Senior Director, Executive Compensation & Total Rewards

About the role

The Senior Director, Executive Compensation and Total Rewards leads National Vision's total rewards strategy, with a strong emphasis on executive compensation, public company governance, and board-ready materials. The Director also manages broad-based compensation and benefits programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise Total Rewards strategy, including executive compensation, broad-based compensation, benefits, retirement, well-being, and incentive programs, ensuring alignment with business objectives and talent strategies.
• Serve as the organization's executive compensation leader, providing analysis, recommendations, and governance support related to base salary, annual incentives, long-term incentives, equity programs, severance, and other executive reward components.
• Prepare and present materials for the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee, including executive compensation analyses, market benchmarks, equity recommendations, incentive plan updates, and governance-related matters.
• Partner with Human Resources, Finance, Legal, Accounting, and senior leadership to ensure total rewards programs align with public company requirements, financial objectives, compliance standards, and shareholder expectations.
• Lead the design, administration, and communication of equity compensation programs, including restricted stock units, performance-based awards, and employee stock purchase plans.
• Oversee broad-based compensation programs, including market pricing, salary structure management, job architecture, annual compensation planning, pay equity analyses, compensation policy development, and salary increase processes.
• Direct incentive compensation programs, including plan design, administration, controls, payment validation, reporting, reconciliation, and effectiveness analysis.
• Provide strategic leadership for benefits and retirement programs, including health and welfare plans, paid time off, disability, wellness initiatives, and 401(k) administration.
• Lead benefits strategy, plan design, annual renewals, vendor management, budget oversight, utilization analyses, and recommendations to improve program effectiveness and cost efficiency.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable compensation, benefits, retirement, and employment regulations, including pay transparency, pay equity, FLSA, and other federal, state, and local requirements.
• Develop compensation and benefits recommendations that balance market competitiveness, internal equity, affordability, compliance, and business outcomes.
• Build and leverage analytics, dashboards, financial models, and reporting to evaluate program effectiveness, monitor costs, identify risks, and support executive decision-making.
• Lead and develop the Total Rewards team, establishing priorities, strengthening organizational capabilities, coaching team members, and ensuring operational excellence.
• Drive continuous improvement of total rewards processes, systems, controls, and communications to improve data integrity, scalability, compliance, and the associate experience.
• Support strategic business initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, and workforce transformations, by evaluating compensation, benefits, incentives, equity, and retirement implications while maintaining strict confidentiality of sensitive information.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of progressive total rewards, compensation, benefits, or related human resources experience, with demonstrated leadership of complex enterprise programs.
• 4-6 years of executive compensation experience, including executive pay analysis, equity and incentive programs, market benchmarking, and preparation of senior leader or board-level materials.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience with direct responsibility for coaching, developing, and prioritizing the work of compensation, benefits, or total rewards professionals.
• 3+ years of public company experience or direct support of public company compensation governance, equity programs, executive compensation disclosure, or Compensation Committee processes.
• 4-6 years of benefits and retirement plan experience, including health and welfare programs, annual renewal, vendor management, compliance, and 401(k) plan administration or oversight.

Additional Skills

• Strong executive compensation capability, including market benchmarking, pay mix, short- and long-term incentives, equity awards, employment and severance terms, and board-ready compensation analysis.
• Public company total rewards knowledge, including compensation governance, equity plan administration, proxy-related support, and Compensation Committee processes.
• Advanced analytical, modeling, and storytelling skills with the ability to translate complex compensation, benefits, retirement, and equity data into clear recommendations for executives and board audiences.
• Experience partnering with Legal, Finance, Accounting, external compensation consultants, brokers, vendors, and auditors on total rewards programs and sensitive executive compensation matters.
• Strong knowledge of compensation, benefits, retirement, and employment-related laws and regulations, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, pay transparency, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Internal Revenue Service requirements, HIPAA, and Affordable Care Act requirements.
• Working knowledge of HR, compensation, benefits, retirement, and equity systems and platforms such as UKG, Fidelity, equity administration platforms, survey platforms, and related reporting tools.
• Excellent communication, judgment, confidentiality, project management, and change leadership skills.