Sr. Compensation Manager

Title: Sr. Compensation Manager
Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)
Duration: 12 months

The Sr. Manager, Compensation will play a critical role in driving compensation strategy and decision-making across North America Operations and Procurement. Reporting to the Director of North America & WHQ Compensation, this position will provide expert guidance and consultation to HR Business Partners and Business Leaders on a range of compensation-related matters, including job evaluations, market benchmarking, job offers, salary structure development, and incentive plan design and administration. To succeed in this role, candidates must possess a unique blend of analytical, technical, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to navigate complex and ambiguous situations.

Key Components of the Role

• Develop and administer compensation programs for both the salaried and hourly populations.
• Execute the annual salary planning and incentive cycles.
• Perform and oversee job evaluations of both broad-based and executive positions.
• Identify, design, and implement policies and procedures to ensure internal equity, external competitiveness, and fiscal responsibility that align with our pay-for-performance philosophy and culture of meritocracy.
• Oversee the salary survey participation and salary structure development for multiple countries.
• Develop, design, and execute compensation-related training.
• Propose process improvements and recommend policy changes to assure compliance and competitiveness of the client's compensation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or equivalent degree preferred.
• 5 years’ compensation experience with in-depth knowledge of Operations and Plant Manufacturing.
• People Management experience is strongly preferred.
• In-depth technical knowledge of compensation theories and principles, compensation program design, and applicable laws.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to manage cross-functional projects and influence team members without direct managerial authority.
• Solutions-oriented mindset with a desire to innovate.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and other business-related software.
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) or other HR certification preferred.
• Korn Ferry Hay Job Slotting experience strongly preferred.

Q&A with Hiring Manager

• What are the top 2–3 compensation priorities or business challenges this individual will be expected to address within their first 6–12 months?
  • Annual salary structure redesign US and Canada.
  • Hourly incentive plan effectiveness and payout efficiency.
  • Support for HR leadership, Influence Operations/Commercial Leadership.
  • Market Analytics/Insights.
  • Annual Salary Planning Administration.
  • Cross-functional stakeholder management.
• How critical is prior manufacturing and operations compensation experience, and what aspects of that experience are most important?

  This role will be hybrid – a large portion will be focused on manufacturing for both union and non-union hourly populations, plus salaried (Sr Director and below). Multi-site manufacturing organizations with varying compensation strategies and complexities.

• What differentiates a strong candidate from an exceptional candidate for this role?
  • Expertise with both hourly and salaried populations.
  • Korn Ferry Hay job evaluation experience.
  • Demonstrated change leadership within COE/shared services models.
  • Deep compensation expertise.
  • Ability to lead large, cross functional initiatives.
  • Comfort operating globally with local differentiation and navigating complexity.
  • Strong technical acumen (advanced Excel, analytics).
  • Influence with senior leaders.
  • Leading compensation strategy in complex manufacturing.