Head of Total Rewards

Role

We’re hiring a Head of Total Rewards to build and run this function at Whatnot. This role owns how we pay, reward, and support our team as we scale. That includes compensation philosophy, equity strategy, benefits, mobility, and the systems and team behind it.

About the role

This role shapes how we compete. You’ll operate at both the strategy and execution level. You’ll set direction, design the frameworks, advise leadership and the Board, and run the actual work: comp cycles, benefits renewals, and systems. You don’t hand things off. You own them end to end. You’ll report to the Chief People Officer and partner closely with the CFO, exec team, and Board.

Responsibilities

• Set and evolve our Total Rewards strategy across compensation, equity, and benefits
• Own global compensation governance: job architecture, leveling, salary bands, and equity guidelines
• Build and lead a high-performing Total Rewards team
• Run semi-annual comp cycles end to end, including budgeting with Finance and calibration across orgs
• Scale benefits globally, balancing local needs, compliance, cost, and quality
• Design international comp and mobility programs (Japan, UK, Germany, and beyond)
• Advise leadership and the Board on executive comp, equity usage, and Compensation Committee matters
• Partner with Finance on budgeting, modeling, and long-term planning for comp and benefits
• Own comp systems and data (Complete, Pave, Compa, Carta), keeping them accurate and useful
• Ensure compliance across all programs, in partnership with Employment Counsel

Requirements

• Built and led Total Rewards functions at scale, including the systems, processes, and talent behind them
• Strong international experience, designing and operating comp, benefits, and mobility programs across multiple regions with different regulatory environments
• Executive presence with substance, trusted by the C-suite and comfortable advising the Board and Compensation Committee on high-stakes decisions
• Strong business and financial acumen, owning or deeply influencing large budgets, building multi-year comp models, and making tradeoffs that balance cost, competitiveness, and retention
• Built teams that act as strategic partners to the business, not just program owners
• Able to be hands-on when needed, going deep in the data, systems, and details when it matters
• Sound judgment in ambiguity, making clear calls, explaining the tradeoffs, and adjusting quickly as the business evolves

Qualifications

• 12–15+ years of experience in high-growth tech companies, including leading Total Rewards through rapid scaling and major inflection points (ideally pre-IPO to post-IPO)
• Deep expertise in compensation strategy and philosophy, designing job architecture, leveling, market positioning, and equity programs that hold up under scrutiny
• Experience with compensation systems and data management (Complete, Pave, Compa, Carta)
• Experience with international compensation and mobility programs
• Experience advising leadership and the Board on executive comp, equity usage, and Compensation Committee matters
• Experience with budgeting, modeling, and long-term planning for comp and benefits

Skills

• Strategic thinking and execution
• Financial acumen and budgeting
• Team leadership and development
• Compensation and benefits design
• International experience and compliance
• Board and executive committee advisory

Benefits

• Generous holiday and time off policy
• Health insurance options including medical, dental, and vision
• Work from home support
• Home office setup allowance
• Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
• Care benefits
• Monthly allowance for wellness
• Annual allowance towards childcare
• Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
• Retail retirement plan (401k offering for traditional and Roth accounts in the US and pension plans internationally)
• Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
• Parental leave (16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work)

Pay

$336K - $395K

Schedule

Remote co-located team across the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia