Compensation Program Manager

About the Role

The Compensation Program Manager partners with HR, Finance, and business leaders in the design, administration, governance, and continuous improvement of enterprise compensation programs, including incentive compensation plans and annual merit planning. This role also manages compensation compliance, project management (PMO), communications and training.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the annual compensation planning cycles, including annual merit budget setting, cycle scheduling, stakeholder communications, manager and HR training, executive reporting, governance, approvals, audit controls, and overall program oversight.
• Partner with Total Payroll Operations, Finance, IT, and HR teams in the setup, testing, administration, and continuous improvement of systems, workflows, and processes supporting monthly, quarterly, and annual compensation cycles.
• Provide executive updates, analytics, and reporting related to merit planning outcomes, budget utilization, pay-for-performance results, and compensation program effectiveness.
• Manage incentive compensation plans in partnership with Finance, Sales, and business leaders, to define plan metrics, measures, weightings, and governance.
• Design, administer, and evaluate short-term incentive programs, including modeling, scenario analysis, and plan documentation, in partnership with the Sr. Compensation Analyst - Incentives.
• Ensure that incentive compensation plans and results are effectively communicated to participants.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and reporting tools to monitor plan performance and payouts.
• Ensure the accuracy of incentive plan eligibility, calculations, approvals, accruals, and payments through strong controls, audits, and administration processes.
• Help drive continuous improvement of compensation plan design, administration, communications, and governance to help maximize plan effectiveness.
• Develop and deliver compensation training and education tools to support a consistent understanding and application of compensation programs.
• Ensure compensation compliance with federal, state, and local requirements, including pay equity, minimum wage, minimum salary thresholds, pay transparency regulations, FLSA classification standards, Department of Labor requirements, and state/provincial reporting obligations.
• Monitor compensation programs to ensure alignment with the company's compensation philosophy of pay-for-results, pay equity, and market competitiveness.
• Serve as PMO lead for enterprise compensation projects, coordinating timelines, resources, governance, stakeholders, risks, dependencies, and implementation activities.
• Maintain and enhance the enterprise compensation calendar to capture and track key dates related to compensation cycles, communications, training, and projects.
• Help shape and implement improvements in compensation training, manager enablement, and communication strategies to support effective decision-making.
• Help ensure effective change management strategies for HR, managers, and business leaders specific to compensation.
• Maintain compensation workflows, documentation, governance standards, and audit controls.
• Support benchmarking, market pricing, salary structures, and job architecture.
• Perform other duties as required.

Qualifications

Education/Certifications: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, or related field; CCP or PHR is a plus.

Experience: 6–8 years of progressive compensation experience, with direct ownership of annual merit review cycles, incentive compensation design and administration, and compensation compliance programs. Experience leading cross-functional projects and working with common HRIS systems and reporting tools (PeopleSoft, Workday, SAP or comparable HCM; PayScale/PayFactors or comparable survey/benchmarking tools).

Skills

• Advanced analytical skills: ability to interpret large datasets and build compensation models.
• Deep knowledge of compensation regulations, pay equity analytics, FLSA classification standards, and market pricing methodologies.
• Proficiency with Excel, HRIS, reporting dashboards, and compensation planning tools.
• Strong written and verbal communication, presentation development (PowerPoint) and change management skills.
• Strong project management skills; Understanding of best practice PM methodologies (Lean, Agile, Waterfall, etc.) a plus.
• Ability to manage multiple complex programs simultaneously and work collaboratively across functions.
• Good judgment is required for this position as there may be times when direct supervision may not be immediately available.

Work Environment

Remote Role: This position is classified as remote where the associate will perform remote work from their primary residence. Remote associates are welcome to work from the office but are not required to do so. While remote associates are not required to work from an office on a regular basis, they may be required to come to the office or other UNFI locations for necessary business reasons or if directed to do so by their manager.

Travel (minor): This position may require the associate to travel to company offices, distribution centers, or other locations for specific meetings or other business reasons.

Physical Environment/Demands: Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled office environment. Incumbent may sit for long periods of time at a desk or computer terminal. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Incumbent may use calculators, keyboards, telephones, and other office equipment in the course of a normal workday. Stooping, bending, twisting, and reaching may be required in the completion of job duties.