Total Rewards Operations Specialist - 12-24 Month Project

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group headquartered in Tokyo with a 400-year history, offering a diverse range of financial services including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group operates in nearly 40 countries with over 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide. In the Americas, SMBC Group serves corporate, institutional, and municipal clients through entities such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., and SMBC Capital Markets, Inc.

About the role

The SMBC Americas Division Total Rewards Team is seeking a detail-oriented Total Rewards Operations Specialist to support day-to-day compensation operations, HRIS updates, reporting, documentation, and issue resolution across key Total Rewards processes. This role will coordinate recurring compensation activities, maintain accurate data and documentation, and ensure timely execution of operational deliverables. The position involves close collaboration with HR, Payroll, Finance, Technology, Legal, Compliance, and Front Office stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Compensation & HRIS Operations:
  • Audit and ensure completion and accuracy of all HRIS updates related to year-end compensation and Analyst-to-VP progression cycles, including promotions, progressions, and related pay changes.
  • Support end-to-end processing for new hires, transfers, and one-time payments, ensuring data integrity and timely completion.
  • Review and validate offer letter approvals, confirm approval workflows are completed, and approve transactions within HR Nexus as required.
  • Ensure all pay component documentation (new hire, transfer, and one-time payments) is complete, compliant, and properly retained.
  • Proactively follow up on missing or delayed documentation and ensure ASK HR tickets are submitted, tracked, and resolved within required timelines.
  • Communicate deferred compensation elections, forgone bonus buyouts, and related compensation actions to Empower in a timely and accurate manner.
• Reporting & Excel-Based Analysis:
  • Run, reconcile, and consolidate multiple compensation and HR reports across systems, incorporating special instructions and business-specific logic.
  • Maintain and enhance complex Excel workbooks used for compensation tracking, validation, and audit support.
  • Ensure alignment between source systems, reports, and downstream outputs through rigorous data validation and reconciliation.
• Ad Hoc Analysis & Issue Resolution:
  • Perform data integrity troubleshooting, including root cause analysis of discrepancies across HR, payroll, and compensation systems.
  • Investigate compensation-related issues, validate data, and coordinate resolution across HR, Payroll, Finance, and Front Office stakeholders.
  • Submit and manage system and data-related tickets, facilitating solutions through to closure and ensuring appropriate documentation.
• Documentation & Employee Communications:
  • Prepare and distribute guarantee letters, retention letters, off-cycle reward statements, and deferral forfeiture letters, ensuring accuracy and adherence to firm standards.
  • Support audit, compliance, and internal review requests by providing clear documentation and data explanations.
• Project Management & Governance:
  • Act as Project Manager for key Total Rewards initiatives, driving execution, monitoring progress, and facilitating cross-functional communication.
  • Coordinate and integrate activities across all internal functions, ensuring interdependencies are understood, documented, and proactively managed.
  • Maintain end-to-end project oversight using established project management artifacts (project plans, charters, business cases, RACIs, status reports).
  • Improve governance, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance by optimizing processes, identifying control deficiencies, and managing remediation programs.
  • Develop and recommend solutions that account for downstream impacts on systems, processes, policies, and teams.
  • Identify opportunities for automation, increased transparency, and improved process execution.
  • Prepare executive-ready updates and presentations that synthesize input from multiple functions into clear, concise communication.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional working groups, ensuring clear ownership, timely execution, and alignment of all contributors.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in Project Management/Change Management, Total Rewards/Compensation, Financial Services, or related functions.
• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects, coordinating across diverse teams and functional areas spanning multiple regions.
• Deep knowledge of change management, program governance, operations and planning, risk and controls, technology processes, and data management.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, negotiate, and build effective partnerships across all levels.
• Comfortably operates in ambiguous, complex environments with evolving priorities and incomplete information.
• Highly organized and able to prioritize across multiple parallel projects with tight deadlines.
• Strong communication and presentation capabilities, including development of management-ready materials.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Schedule

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides the opportunity to work from home as well as from an SMBC office. Employees must live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including certain FINRA-registered positions requiring full-time in-office attendance.