Compensation Analyst

Hybrid role based in Syracuse, NY (13202).

About the role

The Compensation Analyst supports accurate, timely, and controlled compensation processing for the field force and Wealth Management organization. This role serves as a key operational resource for manual compensation payments, third-party money manager compensation, third-party representative changes, financial planning compensation, and compensation corrections submitted by the service team.

Responsibilities

• Process manual compensation checks to the field force for payments that cannot be issued electronically, ensuring all required approvals, calculations, documentation, and controls are completed prior to payment release.
• Process all third-party money manager compensation, including review of incoming compensation data, validation of payment amounts, reconciliation of supporting records, and timely resolution of exceptions.
• Process third-party representative changes, ensuring updates are accurately documented, validated against business requirements, and completed within established processing timelines.
• Process all financial planning compensation for the Wealth Management organization, including intake, review, calculation support, exception handling, and coordination with internal stakeholders as needed.
• Process compensation corrections received from the service team by researching the issue, validating the appropriate adjustment, documenting the resolution, and ensuring corrected payments are processed accurately.
• Research and resolve compensation discrepancies, payment exceptions, missing information, and field inquiries in partnership with service teams, payroll, operations, finance, technology, and leadership as needed.
• Maintain accurate records, processing logs, audit documentation, approvals, and supporting materials for all compensation transactions.
• Support month-end, quarter-end, and year-end compensation processing activities, reconciliations, reporting, and issue resolution.
• Identify recurring errors, process gaps, and operational risks; recommend improvements to strengthen accuracy, efficiency, controls, and service delivery.
• Participate in special projects, system conversions, compensation initiatives, testing, or process improvement efforts as required.
• Perform other compensation operations duties and business support activities as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, human resources, economics, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Experience in compensation operations, payroll, finance operations, accounting, or financial services operations preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to research issues, validate data, and identify accurate resolution steps.
• High degree of accuracy, attention to detail, and comfort working with sensitive financial and compensation information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including data review, formulas, reconciliations, filtering, and reporting.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work effectively in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain compensation-related issues clearly and professionally.
• Demonstrated ability to follow procedures, maintain documentation, and operate within established controls and approval requirements.

Preferred Skills

• Knowledge of financial services, advisor compensation, Wealth Management operations, or field force payment processes.
• Experience processing manual payments, compensation adjustments, commissions, incentives, or fee-based compensation.
• Familiarity with compensation systems, payroll platforms, workflow tools, SharePoint, Power BI, or reporting dashboards.
• Experience supporting service teams, field inquiries, operational escalations, or cross-functional issue resolution.
• Ability to identify process improvement opportunities and help implement practical solutions that reduce errors and improve turnaround time.