Reward and Benefits Specialist

Watson Farley & Williams is an international law firm advising on complex disputes and transactions through local knowledge and an integrated international network.  We have a strong sector focus, combining our technical excellence with deep industry knowledge across Energy, Transport and associated Infrastructure.

The firm has achieved rapid expansion and year-on-year growth owed almost entirely to a focused strategy, strong leadership and the quality of its people.  The next stage in the firm’s growth plan is to achieve full-service strength within core sectors across the global platform.

We strive for excellence in all that we do and view investment in our people as key to achieving our business goals and values, which rest on developing deep and long-lasting relationships externally and internally through respect, sharing, communication and integrity.

Our global practice is integrated across our offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and North America delivering consistently high levels of service across borders and locally through a deep understanding of local business customs and culture.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace to attract and retain the most talented people from all backgrounds and cultures.  We believe in celebrating difference and that people from any background can rise to the top, ensuring opportunities to develop and progress are available for all.

The Global HR team includes HR Advisory, Reward, Early Careers, Resourcing and Diversity and Inclusion. Internationally, we work with local Office Managers across the globe and our Global HR colleagues. This role sits across the HR team that provides subject matter expertise from benefits to rewards to culture and engagement, and will have a matrix reporting line.

This role will be relied upon for proactive and broad reward activities. The incumbent will have focused area of activity in their own space of benefits and wellbeing management, but also be drawn upon to assist the Senior Reward Manager and the Global Heads of HR and wider HR team for general reward assistance throughout our various locations.

This role will drive both global benefit and wellbeing initiatives to support the firm’s mission to help everyone be their best. The postholder must equally ensure the high-quality management of our global insurance policies and other benefit offerings. 

Reward and compensation

• Benchmark data for the global compensation review
• Participation in salary surveys, and subsequent analysis of the compensation data received, summarising for the line management/ end users of that data
• Data collation from various sources, presenting data in clear format for line management review
• General assistance with the salary and bonus review, preparation of presentation documents for leadership consideration
• Management of the employee recognition scheme, and other internal activities

Benefits

• Full management of the firm’s insurances for both employees and partners, including:
  • Group Income Protection;
  • Group Life Assurance;
  • Terminal Illness & Permanent Total Disability insurances;
  • Critical Illness;
  • Private Medical Insurance;

• End-to-end management of all policy renewals with Aon (benefits broker)
• Liaising with benefits broker on membership changes (joiners, leavers, transfers etc.)
• Managing all insurance/benefit communications within the firm, acting as the primary point of contact
• Management of risk policy claims
• Completion of medical underwriting paperwork
• Building relationships with appointed benefit/insurance vendors and brokers
• Liaising with global Office Managers relating to local benefits and global benefits managed
• Enhancing the global benefit offering where necessary; researching and onboarding any new benefits and vendors
• Lead on communications to employees and partners on benefit changes
• Conduct research, summarise, and present any alternatives or enhancements to our benefits; presenting to HoHR for consideration for change
• Research and implement any benefits for new office locations

Wellbeing

• Proactively design and execute wellbeing projects and initiatives globally
• Drive new initiatives to support mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Design new processes to facilitate feedback
• Analyse key metrics (via employee surveys etc.)
• Manage the logistics for any wellbeing events, e.g. Mental Health Awareness Week
• Working closely with the Firm’s Mental Health Allies, to promote their support services and run any relevant events
• Managing and updating the Wellbeing Hub page on the Firm’s Intranet
• Running any relevant wellbeing webinars offered by our current providers
• Managing all wellbeing benefits for partners and employees:
  • Annual health screenings
  • Employee Assistance Programmes
  • WorkLife Central subscription

• Previous experience of working in legal or professional services
• Strong benefits management experience, including renewal of annual policies
• Excellent understanding of benefits management and claims
• Experience of reward, salary benchmarking, collating data, involvement during a compensation cycle
• Excellent communication skills and willingness to share and collaborate with colleagues
• Excellent Microsoft Excel skills (V/XLOOKUP/pivot table, IF statements essential, etc)
• Demonstrable experience of executing wellbeing initiatives
• Ability to self-manage and project manage
• Knowledge-sharing within the HR team on wellbeing and benefits management activities
• Experience of improving processes
• Familiarity with HR systems and running reports
• High level of attention to detail, strong communication skills and proven organisation skills
• Someone who is happy to roll their sleeves up, a true team player and a problem solver

We offer a competitive benefits and wellbeing package for all employees.

The Firm promotes a culture of agility and flexibility and is fully supportive of flexible working arrangements where these can be accommodated.

Respect for different backgrounds and perspectives is at the heart of our firm’s core values and we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential. This is a key feature of our Global Code of Conduct, which places diversity and inclusion at the centre of our firm’s ways of working.

We believe that exceptional client service can only be delivered by exceptional people. For this reason, we aim to attract, retain and develop the best talent from a wide range of backgrounds. All decisions relating to employment will be objective and based on merit and ability.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are as inclusive and barrier-free as possible. This includes making adjustments for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition.  If you require adjustments to be made at any stage of the recruitment process, we’d encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who would be happy to discuss options with you.