Principal Compensation Analyst (Hybrid - Pleasanton, CA)
Overview
The Principal Compensation Analyst will support the design, development, administration, and evaluation of global compensation programs. This role partners with HR, Finance, Legal, and business leadership to develop competitive, equitable, and scalable compensation solutions that support the organization's talent strategy and business objectives.
Responsibilities
Lead the global annual salary planning process, including development of merit budgets and guidelines, merit matrix design, eligibility requirements, project timelines, system requirements and configuration, data validation, approvals, communications, and final implementation.
Conduct market analysis and maintain global salary structures to ensure competitive and internally equitable pay practices.
Analyze market movement, geographic differentials, and internal positioning and develop recommendations for salary structure adjustments.
Manage participation in global compensation surveys, including Radford and other applicable market surveys; oversee job matching and benchmark validation, identify and resolve data and job-matching issues, and leverage survey results to support compensation recommendations and program design.
Lead job evaluation and market-pricing activities, including job leveling, job family and career-level alignment, FLSA classification, salary grade determination, and recommendations for new hires, promotions, reorganizations, and other employee compensation actions.
Design, administer, and evaluate annual incentive and bonus programs, including plan eligibility, performance measures, weighting, and payout structures, financial modeling, accruals, employee communications, system administration, payout calculations, and reconciliation.
Partner with business and sales leadership on the evaluation and administration of sales incentive compensation programs, including market competitiveness, plan design, eligibility, incentive targets, and compensation recommendations.
Support the design and administration of executive compensation programs, including executive offer analysis, base salary and incentive recommendations, long-term incentive/equity analysis, market benchmarking, and preparation of materials and recommendations for senior leadership and the Compensation Committee.
Administer and support short- and long-term incentive programs, including plan documentation, participant communications, eligibility and award data, equity-related processes, and data audits to ensure accurate administration.
Lead compensation analytics and pay equity reviews across applicable markets, identify trends and areas requiring additional evaluation, and partner with HR, Legal, and leadership on recommendations, regulatory reporting, and evolving pay transparency requirements.
Monitor compensation-related regulatory requirements and conduct periodic reviews of minimum wage, overtime/exemption requirements, and other applicable pay practices; recommend and coordinate necessary changes with HR and business partners.
Serve as a compensation consultant to HRBPs and business leaders on complex compensation matters, including organizational changes, promotions, new hires, retention considerations, internal equity, market competitiveness, and compensation program application.
Develop compensation analytics, modeling, and reporting to evaluate program effectiveness, identify trends, support financial planning, and provide data-driven recommendations to HR and business leadership.
Prepare executive-level compensation analyses, recommendations, and presentations for senior leadership, the Compensation Committee, and other stakeholders as needed.
Partner with HR Technology/HRIS teams on compensation systems, annual process configuration, testing, data integrity, reporting, automation, and continuous process improvements.
Maintain compensation data governance through ongoing audits and validation of employee compensation data, job architecture, salary structures, incentive eligibility, and other compensation-related information.
Develop compensation communications, tools, guidance, and training for HR, Talent Acquisition, managers, and other stakeholders to promote consistent understanding and application of compensation programs and practices.
Partner cross-functionally with HR, Finance, Payroll, Legal, HR Technology, and business leadership to execute compensation programs and ensure alignment between compensation strategy, financial objectives, and business needs.
Support compensation activities associated with mergers, acquisitions, and organizational integrations, including compensation assessment, program alignment, employee treatment, and integration planning.
Manage external compensation consultants, survey providers, and other vendors as needed to support compensation programs and initiatives.
Identify opportunities to improve and automate compensation processes, analytics, and tools, including the effective use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to increase efficiency, scalability, and decision support.
Partner with senior leadership to define, develop, communicate, and execute the Total Rewards philosophy, vision, and strategy.
Effectively incorporate models into plan designs to support short- and long-term business objectives and ensure strategies and solutions to support existing and emerging business needs.
Collaborate on Mergers and Acquisitions due diligence and integration.
Oversee vendor selection; monitor and manage selected vendors against service level agreements and effectiveness.
Provide input and support to the HRIS team and the systems development and automation related to total programs.
Foster a collaborative, values-driven HR team culture of high standards, strong productivity, and innovation.
Consult with employees at all organizational levels.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a related field; and a minimum of 12+ years of experience in Compensation and financial analysis with increasing levels of responsibility; global experience preferred.
Ability to work independently to address data requests and perform analysis on complex compensation datasets and modeling; extremely detail-oriented.
Knowledge of applicable federal and state laws relating to compensation and pay equity/pay transparency, wage-and-hour, and related requirements.
Excellent skill in Excel. Expert in various Excel key functions, e.g., pivot tables, vlookups, and various Excel formulas.
Agile use of Artificial Intelligence demonstrating a curiosity in approaching end-to-end workstreams in new and innovative ways.
Effective communications and presentation skills.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Ability to plan, organize, and effectively manage multiple assignments.
Be able to handle sensitive information with discretion, and proven ability for flexibility and managing multiple priorities.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
Team-player who can work in a collaborative environment, cross-functionally, and globally.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, with frequently changing priorities.
Executive/Senior Leadership Consulting Compensation systems/market survey experience required.