Managing Director, Total Rewards

Priority application date: Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 11:59PM ET. Resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis after this deadline.

Location: Remote

About the role

At Teach For America, we are inspired by a single mission – one day, all children will have access to an excellent education. In pursuit of that mission, we are evolving our ways of working to build an agile HR team that sustainably supports an ever-evolving organization. As Managing Director, Total Rewards, you will lead Teach For America’s total rewards portfolio, ensuring compensation, benefits, and rewards practices attract, retain, and support exceptional talent while advancing mission priorities, equity, and staff experience.

We seek a thoughtful and strategic total rewards leader who combines strong business acumen with operational excellence and a deep commitment to people-centered design. You thrive in environments that require balancing long-term strategy with practical execution and are energized by creating systems and programs that support both staff experience and organizational effectiveness. You bring strong judgment, analytical rigor, and an ability to translate complexity into clear, actionable solutions. You build trust quickly, navigate ambiguity effectively, and are comfortable influencing stakeholders across varying perspectives and levels of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and operationalize total rewards strategy (25%). Translate enterprise priorities and talent strategy into clear, actionable total rewards programs and practices, including compensation philosophy, benefits offerings, and performance-aligned rewards. Partner with senior leaders and People Team colleagues to ensure programs support talent attraction, retention, and engagement while reinforcing consistency and equity. Prepare materials, analyses, and recommendations to support leadership understanding and decision-making on total rewards topics.
• Oversee compensation strategy, systems, and practices (25%). Manage the design, implementation, and administration of compensation programs, including salary structures, benchmarking, pay practices, and performance-aligned compensation approaches. Ensure compensation decisions are aligned with internal equity, market competitiveness, and organizational guidelines. Analyze compensation data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and provide recommendations that inform decisions.
• Lead benefits strategy and external partnerships (25%). Lead benefits strategy, administration, and key external partnerships to ensure offerings remain competitive, sustainable, and responsive to staff and organizational needs. Oversee key benefits processes and steward relationships with brokers, carriers, and external partners to optimize service delivery, employee experience, vendor performance, and overall program effectiveness.
• Ensure compliance, governance, and system integrity (15%). Ensure total rewards systems comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations, as well as internal policies and standards. Maintain strong governance practices to promote consistency, transparency, and risk mitigation across compensation and benefits administration.
• Use data and insights to drive continuous improvement (10%). Leverage data, benchmarking, and stakeholder feedback to assess system effectiveness and inform program enhancements. Support the evolution of total rewards practices to meet changing workforce needs and organizational priorities.

Requirements

• 7+ years of progressive experience in Total Rewards, Compensation, Benefits, Human Resources, or related functions, including leadership experience overseeing enterprise-wide programs, initiatives, or strategies.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and administering compensation and benefits programs in complex or evolving organizational environments, including compensation strategy, incentive design, benchmarking, governance, and scalable program design.
• Strong knowledge of total rewards strategy and core practices, including compensation philosophy, salary structures, job architecture, market benchmarking, benefits programs, and applicable compensation and benefits regulations.
• Experience partnering with Finance, HR, Payroll, and senior leaders to align rewards strategy with workforce planning, operational execution, and organizational priorities.
• Strong analytical and business acumen, with the ability to synthesize workforce data, market insights, and trends into actionable recommendations and strategic decisions.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and navigate ambiguity effectively.
• Experience establishing governance structures, operational controls, and decision-making frameworks that ensure compensation and benefits programs are compliant, consistently applied, transparent, and effectively managed for risk.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated success influencing, building trust, and driving alignment across stakeholder groups and varying levels of leadership.

Skills

• Total rewards strategy and program design
• Compensation strategy, philosophy, and market benchmarking
• Benefits administration and vendor management
• Compensation analytics and workforce insights
• Compensation and benefits regulations and governance
• Strategic planning and organizational problem solving
• Cross-functional partnership and stakeholder management
• Change management and communications
• Systems thinking and operational process improvement
• Data analysis and decision support
• Program leadership and enterprise execution

Your Future Team

The People Team enables TFA’s mission by ensuring the organization has the talent, leadership, and systems needed to deliver sustained impact. We steward talent across the full lifecycle and build the people infrastructure that supports, develops, and deploys staff to drive strong outcomes for students and communities. The Managing Director, Total Rewards sits within the Total Rewards team and serves as a strategic partner across the enterprise, leading rewards programs and practices that help attract, support, and retain exceptional talent while strengthening staff experience and organizational effectiveness.

Pay

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role.

• Tier A: $99,000 - $135,100
• Tier B: $107,900 - $147,200
• Tier C: $116,800 - $159,500

View which tier applies to where you plan to work.