Manager, Compensation

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve Baseten’s company-wide compensation strategy, philosophy, and programs.
• Collaborate with leadership and HRBP to create and evolve job architecture and leveling frameworks.
• Build and maintain compensation bands.
• Conduct regular market benchmarking to ensure comp bands and strategy remain competitive in a fast moving industry.
• Partner closely with Talent to design and approve competitive new hire offers, advising on negotiation strategy within our compensation principles.
• Lead bi-annual leveling and compensation review cycles to ensure market competitiveness and reward high performance across teams.
• Manage new hire equity grants in partnership with Finance and Legal.
• Design and administer a thoughtful equity refresher program for tenured employees.
• Oversee annual bonus planning and payouts, ensuring alignment with company performance and individual impact.
• Partner with HRBPs and managers on compensation decisions related to promotions, retention, recognition, and off-cycle adjustments.
• Select and optimize compensation tooling, ensuring data integrity, operational efficiency, and thoughtful use of automation.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in compensation or total rewards, ideally within high-growth technology companies (Series D through IPO stage preferred).
• Deep expertise in equity compensation, including stock options and RSUs, with experience designing and managing equity refresher programs.
• Strong analytical rigor with advanced proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets, HRIS systems, and benchmarking tools.
• Proven experience designing and evolving salary bands, leveling frameworks, bonus plans, and variable or incentive compensation programs.
• Comfortable leading companywide compensation and performance review cycles, including managing inputs from multiple stakeholders and calibrating across teams.
• Ability to operate as both a strategic advisor to senior leadership and a hands-on builder of scalable, principled compensation systems.
• High ownership and sound judgment in time-sensitive situations such as candidate negotiations, promotions, and retention decisions.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate compensation philosophy and influence cross-functional stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience building and leading a team.
• Experience owning benefits strategy and evaluating vendors, including healthcare funding models and 401(k) plan design.