# Compensation Programs Lead

**Company:** [Rippling](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/rippling)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** People Ops
**Salary:** $204k – $260k/yr
**Experience:** 8+ years
**Skills:** Compensation Planning, Merit Cycles, Variable Compensation, Equity Compensation, Job Architecture, Market Pricing, Pay Equity Analysis, Compensation Budgeting, Compensation Software Configuration, Ai Tools For Compensation
**Posted:** 2026-06-05

> Own end-to-end compensation planning and execution for merit/incentive cycles at a high-growth tech company. Partner with Finance and People teams to manage budgets, systems, and market analysis while driving operational readiness and program design.

## Job Description

## What you will do

### Compensation Planning & Cycle Execution
- Own the end-to-end strategy, planning, and execution of Rippling's annual and midyear merit cycles — timeline management, budget tracking, system configuration, communications, and post-cycle analysis.
- Serve as the primary operational partner to People Business Partners throughout every cycle, proactively removing blockers, resolving edge cases, and translating compensation mechanics into clear guidance for managers and employees.
- Partner with Finance to build and maintain accurate compensation budgets; ensure leaders understand both the numbers and the rationale behind them throughout the planning cycle.
- Leverage RipplingAI and other tools to automate the comp planning process: benchmarking, budgeting, program enablement/communication.
- Partner with the Product team to translate business requirements into skills, workflows that Rippling AI can run at regular intervals removing any comp analyst intervention.
- Identify comp trends, surface issues, and continuously raise the bar on comp programs quality and program delivery.

### Compensation Launches & Operational Readiness
- Drive compensation plan launches, mid-cycle changes, and operational readiness across xfn teams, including variable pay programs.
- Coordinate cross-functionally with Finance, Legal, and People Business Partners to ensure plan changes are communicated clearly, implemented accurately, and compliant with applicable regulations.
- Build enablement resources — calculators, FAQs, manager guides — that help leaders understand and apply compensation programs effectively.
- Monitor compensation trends and proactively flag issues or opportunities that should influence program design.

### Compensation Planning Systems & Program Design
- Contribute to the evolution of compensation program design, including market analysis, job architecture, pay range management, and pay equity reviews.
- Own design inputs for compensation software, including design inputs, UAT and change management.
- Partner with the Product team to ensure the planning tool reflects the correct program logic, org structures, and workflows ahead of each cycle.
- Identify process inefficiencies and build tools — dashboards, custom apps, automation — that make the function faster and more scalable.

### Market Analysis & Program Intelligence
- Lead Rippling's annual compensation market analysis: survey participation, job matching, and synthesis of findings into competitive positioning recommendations.
- Maintain current awareness of compensation trends — pay equity regulation, skills-based pay, how AI is reshaping job families, and evolving incentive best practices in high-growth tech.
- Understand the mechanics of private company equity (including pre-IPO equity) and incorporate equity considerations into total compensation frameworks and communications.

## What you will need
- 8+ years of compensation experience, including meaningful time in a business-facing or cross-functional role at a high-growth technology company.
- Proven track record owning complex, multi-stakeholder compensation cycles end-to-end — on time, with high accuracy, and ownership.
- Experience designing or supporting variable comp, equity compensation.
- Hands-on experience configuring and managing compensation planning cycles through a full cycle using any software.
- Substantial command of compensation fundamentals: job matching, market pricing, leveling, job architecture, equity mechanics (private and public), and cyclical programs.
- Clear, direct communicator — able to translate compensation mechanics into language that managers, employees, and senior leaders can actually use.
- A product mindset for comp programs: you think about who the user is and design for their experience, not just what is technically and legally compliant.
- Comfort with AI tools and a strong bias toward using them to reduce manual lift and move faster.
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.

## Similar roles

- [Lead People Business Partner, Post Sales](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/77e55aeb-46d9-4e0f-8fa3-afa640a09664) - Vanta - Remote - $202k – $238k/yr
- [Senior Compensation Business Partner](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/a7f95850-7194-4c4c-a461-91f9646e2e0a) - Rippling - San Francisco, CA - $200k – $240k/yr
- [People Analytics Lead - Recruiting](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/cd5e0a08-5c28-43dc-b4f5-947e3fb55ffb) - Notion - San Francisco, CA - $210k – $260k/yr
- [Senior Manager, Talent Operations](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/23a112db-414f-4d0c-9931-1ee3dee0a568) - Ramp - New York, NY - $210k – $285k/yr
- [Senior Manager, Compensation](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/0440a471-d1e6-47df-8926-3e6f02ec099e) - Brex - New York, NY - $212k – $266k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/2245fd26-58bc-429f-9798-607078d01fd7
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/2245fd26-58bc-429f-9798-607078d01fd7