Strategic Incentive Manager

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft—making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition. We create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

About the role

The Strategic Incentive Manager designs and oversees compensation programs—such as bonuses and commissions—to align employee behavior with company goals, driving performance, motivation, and retention. This role blends data analysis, financial acumen, and HR strategy to create, monitor, and adjust incentive plans, often using automated tools for accuracy and compliance.

The role is part of the GTM Ops and RevOps teams, working closely with the rewards team, finance, and commercial leadership. The focus is on high-level program development, performance analysis, and acting as a strategic partner to commercial leadership to ensure incentives drive the right business behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Program Development: Act as the primary architect for designing and refining incentive plans (Sales, SDR, AM, and Partnerships) that align with evolving business goals.
• Data Analysis & Strategic Reporting: Analyze performance trends and the effectiveness of current plans to provide leadership with data-driven insights for calibration.
• Leadership Partnering: Serve as the main point of contact for commercial engine leadership and enablement teams regarding incentive strategy.
• System Input: Provide strategic requirements for system developments to ensure tools support long-term incentive goals.
• Escalations: Handle high-level support escalations and complex exceptions within the commission programs.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Maintain a close relationship with the rewards team on defining best-in-class compensation models, including market analysis with competitors.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience (5+ years) in incentive strategy or compensation design.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to turn complex data into strategic recommendations.
• Strong leadership, project management, and organizational skills, with the ability to lead and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong critical thinking skills and attention to detail, with the ability to apply discretion and sound judgment to efficiently and effectively solve problems.
• Exceptional communication skills for collaborating with senior leadership.
• Outstanding interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with all levels of the company, clearly expressing ideas and concepts both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to remain adaptable and resilient in all situations with an optimistic outlook.

Pay

Annual salary ranges from $148,400 to $223,000. This range is based on the candidate's experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

Schedule

This role is a 3-day hybrid position based in our San Francisco office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.