Rewards & Recognition Lead (HR)

Valiram; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 280,000 - 460,000; Full time

Job summary

Valiram in Kuala Lumpur is seeking a Lead, Rewards & Recognition to design and govern salary structures, job evaluation, market benchmarking, and incentive schemes across markets. This senior individual contributor role relies on technical depth and analytical rigour to influence country HR teams and senior management.

You will partner with leadership to ensure pay, incentives, and recognition differentiate on results while remaining cost-effective.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of experience in Compensation & Benefits, including regional/multi-country exposure.
• Hands-on experience in job evaluation, Korn Ferry Hay methodology strongly preferred.
• Proven experience managing end-to-end Annual Merit Increment (AMI) and bonus cycles.
• Experience designing and managing sales incentive or commission schemes.
• Experience in pay-for-performance frameworks, reward analytics, and workforce cost analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage salary structures, job grading, and market benchmarking.
• Lead annual merit increment and bonus cycles.
• Design and evaluate retail sales incentive and commission schemes.
• Review employee benefits, reward policies, and pay equity.
• Drive reward analytics, workforce cost analysis, and incentive ROI.
• Partner with senior leaders and HR teams to ensure competitive, fair, and commercially effective reward practices.

Skills

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Excel modelling

Pay equity understanding

Communication skills

Detail orientation

Education

Bachelor's degree

WorldatWork CCP/GRP

Tools

Excel

Job description

Valiram was established in 1935 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, originally specializing in the textile trade. Today, Valiram is Southeast Asia’s leading luxury goods and 360° retail specialist with presence in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Operating more than 500 stores, a number which continues to grow, the group represents in excess of 200 brands across various categories, from fashion and accessories, timepieces and jewelry, perfume and cosmetics to confectionery and dining concepts.

Learn more about us at www.valiram.com

• Beauty (Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Rituals, Molton Brown)
• Fashion (Michael Kors, Steve Madden, Tory Burch, Chloe, MLB Korea, Giuseppe Zanotti, Charles & Keith, Pedro etc)
• Accessories (Swarovski, Mont Blanc)
• Travel Retail (Hermes, Bvlgari, The Flying Emporium, Coach, Polo Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Beaute Love, Ion Gizmos, Candy Party, Wear + When, Tumi)

POSITION SUMMARY

The Lead, Rewards & Recognition is the Group's technical specialist for compensation, benefits, and recognition across all markets and brands. The role owns the design, analysis, and governance of reward programmes — salary structures, job evaluation, market benchmarking, retail incentive schemes, benefits, and recognition — that allow the business to attract, retain, and motivate talent competitively and cost-effectively. This is a senior individual contributor role with no direct reports, as this is a strategic role to drive reward effectiveness, and not to administer compensation and benefits. Impact is delivered through technical depth and analytical rigour, and through the credibility to influence country HR teams, business leaders, and senior management. Accountability resides with the Head, Organisational Effectiveness. The role is the bridge between performance and reward: it ensures that pay, incentives, and recognition differentiate on results, reinforce accountability, and are defensible to employees, management, and external scrutiny.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and manage salary structures, job grading, and market benchmarking.
• Lead annual merit increment and bonus cycles.
• Design and evaluate retail sales incentive and commission schemes.
• Review employee benefits, reward policies, and pay equity.
• Drive reward analytics, workforce cost analysis, and incentive ROI.
• Partner with senior leaders and HR teams to ensure competitive, fair, and commercially effective reward practices.

POSITION SPECIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree in any discipline.
• Professional reward certification (e.g. WorldatWork CCP/GRP) is an added advantage.

Experience

• 7–10 years of experience in Compensation & Benefits, including experience in a regional, multi-country, or multi-brand environment.
• Hands-on experience in job evaluation, with Korn Ferry Hay methodology strongly preferred.
• Proven experience managing end-to-end Annual Merit Increment (AMI) and bonus cycles.
• Experience designing and managing sales incentive or commission schemes.
• Experience in pay-for-performance frameworks, reward analytics, and workforce cost analysis.
• Experience in retail, luxury, or consumer-facing industries is an advantage.

Core Competencies

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Strong commercial acumen and understanding of reward costs, sales performance, productivity, and employee retention.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, including engagement with senior management.
• Advanced Excel modelling skills, including complex lookups, pivot tables, and scenario analysis.
• Strong understanding of pay equity, internal salary structures, and reward governance.
• High level of integrity and discretion in handling confidential compensation information.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical reward concepts clearly.
• Self-directed, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities independently.

If you are passionate about creating impactful reward strategies that attract, retain, and motivate talent, we’d love to hear from you!