Sales Incentive Compensation Plan Design Director

About the role

The Plan Design Team is part of the Sales Design & Incentives group, whose mission is to Enable Strategy, Motivate Sellers, and Reward Results. The team designs and implements variable incentive-based compensation plans for over 40,000 sellers, sales leaders, and consultants across Microsoft. As the Sales Incentive Compensation Plan Design Director, you will focus on key seller roles and businesses, working with sales and marketing leaders—particularly corporate role owners—to understand business needs and design compensation plans and incentive programs that support Microsoft’s strategies.

Responsibilities

• Annual planning – determining the compensation plans for the next fiscal year.
• Incentive programs – deciding which special programs are needed to emphasize certain products or outcomes on a short-term or long-term basis.
• Sales contests – evaluating and approving or modifying proposals for “on top” bonus programs.
• Partner with HR to align roles to plans, evaluate pay mix (base pay vs. variable pay), incentive mix (quantitative vs. qualitative metrics), and manage sales force transitions.
• Partner with finance to understand revenue goals, product weighting in budgets and compensation plans, and the impact of incentive programs.
• Partner with business leaders for annual planning, quarterly reviews, and ad hoc adjustments to respond to changes in product strategy or market environment.
• Collaborate with the Enablement & Operations team to ensure designs are implemented effectively and achieve desired outcomes, making mid-course corrections as needed.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Economics, or related field AND 10+ years of experience in compensation, business management and operations, finance, marketing, or sales strategy or equivalent experience.
• Preferred: Master of Business Administration Degree or Master's Degree in Finance, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years of experience working in a large or highly matrixed organization, preferably in the technology industry.
• Knowledge of internal finance rhythms and tools.
• Strong communication skills – both written and verbal.
• Proven ability to impact results even under difficult or ambiguous circumstances.

Pay

The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $277,200 per year. A different range applies to specific work locations, including the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, where the base pay range is USD $165,600 - $303,600 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.