining robust controls and supporting a smooth, compliant employee experience.

The position would suit someone with strong end-to-end UK payroll experience who enjoys combining detailed operational work with pensions, benefits and broader reward activities.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll coordinate the monthly payroll cycle, validating changes including starters and leavers, salary changes, family leave, statutory and variable payments, deductions and salary sacrifice arrangements. You’ll prepare payroll reports, reconciliations, variance and exception analysis, and work closely with an outsourced payroll provider to resolve queries and maintain accurate audit records.

Alongside payroll, you’ll administer workplace pensions and auto-enrolment processes and support the delivery of employee benefits. You’ll also contribute to annual salary review and bonus processes, reward reporting, benchmarking and other reward-related activities, while helping to improve systems, processes and employee self-service.

What we’re looking for

You’ll bring strong practical experience of end-to-end UK payroll within a complex organisation, together with detailed knowledge of PAYE, National Insurance, RTI, statutory payments and HMRC requirements. Experience of payroll reconciliations, variance analysis, workplace pensions and auto-enrolment is important, as is confidence working with outsourced providers and handling sensitive employee and financial data.

You’ll also need strong Excel skills and experience working with HR/payroll systems.

Experience with employee benefits, salary sacrifice arrangements, annual salary review or bonus processes would be advantageous. Experience in financial services or another regulated environment, and exposure to HiBob or a similar HR platform, would also be useful. A recognised payroll qualification such as CIPP is desirable rather than essential.

This is a broad reward operations position offering much more than payroll processing alone. You’ll have exposure across payroll, pensions, benefits and reward, working with internal stakeholders and external providers while helping to strengthen and improve operational processes.

The organisation operates a hybrid working model in Birmingham and offers the opportunity to join an established People team within a professional, regulated environment.