Head of Total Rewards

About the role

We're looking for a Head of Total Rewards to make compensation and benefits a true talent-density lever at Notion. This role will be part of the People Leadership Team and will report to our Chief People Officer.

Responsibilities

• Set the vision for Total Rewards as a talent-density lever
• Define and evolve a clear compensation and equity philosophy that supports our strategy, values, and operating model - and own the outcomes end-to-end
• Design programs that drive clarity, motivation, and retention for high performers - while maintaining internal equity and external competitiveness
• Reimagine our compensation architecture
• Own our job/leveling alignment inputs, pay bands, market pricing strategy, and decision frameworks so we can scale consistently without losing nuance
• Build mechanisms for fast, high-quality comp decisions (offers, promotions, internal mobility, retention, and exceptions)
• Lead equity strategy across the employee lifecycle
• Own executive compensation + Comp Committee
• Partner with senior leadership and the Board/Compensation Committee to design and deliver executive compensation programs and governance
• Prepare materials, analyses, and recommendations that are crisp, defensible, and aligned with company priorities
• Identify where AI can remove busywork (benchmarking, insights, scenario modeling, communications, manager enablement) and build toward a comp operating system that’s fit for an AI world
• Operate with rigor: data, governance, and global readiness
• Ensure compensation governance is scalable and compliant across geographies; partner with Legal and Finance on risk management and controls
• Support company scaling activities by ensuring our compensation practices, documentation, and governance can meet higher expectations over time
• Lead, grow, and develop the Total Rewards team
• Manage and develop a team across compensation, equity and benefits; set clear goals, raise the bar on craft, and build a high-agency culture
• Coach cross-functional partners and leaders on compensation decision-making with clarity and confidence
• Create communication strategies and enablement that make compensation and equity easier to understand for leaders and employees
• Build trust through transparent frameworks, thoughtful education, and direct, kind guidance

Requirements

10+ years of experience leading compensation and equity programs in high-growth technology companies, including meaningful scope at senior/executive levels

Proven ability to design compensation philosophies and architectures (job structures, market pricing, bands/ranges, governance) that scale with the business

Deep experience with executive compensation and working with senior leadership and Boards/Compensation Committees

Strong analytical capability paired with great judgment—able to move from complex data to simple, high-quality decisions

A builder’s mindset: comfortable creating systems, processes, and tools from scratch, and iterating quickly based on feedback and outcomes

High agency and ownership: you take initiative, own the outcome, and create momentum with urgency

High standards for craft and clarity in communication; able to influence at all levels with directness and empathy

Comfort operating globally, with an understanding of how to adapt frameworks across markets while maintaining coherence

You don’t need to be an AI expert, but you’re curious and willing to adopt AI tools to work smarter and deliver better results

Qualifications

• Nice to Haves
• Experience building (or significantly modernizing) compensation tooling and workflows using Notion, BI, and/or HR systems—and leveraging AI to improve speed and quality
• Exposure to public-company readiness work or experience operating in environments with higher governance expectations
• Experience partnering with Finance on modeling, budgeting, and long-range planning for comp and equity programs