Senior Reward Manager

Home. There’s no place like it. And there’s no feeling like helping people create the joy of feeling truly at home. At Dunelm, that’s what we do.

We are the UK’s Number One homewares retailer offering over 100,000 products building a consumer-focused total retail business that delights customers through our multichannel operation.

We are ambitious in our plans to drive further expansion of the business to more customers, shopping more frequently, with more choice, enhanced digital and physical services, and new capabilities to innovate and operate at pace in a fast-changing landscape. In developing the business for the long-term benefit of our customers, we are investing in our supply chain, stores and technology to improve the customer proposition as we move forward.

Department Overview

Our People function is on a change journey and the Reward & People Transformation team is the engine room for shaping our colleague experience today and in the future.

Working closely with all elements of the People function, as well as the wider business, the team delivers effective and efficient Payroll and People Administration, designs and delivers innovative, reward strategies and is re-imagining how the People function operates for the future, to power the delivery of our exciting people plan.

What you'll be doing:

Reward Leadership & Governance

• Lead Reward governance and ensure policies, process controls, and documentation are robust, consistent, and auditable.
• Own the production of mandatory pay reporting (Gender Pay Gap, CEO Pay Ratio) and ensure timely and accurate submission.
• Develop and maintain governance frameworks for all Reward activity including recognition, benefits compliance, pay reviews, job evaluation and job architecture.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, innovate and modernise reward offerings while ensuring commercial value, scalability and alignment to colleague expectations.

Reward Delivery

• Lead the design, planning, and delivery of cyclical reward activity (annual pay review, bonus calculations, benchmarking cycles, scenario modelling).
• Support development of the reward strategy and ensure work delivered is aligned with strategic direction and data-led. Partner with People Insights to build modelling and dashboards, ensuring decisions are grounded in insight and evidence.
• Own the development of reward papers and insights for RemCo, including financial modelling and narrative drafting.

Build Excellent Partnerships

• Act as the key day to day reward expert to senior stakeholders including across Finance, People Partners, People Ops, Payroll, and Legal.
• Ensure we achieve maximum value from our Reward and Benefits partners, providing healthy challenge.
• Ensure close working with Finance on modelling, budget impacts, and RemCo submissions.
• Provide guidance and coaching to business leaders and People teams on Reward matters.

What we'll look for in you:

• Demonstrable expertise in reward, including governance, pay frameworks, benchmarking, and cyclical reward delivery.
• Advanced analytical, modelling and data interpretation capability.
• Strong understanding of reward compliance requirements: gender pay, CEO pay ratio, recognition governance, reporting obligations.
• Skilled in financial modelling, data analysis, and working with Finance teams.
• Excellent communication and writing skills, particularly for senior‑level audience (e.g., RemCo papers).

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in retail or multi‑site environments.
• Familiarity with job evaluation methodologies and external benchmarking tools.
• Experience with transformation or change programmes.
• Understanding of recognition frameworks and benefits governance.