Reward Advisor

After a period of sustained growth and ongoing investment in our people, Osborne Clarke is looking to strengthen its HR function with a newly created Reward Advisor position based in our Bristol office.

This role will be central to the smooth running and continuous improvement of our reward processes – including job evaluation, salary benchmarking, pay review, bonus schemes and recognition – supporting the firm’s 2030 strategy and maintaining high standards of data integrity across our reward systems.

This a permanent role offering hybrid working, we're open to full time or part time working arrangements.

The role

The Reward Advisor will be a key member of our Group Services HR team, working closely with the Senior Reward Manager and wider HR colleagues. You will support firm‑wide reward activity, own defined workstreams such as the recognition scheme and reward data analysis, and act as a key point of contact for day‑to‑day reward queries from HR colleagues and line managers.

Other key responsibilities include:

Pay Review & Bonuses

• Support the Senior Reward Manager with the annual salary review, bonus and profit share processes, ensuring timelines, controls and the Pay Review Knowledge Map are followed.
• Prepare, check and maintain reward data and templates for HR Business Partners, Business Services Heads and line managers (e.g. review spreadsheets, guidance documents).
• Run standard reports and perform data checks and reconciliations on reward data, highlighting anomalies and trends to the Senior Reward Manager.
• Provide analytical support, using data to produce clear commentary and summaries that inform decisions on reward policy and practice (e.g. distribution patterns, budget utilisation, pay progression).
• Work with HR Business Partners and line managers to help them understand and adopt OC’s reward frameworks and principles, referring complex or contentious matters to the Senior Reward Manager.
• Co‑ordinate with Internal Communications on reward‑related communications, ensuring content aligns with agreed messaging and frameworks.

Job Evaluation & Salary Benchmarking

• Co‑ordinate all job evaluation activity, building a strong understanding of OC levels, the WTW grading platform and job evaluation methodology.
• Obtain role profiles and expected OC levels from HR Business Partners and line managers to ensure alignment with team structures.
• Document job evaluation outcomes clearly, store them appropriately and maintain OC’s grading structures and governance, ensuring grade changes are accurately recorded and communicated.
• Support the Senior Reward Manager as a key contact for Willis Towers Watson in relation to market data and job evaluation queries.
• Manage job evaluation and salary benchmarking trackers, audit HR system data and resolve routine anomalies, escalating complex or systemic issues as appropriate.
• Co‑ordinate salary benchmarking activity, completing benchmarking requests using WTW and other agreed sources to provide timely, accurate market data for offers, promotions, relocations and Resource Committee submissions, and communicating outcomes to HRBPs and Recruitment.

Role Profiles

• Support the role profile project, helping to establish and maintain a central storage solution for all role profiles in collaboration with HR Business Partners, Recruitment and line managers.
• Co‑ordinate the creation and continuous updating of role profiles, ensuring they are consistent with OC’s templates, grading structures, job evaluation outcomes and contribution frameworks.
• Help design and maintain a robust role profile database, including naming conventions, version control and audit trails.

HRIS & Reward Data

• Work with the Senior Reward Manager, Payroll Executive, HR Systems and Data team and wider HR team to support the development and implementation of the new HRIS from a reward perspective.
• Help establish functionality for grading, job evaluation and benchmarking data within the HRIS, and test reward‑related configurations and data flows.
• Support the transition of project work into sustainable BAU processes and documentation.
• Contribute to the design of user‑friendly reward dashboards and reports, working with the HR Systems and Data team to ensure data can be easily accessed and interpreted by stakeholders.

Recognition Scheme

• Take day‑to‑day responsibility for the coordination of OC’s recognition scheme(s), operating within agreed policy and budget parameters.
• Manage recognition scheme processes and communications, ensuring criteria are applied consistently and queries are handled promptly.
• Run quarterly reports on recognition activity, analysing usage across Groups/Departments, identifying themes and concerns, and preparing insights for HRLT and OB.
• Suggest practical adjustments to recognition scheme processes or guidance based on usage trends and stakeholder feedback, escalating policy changes to the Senior Reward Manager.
• Work with the Senior Reward Manager to develop a new, broader recognition scheme.

Data, MI and Governance

• Own and maintain reward‑specific trackers and logs (e.g. job evaluation outcomes/OC levels, salary benchmarking requests, recognition awards).
• Continually look for ways to improve reward‑related data, MI and governance activities.
• Contribute to data entry for salary surveys (e.g. WTW, People in Law), gender pay gap reporting and living wage annual renewal, ensuring data is accurate and submitted on time.
• Uphold audit trails and governance frameworks across reward workstreams, ensuring decisions and changes are appropriately documented and can be evidenced.
• Keep reward‑related contracts and documentation up to date in the firm’s contract management system, working with Legal/Compliance and external providers as needed.

We are looking for

• Solid attention to detail and accuracy.
• Clear verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical reward guidance to non‑technical audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, able to balance fairness and firm governance with a collaborative, service‑oriented approach.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• A pragmatic problem‑solving approach, with a curious mind and willingness to challenge and refine existing processes where appropriate.
• Strong analytical skills, with confidence working with numerical data, identifying trends and producing clear, insightful commentary.
• Confident user of Excel (including formulas and v‑lookups) and HRIS.
• Good understanding of job evaluation methodology and grading principles.
• Prior experience working in HR, with exposure to pay review, bonus and/or grading processes.

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.

Our recruitment process

Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.

We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.