Head of Pay and Reward

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics.

The Reward team sits within the People and Places Directorate (PPD) and provides strategic leadership, specialist advice and high-quality delivery across delegated pay, Senior Civil Service pay, reward and recognition, allowances and related policy.

This is a strategic leadership role responsible for shaping how pay, reward and recognition support ONS to attract, retain and motivate the workforce it needs. The postholder will lead implementation of the ONS Pay Strategy, own its ongoing development and bring forward evidence-based recommendations that respond to organisational priorities, workforce risks and emerging government policy.

Key Responsibilities

Pay Strategy and Organisational Outcomes

• Lead implementation of the ONS Pay Strategy and own its ongoing evolution, ensuring pay, reward and recognition remain aligned with organisational priorities and workforce needs.
• Translate recruitment, retention, skills and pay competitiveness challenges into clear strategic options and recommendations for senior leaders.
• Lead the development of future pay proposals, including annual pay approaches and potential flexibility initiatives, ensuring recommendations reflect workforce needs, business priorities and wider Civil Service requirements.
• Challenge existing arrangements constructively, testing whether pay and reward interventions remain fair, effective and proportionate and whether they are delivering the intended impact.
• Lead the team in delivering pay and reward initiatives, remaining responsible for successful implementation and embedding while drawing on wider organisational expertise and support.

Strategic Advice, Evidence and Governance

• Provide clear, balanced and evidence-based pay and reward advice and recommendations to senior leaders and decision-making forums, including the HR Leadership Team and Remuneration Committee, and contribute to advice and recommendations for ExCo and People Committee.
• Bring together pay, recruitment, retention, workforce, skills and market evidence to improve the quality of strategic decisions and business cases.
• Present complex policy, evidence, risks, constraints and trade-offs in a clear and compelling way, with practical recommendations for senior and non-specialist audiences.
• Ensure appropriate governance, assurance, equality consideration and evaluation are built into pay and reward decisions and initiatives.

Relationships, Influence and Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain strong relationships with Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and Heads of Pay across other government departments, representing ONS and bringing relevant policy developments, insight and best practice back into the organisation.
• Lead the Reward team's contribution to engagement, consultation and negotiations with departmental trade unions, building constructive relationships and providing the specialist pay expertise needed to navigate challenging issues and competing priorities.
• Build effective partnerships across ONS so that pay and reward decisions bring together business priorities, workforce evidence, policy expertise, robust modelling and financial implications, while recognising Finance's accountability for affordability.
• Navigate the wider Civil Service policy and political environment, anticipating implications for ONS and shaping timely, credible responses.

Leadership and Delivery through the Team

• Act as a senior leader within PPD and ONS, demonstrating collective leadership, contributing to directorate and corporate priorities, and working collaboratively across teams to deliver organisational outcomes and the wider People Plan.
• Set a clear strategic direction for the Reward team, translating priorities into deliverable plans and focusing resources on the highest-value outcomes.
• Ensure effective delivery of delegated and Senior Civil Service pay activity, reward and recognition, allowances, pay policy, pay gap reporting and associated governance in line with relevant frameworks.
• Lead, develop and empower a high-performing specialist team, building capability, professional standards, resilience and accountability for delivery.
• Maintain oversight of operational performance, delivery risks and dependencies, intervening or escalating where required.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative and continuous-improvement culture in which evidence, learning and constructive challenge are valued.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Strategic and Collective Leadership: Experience leading specialist teams and delivering organisational outcomes through others. Able to think beyond functional boundaries, demonstrate collective leadership and contribute to wider directorate and organisational priorities alongside their own area of responsibility.
• Stakeholder Relationships and Influence: A strong track record of building trusted relationships, establishing credibility and influencing outcomes with internal and external stakeholders. Experience operating effectively across complex governance and stakeholder landscapes, including engagement with senior leaders, trade unions, government departments, regulators or equivalent external partners.
• Pay and Reward Expertise: Significant experience of pay and reward within a complex organisation, including experience operating within Civil Service, public sector or similarly regulated pay frameworks. Able to apply specialist knowledge, professional credibility and evidence-based analysis to provide authoritative advice and shape strategic recommendations.
• Change, Evaluation and Continuous Improvement: Experience leading significant initiatives or organisational change and using evaluation, insight and learning to refine approaches, respond to changing needs and improve outcomes.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical and policy issues into clear, compelling recommendations for different audiences.

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 7 or willingness to work towards.

Behaviours

• We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions