Senior Rewards and Benefits Manager (North America)

Clyde & Co•Kansas City, MO

About The Position

The Senior Reward Manager, North America will be responsible for leading the design, development and delivery of compensation programmes across the United States and Canada for both legal professionals and business services employees. As the senior reward subject matter expert for the region, the role will ensure compensation frameworks support the firm's strategic objectives, remain competitive within relevant talent markets and are aligned with global reward principles. The role will provide strategic oversight of the firm's benefits and retirement programmes across North America, ensuring effective governance, market competitiveness and alignment with employee wellbeing objectives, whilst partnering with specialist internal and external providers responsible for day-to-day administration. In addition, the Senior Reward Manager will play a key role in supporting and delivering global compensation initiatives and projects, working closely with the Global Head of Reward and wider reward team to advance the firm's global reward strategy, improve reward governance and drive greater consistency across regions.

Requirements

Significant experience in compensation and reward management, with substantial experience operating in a senior reward role within a complex, matrixed organisation.
Deep expertise in compensation strategy, market benchmarking, salary structures, job architecture and annual compensation review processes.
Strong knowledge of North American compensation practices, legislation and reward market trends, including both United States and Canadian markets.
Experience designing and modelling compensation programmes, incentive plans and reward scenarios, translating complex data into practical business recommendations.
Exposure to benefits and retirement programme governance, including working with external providers, consultants and brokers.
Demonstrated experience leading strategic reward projects, ideally across multiple geographies and business functions.
Strong analytical capability with advanced experience using reward data to generate meaningful insights and support executive decision making.
Exceptional stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and build credibility with senior leaders across HR, Finance and the business.
Strong project management and change management experience, with a proven track record of delivering complex initiatives from design through implementation.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex reward concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, including modelling, reporting and executive-level presentations.
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience working within a professional services, legal or consultancy environment would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, implementation and ongoing development of compensation programmes across the United States and Canada, ensuring alignment with business priorities, market practice and the firm's global reward philosophy.
Provide expert advice and guidance to HR and business leaders on compensation matters including salary structures, job architecture, market positioning, pay decisions and incentive design.
Lead the annual compensation review process for North America, including planning, modelling, governance, stakeholder engagement, budget management, recommendations and executive reporting.
Oversee market benchmarking activities and compensation analysis to ensure the firm's pay practices remain competitive, equitable and aligned with talent market trends.
Maintain and enhance compensation frameworks, salary structures and job architecture, ensuring alignment with global methodologies and evolving regulatory requirements.
Develop meaningful reward analytics and insights to support decision making, workforce planning and reward strategy development.
Ensure compliance with all applicable compensation-related legislation and reporting requirements across the United States and Canada.
Provide strategic oversight and governance of North American benefits and retirement programmes, ensuring plans remain competitive, compliant and aligned to the firm's people strategy.
Partner with brokers, vendors, Finance and HR stakeholders to review programme effectiveness, market competitiveness and cost efficiency.
Oversee annual benefits review and renewal activities, providing recommendations to senior stakeholders regarding programme design and future direction.
Monitor legislative and regulatory developments impacting benefits and retirement plans and ensure appropriate governance and risk management practices are maintained.
Support benefits communication strategies that drive employee understanding and appreciation of the firm's total reward offering.
Partner with the Global Head of Reward and global reward team to deliver strategic compensation projects and initiatives across the firm.
Support the development and implementation of global reward frameworks, policies and governance processes that drive consistency across regions whilst allowing for local market requirements.
Lead or contribute to global initiatives including compensation benchmarking, job architecture, pay transparency, market positioning and reward transformation programmes.
Identify opportunities to improve reward processes, data quality, reporting capabilities and overall reward effectiveness across the organisation.
Support change management activities associated with reward programmes, ensuring successful adoption of new policies, frameworks and processes.
Build strong relationships with HR, Finance and business stakeholders globally to ensure effective collaboration and successful project delivery.
Provide regular reward reporting, analysis and insights to senior leaders, supporting evidence-based decision making.
Ensure appropriate governance, controls and audit readiness across compensation, benefits and reward processes.
Manage reward-related risks and ensure compliance with applicable legislation, regulatory requirements and internal policies.
Develop and maintain clear documentation, policies and procedures supporting reward operations and governance activities.