Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)
Strategic Reward Manager
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Develop a total reward offer that helps Cafcass attract, retain and support colleagues
At Cafcass, our work supports children and families at some of the most important and difficult moments in their lives, and the experience and support we provide for colleagues is central to how well we deliver that purpose.
This is an exciting time to join a HR department which is on a positive journey of change and development, with supporting children and families at the heart of everything it does.
We are looking for a Strategic Reward Manager to help develop Cafcass' total reward offer and provide expert advice on pay, reward, benchmarking and job evaluation.
About The Role
As Strategic Reward Manager, you will work with the Head of Reward and Wellbeing, Chief People Officer and HR Leadership Team to develop inclusive, evidence-based and competitive reward solutions. Your work will support recruitment, retention, colleague experience and organisational decision-making, while maintaining effective governance and value for money.
You Will
What you will be doing
- Provide specialist advice on total reward, pay and reward governance to HR leaders and senior stakeholders.
- Develop reward frameworks and initiatives that respond to workforce capacity, recruitment and retention challenges.
- Lead reward benchmarking activity, using internal and external insight to inform options and recommendations.
- Support pay structures, annual pay award cycles and job evaluation activity.
- Analyse reward measures and outcomes, including reporting such as gender pay gap activity where required.
- Work collaboratively across HR, Finance, operational leaders, trade unions and external partners.
About You
We are seeking someone who can bring:
- A proven track record in total reward within a large or complex HR function.
- Experience deploying reward benchmarking techniques and advising stakeholders on pay and reward matters.
- Experience leading or implementing job evaluation frameworks.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with confidence turning data into practical recommendations.
- A collaborative, credible and values-led approach with a commitment to inclusion, fairness and safeguarding.
Why join Cafcass?
This is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in an organisation with a unique and important purpose.
In return, you will be part of an organisation that offers:
- Flexible and hybrid working, with regular travel across England where the role requires it.
- A supportive, values-led HR team with a clear focus on improvement and colleague experience.
- Access to the West Yorkshire Pension Fund, a Local Government Pension Scheme.
- 28 days' annual leave, rising to 33 days after five years' continuous service, plus bank/public holidays.
Safeguarding and inclusion
Cafcass is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment.
We are also committed to creating an inclusive and diverse working environment where colleagues feel valued, respected and able to do their best work. We welcome applications from people with a range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
If you are interested in this opportunity and want to help Cafcass deliver exceptional outcomes for children and families, we would welcome your application. Please contact Alastair.Thirsk@cafcass.gov.uk for more information
Be Their Voice
We are Cafcass – the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service – and we represent children in family court cases in England.
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Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 130,000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard.
Watch our video to find out we don’t just listen to children’s voices but we can be their voice.
If our purpose resonates with you, and you share our ambitions for children - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time - then if you join us, you will work alongside like-minded people in a diverse, inclusive and supportive organisation.
You will be trusted to work flexibly and independently using outstanding technology (e.g. touchscreen laptops, iPhone, all with first class support, including IT Trainers) with access to substantial resources (e.g. Cafcass Library has over 27,000 resources on social work, child protection and related topics). You will also have opportunities to develop, whatever team you join, wherever you are in the country and at whatever stage you are at in your career.
Whether you join us in one of our social work roles that work directly with children and families or our corporate and business services teams who provide technology, support and expertise, you will have the chance to make a difference for children and families. You can also find out more at www.cafcass.gov.uk/careers.
Wellbeing
The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing.
Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium (you can upgrade to include family members), which allows them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check-ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more.
Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health. This is led by a dedicated in-house team, the benefits of which include meaning support is targeted and specific to what colleagues need. Our team can also offer support and guidance when it comes to specific health conditions, such as neuro-diverse conditions, cancer and the menopause.
Our wellbeing offer is further strengthened by an external Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) which provides a free confidential support service 24 hours a day. This means access to clinical and professional expertise which gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of work and personal issues.
If this wasn’t enough, we are especially proud that over 125 colleagues have completed training and receive ongoing support to act as Health and Wellbeing Champions. Furthermore, we have nearly 100 people that have trained to be Mental Health Allies.
Diversity
We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically.
It also helps us to grow, evolve and innovate, so we particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.
We are proud to be a disability confident leader, we invite you to join our team, we are committed to actively attract and recruit individuals with disabilities including “non-visible” disabilities and mental health conditions. Our inclusive and accessible recruitment process means we aim to accommodate reasonable adjustments as needed. This commitment highlights our dedication to employing, training, retaining, and developing the careers of our colleagues with disabilities.
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Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Our Diversity Networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience – supported by allies across the organisation. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment and a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds.
For more information watch our video here.
Our Current Networks Include
Ability Matters
Colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
Carers Network
Colleagues with additional caring responsibilities for someone close to them who has a disability or long-term health condition.
Faith Network
Colleagues who are part of, or have an interest in, religious or spiritual faith communities.
Kaleidoscope Network
Colleagues from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
Mental Health Network
Colleagues who experience, or have an interest in, Mental Health issues.
Pride
Network
Colleagues who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans – LGBT+.
Neurodiversity Network
Colleagues who are neurodivergent, or support someone who is.
Together
‘Together with Children and Families’ (which we just call ‘Together’) is the name of our relationship-based practice framework. It applies to the work of every individual in Cafcass, from Social Workers to Leaders and includes our Corporate and Business Support teams.
It is at the heart of what we do and is made up of our values, how these values work in practice, the tools to use to incorporate these values in our work and the impact this will have on the children and families we serve.
This framework encourages us to be pro-active and to look for the strengths in ourselves and others. It also enables us to build positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners and most importantly, with the children and families with whom we work.
We look forward to telling helping you learn more about Together should you join us.
Benefits
We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also be trusted to manage your work/life balance.
Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide:
Generous holidays
28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service, which could include your current employment. You can also sell any you do not need.
Excellent pension
13.7% employer contribution to Local Government Pension scheme, potentially building on your current pension.
Flexible working
Most colleagues work in a hybrid way, having the benefits of working both from the office and home, we also accommodate flexible working requests (e.g. 9-day fortnights).
Exclusive discounts
Generous discounts with wide range of companies covering leisure, technology, travel, personal finance, fashion and supermarkets.
Professional fees
Social work colleagues have their annual Social Work England membership fees reimbursed.
Car leasing schemes
We offer a personal car leasing scheme which provides
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