Reward Specialist at Rand Merchant Bank

Job Description

• The Reward Specialist is accountable for supporting the design, implementation, and ongoing management of reward, remuneration, role grading, and employee benefits frameworks in line with approved Group policies, governance standards, and business strategy.
• The role partners with Human Capital and business stakeholders to ensure reward practices are consistently applied, internally equitable, market aligned, and compliant with regulatory and governance requirements.
• In addition to core reward responsibilities, the role contributes to the delivery of broader Human Capital activities across multiple HC pillars, supporting integrated people solutions and enterprise wide HC initiatives as required.

Key Responsibilities
Reward & Remuneration:

• Partner with business units to support the design, implementation, and ongoing management of remuneration and reward frameworks aligned with organisational strategy and business priorities.
• Conduct salary benchmarking and participate in internal and external remuneration surveys to support market competitiveness and internal equity.
• Support annual reward processes, including salary review cycles, incentive schemes, and bonus allocations.
• Design, review, and recommend incentive and reward schemes, preparing proposals for governance forums and leadership approval.
• Provide high-quality remuneration analytics, insights, and reporting to support informed decision-making.

Role Grading & Job Architecture:

• Facilitate and manage role evaluation and grading processes, ensuring consistency, fairness, and adherence to approved methodologies. 
• Apply role grading outcomes to remuneration decisions in line with policy, governance, and budgetary requirements. 
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date role, grading, and job architecture data across the organisation.

Employee Benefits:

• Monitor market trends and conduct benchmarking to inform recommendations on employee benefit offerings. 
• Support the implementation, administration, and ongoing management of employee benefit programmes. 
• Respond to benefit-related queries and provide clear, accurate guidance to employees and managers.

Governance, Compliance & Risk:

• Ensure reward and benefits practices comply with relevant legislation, internal policies, and governance frameworks. 
• Maintain current knowledge of regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and internal standards. 
• Support audits, reviews, and risk management activities related to reward and remuneration.

Stakeholder Engagement & Advisory:

• Act as a trusted advisor to Human Capital Business Partners and line managers on reward related matters. 
• Provide guidance on reward policies, processes, budgets, and employee queries. 
• Prepare high quality reports, presentations, and documentation for remuneration committees and senior stakeholders.

Process Improvement & Data:

• Analyse reward data and trends to identify insights, risks, and opportunities for improvement. 
• Drive continuous improvement through process optimisation, standardisation, and automation where possible. 
• Deliver accurate, timely, and insightful reporting in line with service standards and business requirements.

HC Cross Pillar Support:

• Contribute to the delivery of broader Human Capital initiatives across the employee lifecycle, including performance management, talent management, organisational effectiveness, learning and development, and HC operations. 
• Support cross functional HC projects and change initiatives in alignment with Group and in country priorities. 
• Collaborate with HC Business Partners and Centres of Expertise to ensure alignment and integration of reward practices with other HC frameworks. 
• Provide people data, insights, and analysis to support workforce planning, governance reporting, and decision making beyond reward. 
• Act as a flexible HC resource during peak cycles and priority initiatives, ensuring continuity and quality of HC service delivery.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in human resources, Industrial Psychology, Business Administration, or a related discipline. 
• Postgraduate qualification in Reward, Human Resources, or a related field is an advantage. 
• Minimum of 6-8 years’ experience in reward, remuneration, or broader Human Capital roles, preferably within financial services or a complex corporate environment. 
• Demonstrated experience across end-to-end reward practices, including remuneration, incentives, benefits, and role grading. 
• Proven experience partnering with business stakeholders and senior leaders.

Technical & Professional Skills:

• Strong analytical, numerical, and data interpretation capability. 
• Experience with salary surveys, benchmarking, and reward analytics. 
• Sound understanding of labour legislation and reward governance principles. 
• Advanced Excel and reporting skills; experience with HR systems is advantageous.

Competencies:

• Strong business acumen with high attention to detail. 
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. 
• High levels of integrity, professionalism, and discretion. 
• Strong planning, organisation, and execution capability. 
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast paced, high performance environment.
• Ability to operate effectively across multiple Human Capital disciplines and adapt to evolving business and organisational needs.