HR​/Recruitment Head, Talent Manager

Overview

Head of Reward role at Thames Water
. The Head of Reward is responsible for leading the delivery of the organisation’s reward strategy to attract, retain, and motivate talent. This includes overseeing compensation, benefits, recognition, and performance-related pay frameworks, ensuring they are competitive, equitable, and aligned with business goals. You will act as a trusted advisor, supporting managers and the wider HR community on reward-related matters, managing annual pay and bonus cycles, and ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and governance standards.

This is a high-profile and demanding role in a fast-paced operation where you will be a key decision maker, driving the Reward function forward proactively to achieve its goals. You will use strong interpersonal skills to communicate the reward strategy and any changes clearly to employees and stakeholders, working closely with HR and finance teams to support broader people and business strategies.

• Reward Strategy Design & Delivery – Influence design and lead delivery of the organisation’s total reward strategy, aligned with business goals and talent priorities. Design competitive and equitable compensation frameworks, including base pay, variable pay, and recognition schemes. Ensure reward programs support attraction, retention, and engagement of key talent.
• Pay Governance & Compliance – Maintain robust reward policies and governance frameworks. Ensure compliance with legal, tax, and regulatory standards across jurisdictions. Lead annual pay review cycles, benchmarking, and job evaluation processes.
• Performance Incentivisation – Partner with HR and business leaders to align reward with performance management frameworks.
• Benefits & Wellbeing – Oversee the design and delivery of employee benefits, including healthcare and wellbeing. Evaluate benefit offerings to ensure competitiveness, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with employee needs.
• Data, Insights & Technology – Leverage reward analytics to inform decision-making and monitor effectiveness. Oversee reward systems and tools, ensuring accurate data and efficient processes. Provide insights to leadership on pay trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Stakeholder Engagement – Act as a trusted advisor to managers on all reward matters. Communicate the reward strategy and offering and any changes clearly to employees and stakeholders. Collaborate with Finance, Legal, and HR Business Partners to ensure alignment and integration.
• Location – Hybrid, Reading

To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need are:

• Significant reward management experience gained in a large operational business, including management of several pay cycles.
• Exceptional communication skills to advise and influence at all levels of the organisation.
• Analytical skills – high numeracy and curiosity to find & interrogate data using advanced Excel knowledge.
• Team leadership – highly organised, ability to deliver high volume through your team.

• Experience in a regulated environment.
• Experience with trade union engagement and negotiation.
• SAP HR and/or Success Factors experience.
• Professional recognition such as GRP or CIPD

A fantastic opportunity to join a company going through an exciting turnaround plan, working with dedicated, talented and supportive teams.

• Competitive salary –
  Circa £95,000 per annum
  .
• Private Health Insurance.
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets
• Annual Bonus Scheme.
• Annual Leave: 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (Plus bank holidays)
• Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12%
  -2x employee contribution.
• Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year.
• Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing.

Find out more about our benefits and perks

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to…