Senior Manager Total Rewards & Payroll

About the role

ACCIONA is a global company, leading in the development of regenerative infrastructure that creates a positive impact on society. Our workforce consists of more than 65,000 professionals, present in more than 40 countries across the five continents, all contributing in our mission to design a better planet. Are you a passionate individual who wants to make a difference, promote sustainable development, and find solutions to the biggest global challenges including climate change, overpopulation, and water scarcity? Come and join us in building the infrastructure our planet needs to achieve a sustainable future. Based in Atlanta, the position works directly with local HR teams and business leaders while maintaining functional alignment with the Global Compensation & Benefits team based at ACCIONA’s headquarters in Madrid. While the primary scope of the role is the United States, the position may also support selected Total Rewards initiatives in Canada, as business strategy and organizational needs evolve.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation and execution of Total Rewards programs across the United States, including base compensation, incentive plans, employee benefits, equity programs, payroll governance, and Total Rewards integration activities supporting business growth and organizational change.
• Ensure alignment with ACCIONA’s global Total Rewards philosophy while adapting programs to U.S. market practices, regulatory requirements, and business priorities.
• Develop and maintain clear policies, governance frameworks, controls, and decision-making standards.
• Contribute to the development and execution of the medium-term strategy for the function.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, automate, and continuously improve Total Rewards and Payroll processes, supporting organizational scalability and business integration initiatives.
• Develop and maintain competitive and internally equitable salary structures and compensation frameworks.
• Lead the annual salary review process, including budget coordination, eligibility, governance, approvals, data validation, and implementation.
• Manage compensation processes and cycles within Workday, ensuring accurate configuration, workflow management, data integrity, and traceability.
• Oversee market benchmarking, job evaluation, organizational alignment, incentive plans, reward structures, and compensation harmonization activities associated with acquisitions, reorganizations, and business integrations.
• Provide data-driven recommendations to HR and business leaders regarding compensation decisions.
• Ensure consistent application of compensation policies across legal entities, projects, and business units.
• Lead the company’s approach to pay transparency and ensure compliance with applicable state and local requirements.
• Coordinate pay equity reviews, identify potential gaps, and support the development of appropriate action plans.
• Embed fairness, consistency, and transparency into compensation structures, processes, and communications.
• Provide guidance to HR and managers on compliant compensation practices and salary range management.
• Lead the design, implementation, governance, and ongoing review of U.S. employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), life insurance, disability, and wellbeing programs.
• Evaluate benefit plan structures, funding models, employee contribution strategies, and opportunities to optimize scale and cost efficiency.
• Lead annual renewals, plan changes, market reviews, and implementation activities.
• Monitor benefit costs, participation levels, claims experience, vendor performance, service quality, and employee value.
• Ensure compliance with applicable benefits regulations, including ACA, ERISA, controlled-group requirements, and reporting obligations.
• Oversee benefits administration, payments, cost allocation, controls, and audit processes.
• Partner with brokers and external advisors to support market analysis, negotiation, compliance, and implementation.
• Support the integration and harmonization of employee benefit programs during acquisitions, organizational restructures, and business transformation initiatives.
• Manage the U.S. implementation of global equity and share-based compensation programs.
• Oversee the full program lifecycle, including eligibility, grant allocation, vesting, performance conditions, leaver treatment, employee communication, administration, and reporting.
• Ensure alignment with global program requirements and applicable U.S. tax, securities, and regulatory obligations.
• Coordinate with Global Rewards, Legal, Finance, and Tax on equity-plan governance and execution.
• Lead the U.S. payroll function, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations across multiple states.
• Provide leadership, direction, and oversight of the payroll function, coordinating payroll resources across business units and legal entities to ensure consistent service delivery, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Establish and maintain payroll governance, internal controls, approval