Rewards Specialist

Role overview

Arada is seeking a Rewards Specialist to assist the Group Head of Total Rewards in shaping, rolling out, and managing compensation, benefits, and reward programmes across the Group. The position plays a key part in helping the business stay competitive in the market, maintain internal fairness, meet regulatory obligations, and support broader strategic goals.

What you will do

You will contribute to reward initiatives by analysing market data, supporting pay review and incentive cycles, helping manage long-term incentive plans, and administering employee benefits. The role also involves providing data-led recommendations that support reward decisions, workforce planning, and employee retention.

In this position, you will work closely with senior stakeholders and business partners in a fast-moving, growth-focused environment. Success in the role depends on strong analytical thinking, accurate interpretation of data, commercial awareness, and the ability to handle sensitive reward matters with care.

Key responsibilities

• Help deliver and improve the Group’s total rewards approach across pay, benefits, and incentive plans.
• Run market comparisons and salary surveys to gauge external competitiveness and advise on pay positioning.
• Carry out compensation studies, job evaluations, grading reviews, and pay equity analysis to inform reward decisions.
• Assist with annual salary reviews, bonus planning, and incentive cycles, including modelling, analysis, governance, and communications.
• Support the creation, rollout, and administration of long-term incentive plans and other retention initiatives.
• Prepare executive compensation market data, benchmarking insights, and recommendations for review.
• Maintain compensation structures, salary bands, job architecture, and reward frameworks.
• Analyse reward information and produce reports, dashboards, and insights for leadership and business teams.
• Support the design, review, and administration of employee benefits to keep them competitive, cost-effective, and valuable to employees.
• Ensure benefits are aligned with the wider total rewards philosophy and employee value proposition.
• Work with PX Business Partners and business leaders on compensation, benefits, and reward-related queries.
• Make sure reward programmes comply with relevant laws, governance standards, and internal policies across applicable jurisdictions.
• Support relationships with external vendors and consultants, including benefits providers and compensation benchmarking partners.
• Contribute to reward policies, guidelines, processes, and employee communication materials.
• Help improve automation and data accuracy across compensation processes.
• Support the move toward a digitally enabled Reward CoE.
• Keep reward data accurate within PX systems for reporting and analysis.
• Track market movements, emerging reward practices, and regulatory updates to guide future reward strategy and enhancements.

Experience and qualifications

• At least 7 years of experience in total rewards or compensation and benefits.
• Exposure to long-term incentive plans or executive compensation is preferred.
• Strong experience with global or multi-country reward frameworks.
• Advanced Excel modelling skills, including scenario building, forecasting, and analytics.
• Hands-on use of market benchmarking tools such as Mercer, WTW, and Korn Ferry.
• Good understanding of UAE reward practices and the regulatory environment.
• Ability to present effectively to senior leadership.
• Experience in a Reward CoE or a global organisation.
• Experience in real estate, construction, or other asset-heavy industries is an advantage.