Head of Reward & Employee Relations – Gourock | Perm | Full-time
Hybrid | Salary: Up to c £70,000 DOE + car allowance + excellent benefits
Syme Drummond is delighted to partner exclusively with David MacBrayne (CalMac Ferries) on a retained basis to appoint a transformational Head of Reward & Employee Relations.
With the current postholder retiring, this is a unique opportunity to step into a broad, high-impact leadership role at the heart of CalMac’s people strategy.
Non-Negotiables: You must bring senior leadership experience in a complex, unionised environment, with proven depth in reward strategy and complex ER management/oversight, ideally alongside strong payroll governance.
This is your chance to lead union engagement in one of Scotland’s most complex, highly unionised environments, shape the organisation’s reward agenda, and provide oversight of complex ER issues while ensuring payroll excellence. With a new government contract underway and public-sector pay frameworks shifting, you’ll join at a pivotal moment, steering reward and ER in a supportive, values-led environment.
What you’ll be doing
- Lead in a complex, unionised environment: Build constructive relationships with four recognised trade unions, negotiate settlements, set ER standards and advise senior leaders on risk and strategy.
- Shape the reward strategy: Own CalMac’s reward and benefits agenda, annual pay reviews, grading frameworks and benchmarking to ensure fairness, competitiveness and compliance.
- Oversee complex ER management: Provide strategic direction and oversight on sensitive ER cases, ensuring consistent, defensible and transparent outcomes.
- Modernise payroll: Oversee accurate, compliant payroll across complex allowances, partnering with Finance and Deloitte on automation, audit readiness and tax/NI compliance.
- Elevate HR services: Drive process improvement, standardise ways of working, enhance HRIS/iTrent outputs, and deliver insightful MI to senior stakeholders.
- Inspire and develop your team: Lead, coach and empower c.10 colleagues across reward, payroll and HR services, raising capability and embedding a positive, service-driven culture.
Essential experience
- Senior leadership in unionised environments with proven bargaining and engagement at scale.
- Proven track record of reward strategy: pay/benefits design, benchmarking, job evaluation and pay parity programmes.
- Depth of experience in complex employee relations: risk management, sensitive casework and collective change.
- Strong payroll governance knowledge: tax/NI/pensions literacy, compliance, controls and automation.
- Evidence of using HRIS/HR data to create decision-ready insights and external reporting.
- A resilient, collaborative leader who influences effectively and thrives under public scrutiny.
Why join CalMac now?
- Impact: Take the helm of reward and ER at a moment of real change, with a seat at the HR leadership table.
- Variety: A broad remit spanning pay, unions, payroll and HR services.
- Culture: Supportive HRD and a values-led, family-feel environment where people love to work.
- Rewards: From generous leave and family travel passes to one of the UK’s best pensions.
- Location: HQ on the Clyde with water views and a calmer commute than city-centre Glasgow.
Ready to shape reward and ER across a business that keeps Scotland’s islands connected?
Click to apply or email Kelsie.patterson@symedrummond.co.uk for more information. As this is a retained search mandate, all applications will be handled by Syme Drummond.