Head of Reward & Performance

Catalyst Partners; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Catalyst Partners is assisting a leading UK insurance organisation in London to appoint a Head of Reward & Performance. The role leads reward, performance management and benefits strategy with a capable team, working closely with senior executives and governance committees to shape reward across the business.

The successful candidate will bring extensive experience in financial services reward environments, strategic influence, and change leadership, balancing governance with commercial

Qualifications

• Broad technical expertise across executive and employee reward, performance management, benefits and reward governance.
• Experience engaging senior executives, boards and remuneration or compensation committees.
• Strong track record of leading and developing reward teams.
• Executive presence, judgement and communication skills to influence senior stakeholders on complex reward matters.
• Experience leading change, improving effectiveness and evolving established reward frameworks.
• Strong commercial awareness, balancing strategic priorities with governance requirements and organisational context.
• Understanding of unionised environments is advantageous but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of the organisation’s reward, performance and benefits strategy, aligned with business and people priorities.
• Maintain and enhance reward governance, building trusted relationships with senior executives, boards and international stakeholders.
• Shape and embed a high‑performance culture and define performance characteristics and management practices.
• Lead the review and harmonisation of salary structures, reward frameworks and related policies across the organisation.
• Advance pay transparency and ensure governance and commercial relevance of reward practices.
• Lead, support and develop the reward team and contribute to workforce planning and organisational effectiveness initiatives.

Skills

Executive reward

Performance management

Benefits strategy

Reward governance

Salary structures

Job description

Head of Reward & Performance

Location: London, hybrid

About the company and the role

Our client is a leading insurance organisation with a substantial UK presence and the backing and resources of a wider international group. The business combines significant scale with meaningful local autonomy, creating an attractive environment for a senior HR leader seeking strategic influence, executive exposure and the opportunity to deliver tangible organisational impact.

This is an opportunity to join the UK HR leadership team as Head of Reward & Performance, taking responsibility for the organisation’s reward, performance management and benefits strategy. The successful candidate will inherit a capable, established team and strong operational foundations, allowing them to focus on strategic leadership, executive stakeholder management and the continued evolution of the reward agenda.

Working closely with senior executives, relevant governance committees and international reward stakeholders, the Head of Reward & Performance will maintain a robust governance framework while helping to shape the organisation’s high-performance culture. The role will also contribute to reward harmonisation, pay transparency, workforce planning and broader organisational effectiveness initiatives.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of the organisation’s reward, performance and benefits strategy, ensuring alignment with wider business and people priorities.
• Maintain and enhance reward governance, building trusted relationships with senior executives, governance committees and international stakeholders.
• Shape and embed the organisation’s high-performance culture, helping to define the performance characteristics and management practices that support business success.
• Lead the continued review and harmonisation of salary structures, reward frameworks and related policies across the organisation.
• Progress the organisation’s approach to pay transparency and ensure that reward practices remain appropriately governed and commercially relevant.
• Lead, support and develop an established reward team while contributing to wider workforce planning, organisational effectiveness and change initiatives.

Candidate profile and experience

The successful candidate will be an accomplished senior reward leader with substantial experience gained within financial services, insurance or another complex,regulated organisation. Alternatively, they may bring relevant consulting experience alongside a strong understanding of financial services reward environments.

They will offer:

• Broad technical expertise across executive and employee reward, performance management, benefits and reward governance.
• Experience engaging senior executives, boards and remuneration or compensation committees.
• A strong track record of leading and developing reward teams.
• The executive presence, judgement and communication skills required to influence senior stakeholders on complex and sensitive reward matters.
• Experience leading change, improving effectiveness and evolving established reward frameworks.
• Strong commercial awareness, combined with the ability to balance strategic priorities, governance requirements and organisational context.
• An understanding of unionised environments would be advantageous but is not essential.

This role would suit an established Head of Reward or a senior reward professional operating as the number two within a larger, sophisticated organisation who is ready to take on broader functional leadership.