UNISON’s HR team is looking for a Pay & Reward Specialist to lead a key project that will examine the fairness, effectiveness, and sustainability of our current pay and reward arrangements. Your work will play a critical role in ensuring UNISON’s reward strategy supports fairness, transparency, and organisational values, while remaining realistic within financial parameters.
Location
UNISON Centre, London NW1
Starting salary
£57,961 per annum incl. London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
29 August 2025
Hours
35
Contract type
Full time, fixed term
Contract length
12 months
Reference

ABOUT YOU

We’re looking for someone with:

• A strong background in pay benchmarking, job evaluation, or reward strategy – ideally in a unionised, public sector, or not-for-profit context.
• Solid understanding of equal pay legislation, pay gap reporting, and employment law.
• Experience analysing complex pay data and translating it into clear, actionable insights.
• Strong communication and report-writing skills – able to explain complex findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to propose fair and financially viable solutions.
• A values-led, adaptable and proactive working style.
• Patience and adaptability to work within traditional or evolving structures, and an understanding that change often involves many voices and perspectives.
• Experience working with trade union representatives, ideally in a not-for-profit or similar environments (desirable).

You’ll be confident working independently on a project, but collaborative in your approach – engaging with staff, governance bodies, and leadership to build trust and deliver impact.
A full job description and person specification can be found in the Documents section below.

You will lead a comprehensive review of UNISON’s pay structures, grading processes, and wider reward framework, including:

• Conducting a robust pay benchmarking exercise.
• Analysing pay data, identifying trends, and surfacing risks or inconsistencies.
• Reviewing outcomes from our equal pay audit and supporting implementation of follow-up actions.
• Assessing the job evaluation scheme and exploring options for its development.
• Making evidence-based recommendations for short- and long-term changes.
• Supporting strategic planning and advising on pay-related live matters when required.

You’ll work closely with internal stakeholders – from HR colleagues to trade union reps – ensuring that proposed changes reflect diverse views and support UNISON’s equality, diversity, and inclusion objectives.