At a Glance
- Tasks: Shape and lead the compensation agenda for a top UK consumer brand.
- Company: Join a renowned brand with a collaborative HR team and ambitious goals.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, bonus, car allowance, and career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on how talent is rewarded and recognised.
- Qualifications: Degree in Reward and experience in retail or hospitality compensation.
- Other info: High-profile role with exposure to senior leadership and strategic influence.
The predicted salary is between 65000 - 77000 ÂŁ per year.
Compensation Manager – retail or hospitality
England (ideally Midlands or South based)– remote working with weekly visits to Head Office
ÂŁ65-77,000 + bonus + car allowance + benefits + career opportunities
Are you ready to shape the future of reward in one of the UK’s most recognisable consumer brands?
We’re seeking a strategic, commercially-minded Compensation Manager who can bring fresh thinking to pay structures, incentive design and reward frameworks that truly engage a diverse, fast-paced workforce. This is a role for someone who wants to be more than an analyst or partner – you’ll be a trusted advisor to senior leaders, influencing decisions that impact thousands of colleagues across the UK & Ireland.
The Role
This is a pivotal role within our Clients People function, sitting at the heart of how we attract, retain and recognise talent. You’ll be responsible for shaping and leading the full compensation agenda, ensuring their reward offering is both competitive in the market and compelling for colleagues.
In practice, this means:
Owning the annual pay and bonus cycles, from design and modelling to execution and communication, ensuring fairness, accuracy and alignment with business performance.
Benchmarking and pay positioning, staying ahead of the market to make sure their pay structures remain competitive and sustainable.
Advising senior leadership, acting as the go-to expert for compensation decisions, balancing commercial priorities with fairness, equity and compliance.
Leading on executive and long-term incentives, supporting the design and delivery of schemes that drive leadership accountability and business growth.
Data-driven insights, analysing pay trends, equal pay and gender pay to provide actionable recommendations that shape strategy and enhance EVP.
Governance and compliance, ensuring all compensation practices meet legal requirements and company policy, while anticipating future legislation.
Continuous improvement, proactively challenging current ways of working and introducing new approaches, tools and frameworks to keep us at the forefront of reward practice.
This is a high-profile, business-facing role where you’ll have exposure to the Exec team, Board-level reporting and external regulators. It’s about shaping reward in a way that not only supports growth but also reflects their culture and values.
About you
Degree educated with further qualifications in Reward
To thrive, you’ll bring the blend of technical expertise, commercial judgement and influencing ability needed to set the standard in compensation. You will have incredible progressive experience gained within fast moving retail or hospitality organisations and understand what world class Compensation programmes look like in progressive organisation
We’re looking for someone who can demonstrate:
Compensation expertise, deep knowledge of compensation principles including pay structures, incentive design, executive reward and benchmarking frameworks (experience with WTW global grading is essential).
Commercial acumen, you connect reward outcomes with business performance, and can articulate the “so what” to senior stakeholders.
Analytical strength, comfortable modelling complex pay scenarios, handling large datasets, and producing insight that drives action.
Strategic mindset, able to look beyond process to consider how compensation underpins engagement, retention and EVP.
Influence and impact, you can hold your own with senior leaders, simplify complexity for a broad audience, and inspire confidence with your recommendations.
Resilience & pace, you enjoy working in a dynamic environment where priorities shift and deadlines are tight.
Credibility in context, ideally experience gained in a multi-site, consumer-facing or service-led organisation, where agility and pragmatism are key.
Why join?
This is a chance to make your mark in a high-profile role, where your work directly shapes the colleague experience and the organisation’s ability to attract and retain top talent. You’ll join a collaborative HR team with big ambitions and a leadership group that values innovation in reward.
If you’re ready to bring your expertise to a household-name brand and help set the standard for compensation excellence, we’d love to hear from you.
To apply please email your CV to nicola.eddy@hprtalent.com or call 0115 870 0115 for more details
Compensation Manager employer: HPRtalent
Contact Detail:
HPRtalent Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Compensation Manager
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to connections in the retail or hospitality sectors, especially those who might know about compensation roles. A friendly chat can lead to insider info and even referrals that could land you an interview.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company’s compensation strategies. Understand their pay structures and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their needs. We want you to show them you’re not just another candidate, but the right fit!
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your pitch! You’ll need to articulate your compensation expertise and how it connects to business performance. We suggest rehearsing answers to common questions so you can confidently showcase your analytical strength and strategic mindset.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take the initiative to engage directly with us. Let’s get you that dream job!
We think you need these skills to ace Compensation Manager
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Compensation Manager role. Highlight your experience in retail or hospitality, and showcase your expertise in compensation principles. We want to see how your skills align with what we're looking for!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're the perfect fit for this role. Share specific examples of how you've influenced compensation strategies in the past, and let us know what excites you about joining our team.
Showcase Your Analytical Skills: Since this role involves handling large datasets and producing actionable insights, make sure to highlight your analytical strengths. We love seeing how you've used data to drive decisions in previous roles, so don’t hold back!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you don't miss out on any important updates. We can't wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at HPRtalent
✨Know Your Numbers
As a Compensation Manager, you'll need to be comfortable with data. Brush up on your analytical skills and be ready to discuss how you've used data to influence compensation strategies in the past. Prepare some examples of pay trends or benchmarking you've conducted.
✨Understand the Business
Make sure you understand the company's business model and how compensation impacts performance. Be prepared to articulate how your compensation strategies can drive engagement and retention, linking them back to the company's goals.
✨Showcase Your Influence
This role requires you to advise senior leaders, so think about times when you've successfully influenced decisions. Prepare to share specific examples that demonstrate your ability to simplify complex compensation issues and inspire confidence in your recommendations.
✨Stay Ahead of Trends
Familiarise yourself with current trends in compensation, especially within retail or hospitality. Be ready to discuss innovative approaches you've seen or implemented, and how they could apply to this role. Showing that you're proactive about continuous improvement will set you apart.