Manager, Reward - Middle East and Africa

Role purpose

Shape how one of the world’s leading hotel companies rewards its people across India, the Middle East and Africa. As Manager, Reward – IMEA, you will translate IHG’s global reward strategy into market-relevant, cost-effective and compliant pay, incentive and benefit solutions across corporate offices, our Global Service Centre and hotels. It’s a hands-on, high-visibility role where your analysis and advice directly influence how we attract, retain and motivate great talent – while protecting internal equity, cost discipline and regulatory compliance.

About us

IHG Hotels & Resorts is one of the world’s leading hotel companies with around 350,000+ colleagues working across more than 100 countries to deliver true hospitality for good. Our diverse portfolio of differentiated brands is well known and loved by millions of consumers around the world. 

We genuinely care for our entire IHG Hotels & Resorts family. All our colleagues are valued, and their wellbeing matters to us. We provide the support our colleagues need to succeed and recognise them for their hard work. Our diverse global community values different perspectives and cultures. 

Your day to day: key accountabilities

1. Reward strategy, policy and governance

• Translate IHG’s global reward philosophy into a coherent IMEA reward framework, standardising policies across markets while reflecting local competitiveness and regulation.

• Own and maintain regional compensation and benefits policies and manuals across India, the Middle East and Africa, including allowance structures, keeping them current, consistent and well governed.

• Lead the reward response to regulatory change (e.g., India Labour Codes, Retirals, Flexible Benefits).

2. Market intelligence, benchmarking and job architecture

• Lead annual salary survey participation (e.g., Mercer, Aon, WTW) and convert market data into salary ranges, pay structures and data-driven recommendations.

• Own pay benchmarking for corporate and hotel roles, including senior and executive positions, using compa-ratio, range penetration and pay-positioning analysis.

• Drive job evaluation, levelling and alignment to the global job architecture; partner on organisation design to ensure roles are sized consistently and fairly.

• Review offers, promotions and internal moves to ensure market competitiveness, internal equity and cost discipline.

3. Annual reward cycles and incentives

• Lead end-to-end delivery of the annual merit and bonus cycles for IMEA corporate and hotels – from budget modelling and guidelines to pay tools, leader calibration and final sign-off.

• Partner closely with function leaders through each cycle to secure timely, well-reasoned and budget-aligned decisions.

• Analyse cycle outcomes (spend vs. budget, distribution, pay equity) and present clear insights to leadership.

4. Hotel General Manager and Corporate hiring reward packages

• Manage reward for hotel General Managers across IMEA – including annual merit and bonus, hiring packages, benefit packages and compensation ranges – ensuring they are competitive and consistent.

• Partner with Talent Acquisition on corporate hiring, recommending market-competitive and internally equitable pay packages for new colleagues.

5. Benefits and wellbeing

• Review and design benefit plans (e.g., medical and wellbeing, mobility, relocation and allowances) to ensure local competitiveness, compliance and alignment with IHG’s colleague wellbeing agenda.

• Lead renewals, tenders and evaluations with brokers and insurers; manage vendor performance and colleague escalations.

6. Advisory, insight and communication

• Be the go-to reward partner for HRBPs, HR COEs and business leaders, giving clear, practical and commercially grounded advice.

• Turn complex reward analysis into crisp, decision-ready insights and leadership presentations.

• Design and deliver reward communications and education for leaders, managers and colleagues so programmes are understood and valued.

What we need from you

Whilst we love experience, mindset is of equal importance. We’re looking for a naturally analytical problem-solver who combines technical reward depth with commercial judgement and the confidence to influence senior leaders.

• 7+ years in Reward/Compensation and Benefits within a multinational and/or consultancy, ideally with multi-country scope across India and the Middle East.

• Strong knowledge of compensation and benefits principles, job evaluation and market pricing, with a working understanding of tax, social security and labour regulation (e.g., India Labour Codes, GCC labour law).

• Hands-on experience of annual merit and bonus cycles, incentive plans and hiring/offer pay recommendations.

• Advanced Excel and analytical skills – able to build accurate models and present them in executive-ready format.

• Experience with HR systems, reward tools and salary surveys (e.g., Oracle, Payfactors, Mercer, Aon, WTW).

• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy in both numerical and written work.

• Confident communicator and influencer who can challenge constructively and build trust with senior stakeholders.

• Hands-on, organised and delivery-oriented; comfortable owning work end to end as an individual contributor, managing multiple priorities and handling highly confidential information.

What we offer

At IHG we give our colleagues greater flexibility and balance – working in a hybrid way, blending remote and office working. Although we thrive on collaborating in person, we expect that you’re likely to spend time working remotely. Every role is different, and colleagues work with their team and their leader to determine how and when they collaborate in person. We like to believe we offer a unique culture where you have room to be yourself. 

We give our people everything they need to succeed. From a competitive salary that rewards all your hard work to a wide range of benefits designed to help you live your best work life – including impressive room discounts.

Don’t quite meet every requirement but believe you’d be a great fit? We’d still love to hear from you – hit Apply and start your journey with IHG today.