Head of Reward, India

Job Title: Head of Reward, India

Location: Mumbai, India

BUSINESS CONTEXT AND MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company with over 400 brands spanning across Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition and, currently, Ice Cream. With revenues of €60.8 billion in 2024, it is a FTSE 10 business. India is a critical market for Unilever, delivering ~12% of global sales through brands like Surf, Lifebuoy, Dove, Lakmé, Kissan, Bru, and Horlicks. 

Unilever’s purpose is to brighten everyday life for all, and its goal is to deliver best-in-class performance with market-making, unmissably superior brands, while also delivering absolute profit growth in line with top third total shareholder return ambition.

We will achieve our goals through the passion and hard work of our workforce.The HR function has a critical role to play in enabling business ambition, and Total Rewards expertise is critical to that.  With the recent external hiring of a Chief Reward Officer and a Head of Executive Compensation, Unilever is embarking on a new chapter for Total Rewards – this is an exciting moment to be part of a team that are committed to drive business outcomes!

As part of the India HR Leadership team, the Head of Rewards will play a key leadership role, partnering with the Chief People, Transformation & Sustainability Officer for Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).  This role will lead a small local reward team and also be part of the global total reward leadership team and will have the opportunity to influence outcomes for employees and business groups globally.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Global Compensation: partner with the Global Reward Centre of Expertise (CoE) in bringing the global reward strategy to life, always ensuring a good fit for country business priorities. Ensure that the strategy supports the attraction, retention, and engagement of talent, while remaining competitive.

• Executive Compensation: with the support of the global CoE, develop necessary strategies, arguments, papers to represent rewards at HUL’s Comp Committee.

• Benefits: partner with the Global Pensions & Reward CoEs in the design, implementation, and administration of local health and welfare, insurance, retirement/savings and recognition programs.

• Industry: represent Unilever in industry reward forums. Ensure program alignment with market and business needs through ongoing benchmarking and review.

• Unilever HUL HR: Play and active role as a member of the India HUL HRLT. Collaborate with HR teams to establish and maintain effective performance management systems and provide guidance and support to managers in effectively linking performance and reward.

• Unilever Global Reward Leadership Team: Play an active role as a member of the Global Reward Leadership Team, as well as the broader reward community.  Influence the development of global strategy, offer feedback on policy application in the field. 

• Be data driven: Utilize data analytics tools and techniques to analyze reward-related data, identify trends, and provide insights to inform decision-making. Use data-driven insights to continuously improve reward programs and address any gaps or areas of improvement.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO SUCCEED

• Commercial & business acumen: From an outside-in perspective, understanding the business priorities, key metrics to demonstrate value, values & impact, knowing what competitors are doing in the local market, emerging people trends.

• Change & transformation agent:  Flex plans and style to adapt to changing situation with a sense of urgency. Ability to lead and design bespoke reward programs, and delivering the same across different markets as appropriate.

• Strategic thinker & problem solver – It’s a complex role and hence strategic clarity and problem-solving skills are a must. Ability to see and understand linkages and interactions beyond silos, to anticipate and pull together the right actions and interventions, through end-to-end thinking, in support of business growth.

• Entrepreneurial mindset and bias for action – independent, self-starter who is not taking things for granted and challenges the status quo when it gets in the way, applying critical thinking and creativity to problem solving.

• Team leadership – Driving psychological safety, creating an environment where everybody can express their ideas and different views are respected. Be a talent magnet and a leader who develops strong well-knit teams.

• Performance Coaching & Casting: Ability to challenge, stretch and coach others, demonstrates strong EQ to become the objective and trusted partner of the teams/leadership they support, to drive superior performance. Builds deep knowledge of talent, their development needs and skilled in casting for a more nuanced world.

• Adaptability & Resilience: personal capacity to test, reflect, and pivot to succeed in a complex external environment, balance priorities short v/s long term. Resourceful in coming up with new approaches, integrating different ideas, from both internal and external landscape, to achieve best outcomes with real and measurable impact.

• Passion for growth and high performance – putting great care and rigor into what we do, being accountable for and taking pride of our work.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience in reward, working both in India and across a multinational environment, ideally with 10+ years overall HR (including reward) experience.

• Experience of leading reward in an Indian public company environment.

• Strong knowledge of local labor laws, regulations, and market practices across India.

• Proven track record in designing and implementing effective reward strategies and programs that support business goals and drive employee engagement.

• Experience in managing complex projects and leading teams in a cross-functional, matrix environment.

• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to leverage data and metrics to drive insights and inform decision-making.

• Strong communication and influencing skills to effectively engage with senior leaders, HR business partners, and employees.

• Ability to navigate ambiguity, adapt to change, and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.