Group Compensation & Benefits Manager

Job description

Mission Govern, maintain and continuously improve the global reward framework, ensure correct application across regions, monitor competitiveness and equity, manage annual processes, support exceptions and maintain data quality ensuring that compensation, benefits and reward programmes support business performance, attract and retain critical talent, reinforce a high-performance culture and remain competitive, equitable and compliant across all markets. As the Group subject matter expert for Reward, the role partners with the Executive Committee, Regional HR leadership, Finance and external advisors to drive strategic reward decisions, establish global frameworks and deliver data-driven insights that support sustainable growth and organizational effectiveness. Main accountabilities Reward Strategy & Governance Maintain the Azelis Remuneration Principles. Govern salary bands, job architecture and pay positioning. Ensure consistent application across regions. Manage reward exceptions and approval governance. Act as the Group authority on compensation, benefits and reward governance. Support the ExCom and the Remuneration Committee with reward insights, market trends and recommendations. Ensure reward practices support Azelis business strategy, culture and talent agenda. Job Architecture & Organization Effectiveness Maintain and govern the Group job architecture, grading and job evaluation framework, ensuring disciplined role creation, job matching, grade consistency and alignment with reward outcomes. Ensure consistency and governance of organizational structures, career frameworks and salary positioning. Partner with HR and business leaders on organisation design topics where job architecture, grading, career framework or reward implications are material. Maintain alignment between job architecture, performance, career progression and reward outcomes. Compensation Management Lead the annual merit review. Coordinate STI target setting, eligibility and payout processes. Coordinate LTI eligibility, grant and vesting processes. Ensure timelines, data, approvals and communications are properly managed. Maintain salary structures, benchmarking methodologies and market-pricing approaches. Provide guidance on executive, leadership and specialist compensation decisions. Monitor market trends and recommend reward actions to maintain competitiveness. Benefits, Pensions & International Mobility Maintain benefit principles. Oversee pension governance. Support mobility reward matters. Reward Analytics, Compliance & Pay Transparency Develop reward dashboards, reporting and workforce cost analytics. Provide insights into reward investments, pay positioning and workforce trends. Lead compliance with emerging pay transparency legislation and reporting requirements. Ensure reward programs comply with applicable legal, tax, pension and regulatory requirements. Drive data quality and governance across all reward-related processes. Transformation & Continuous Improvement Drive simplification, standardization and automation of reward processes. Partner with HRIS and payroll teams to optimize Workday and related reward technologies. Lead reward optimisation initiatives and targeted improvements, with major framework redesigns managed as separate projects when required. Identify opportunities to improve employee experience and operational effectiveness. Stakeholder Leadership Act as trusted advisor to the Group HR Director, Executive Committee and Regional HR Directors. Build strong partnerships with Finance, Legal, Payroll and external reward providers. Influence senior stakeholders through data-driven recommendations and market insight. Lead and develop the future Reward Centre of Excellence capability. Communication and Change Management Develop reward communication materials and change narratives for senior leaders, HR teams and employees, ensuring complex reward topics are translated into clear, consistent and credible messages. Digital Fluency Use Workday and related reward technologies effectively to strengthen governance, data quality, analytics and user experience. Identify and apply opportunities for automation, digitalization and responsible use of AI across reward processes. People Management Responsibilities Coaching - Provide clear direction, regular feedback and coaching to build expertise and accountability within the Reward Centre of Excellence. Talent Development - Build capability, succession and development plans for team members and strengthen reward expertise across the wider HR community. Performance Management - Set clear objectives, monitor delivery and address performance constructively and consistently. Team Leadership - Create an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing team that works effectively across regions and functions. Skills Leadership & core skills Strategic thinking and enterprise perspective. Executive stakeholder management, influence and trusted-advisor capability. Commercial and financial acumen. Change leadership and transformation delivery. Collaboration across regions, functions and cultures. Clear communication, sound judgement and high integrity. Technical skills Global reward strategy, governance and policy design. Executive and broad-based compensation, salary structures and incentive design. Job architecture, job evaluation and organization effectiveness. Benefits, pensions and international mobility governance. Reward analytics, market benchmarking and workforce cost modelling. Pay transparency, data governance and relevant regulatory compliance. HR technology capability, preferably including Workday. AI savviness with regards to analytics of organizational data Experience & Education Education - Master's degree in Human Resources, Economics, Finance, Business Administration or a related discipline. Experience - At least 10 years of progressive Compensation & Benefits experience within a complex international organisation. A background in finance is a distinct plus. Global Reward Expertise - Proven experience leading global reward frameworks, job architecture and compensation review processes, with strong knowledge of executive compensation, incentive design, benefits and pension governance. Analytics & Regulation - Experience in reward analytics, benchmarking and workforce cost modelling, with a strong understanding of European reward regulation and pay transparency requirements. Technology - Experience with HRIS platforms, preferably Workday. Stakeholder Leadership - Strong executive-level stakeholder management and influencing skills. Language Skills - Fluent in English. Key performance indicators Delivery and governance of the annual compensation review cycle. Market competitiveness and internal equity of pay positioning. Job architecture and grading governance. Establishment of the Reward Centre of Excellence. Quality, timeliness and adoption of reward analytics and dashboards. Compliance with pay transparency and reward-related regulatory requirements. Simplification, automation and employee experience improvements across reward processes.