Reward Lead

About the job

At Card Factory, we have been on a journey to evolve our reward proposition, building a compelling offering that enables us to attract and retain the right talent to successfully deliver our strategy. We are now looking for a Reward Lead to act as the subject matter expert in developing and shaping the Card Factory Total Reward Strategy. Supporting a diverse colleague base of circa 8,000 colleagues across the enterprise, the role ensures our reward offering is innovative, inclusive, and competitive within the market.

This role partners closely with Executive and Non-Executive Directors, providing expert insight and external perspective to shape recommendations and influence decision‑making. A strong understanding of reward in a listed PLC environment is essential, ensuring alignment with governance, regulation, and shareholder expectations, particularly for executive pay. 

This is a hybrid role with 2 days per week in our Wakefield Support Centre and the rest of the week remote from home. We will also consider applications from candidates looking for part time work.

What you’ll do:

As the expert advisor on all reward matters, you will oversee pay structures, annual pay and bonus cycles, executive remuneration, benchmarking, job evaluation, and reward governance.  

The role has strategic oversight of incentives, benefits, and external reward reporting, including gender pay and PLC disclosures, ensuring compliance and strong storytelling for stakeholders.  

Working closely with senior leaders, the Board and Remuneration Committee you will shape reward decisions, bring to life our approach to celebrations, and ensure that reward principles support organisation design, future capability, and a great colleague experience.

What you’ll need:

• Proven experience operating within a complex, multi-site or multi-faceted organisation, ideally with exposure to hourly paid populations and National Minimum Wage environments within retail or hospitality.
• Highly self-driven, with the ability to operate autonomously at pace, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of reward legislation, emerging trends and market best practice.
• Strong expertise in pay structures, salary benchmarking and job evaluation methodologies, ensuring external competitiveness and internal equity.
• Demonstrable experience in the design, implementation and governance of incentive frameworks, including annual bonus schemes and operational incentive plans.
• Ability to operate both strategically and tactically, shaping long-term reward direction whilst delivering high-quality operational execution.
• Significant experience of senior compensation, including executive reward and Long-Term Incentive Plans (LTIPs), with a clear understanding of performance alignment and shareholder expectations.
• Strong knowledge and experience of Remuneration Committees and reward governance within a PLC environment, including preparation of papers and engagement with senior stakeholders and Non-Executive Directors.
• Proven experience in leading and managing benefits strategy and delivery, including vendor management, renewals and optimisation of colleague value propositions.