# Compensation Specialist

**Company:** [Lightning AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/lightning-ai)
**Location:** New York, NY
**Role:** Finance & Accounting
**Salary:** $160k – $180k/yr
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** Compensation Planning, Equity Modeling, Financial Modeling, FP&A, Data Analysis, Radford, Pave, Opencomp, Levels.Fyi, Mercer, Pay Equity, Dashboarding, Performance Calibration, Offer Decisioning, Leveling
**Posted:** 2026-08-18

> Own compensation modeling, equity planning, market benchmarking, and annual and off-cycle compensation cycles. The role requires at least three years of quantitative experience, strong analytical skills, and the ability to advise senior leaders on pay decisions.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities

- Build and maintain compensation and equity models, ranges, and scenario tools, including cash-versus-equity tradeoffs.
- Lead annual and off-cycle compensation planning from strategy and budgeting through execution and final approval.
- Benchmark compensation against AI, infrastructure, and technology companies using Radford, Pave, OpenComp, Levels.fyi, or similar sources.
- Develop offer decisioning tools, leveling guidance, and performance-cycle resources for cross-functional teams.
- Maintain accurate and consistent compensation inputs for performance reviews and calibration.
- Build reporting and dashboards covering pay equity, offer competitiveness, and retention risk.

## Requirements

- 3+ years of experience in compensation, strategic finance, FP&A, analytics, or a comparably quantitative role, with ownership of compensation planning and related models.
- Experience aligning compensation planning with business and People strategy.
- Strong modeling and analytical skills, including building and maintaining complex compensation and equity models and translating results into recommendations for senior leaders.
- Experience using market data such as Radford, Pave, OpenComp, Levels.fyi, Mercer, or similar tools to benchmark and calibrate pay.
- Experience partnering with cross-functional stakeholders and knowledge of at least one competitive talent market, such as AI, infrastructure, or technology.

## Nice to Have

- Background in AI, cloud or infrastructure, or data centers.
- Experience with equity and incentive design, including private-versus-public equity frameworks and pre-IPO modeling.
- Experience in a rapidly scaling, pre-IPO environment.

## Compensation and Benefits

- Anticipated annual base salary: **$160,000–$180,000 USD**.
- Discretionary bonus and meaningful equity component.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
- RSUs.
- 401(k) matching in the U.S. and pension contributions in the U.K.
- Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays.
- Two-week company-wide winter break.
- Paid parental and family leave.
- Annual learning and development allowance.
- Wellness and work-from-home stipends.
- Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
- Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for office-based teams.
- Complimentary meals at office hubs.

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