Director Executive Reward & Performance

Cochlear; Sydney; On-site; AUD 260,000 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Senior stakeholder exposure

Job summary

Cochlear is seeking a Director, Executive Reward & Performance to shape our global approach to executive reward, performance and equity. This senior role reports to the Vice President, Global Talent Reward and partners with the Executive Team and People & Culture Committee.

You’ll own end-to-end executive remuneration, oversee equity plans, and lead global reward governance, bringing deep expertise and strong stakeholder influence across Finance, Legal, Tax and Investor Relations.

Qualifications

• Significant experience across performance and reward and remuneration and benefits.
• Hands-on experience managing executive remuneration.
• Experience integrating reward strategy with broader People & Culture initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end executive remuneration processes including supporting the People & Culture Committee.
• Prepare remuneration-related papers and manage actions arising from the Committee.
• Oversee design and administration of Cochlear's global equity plans (LTI, Deferred STI, Special Awards).
• Partner with Finance, Legal, Tax, Payroll and Investor Relations to ensure robust processes.
• Lead global reward projects to continuously improve policy and practice.

Skills

Executive Reward

Equity Plans

Global Reward Governance

ASX Exposure

Short Term Incentive Plans

Job description

At Cochlear, our work helps people hear and be heard. Behind that purpose is a global organisation that needs contemporary, thoughtful and commercially grounded people practices supporting our performance and growth.

We're looking for a Director, Executive Reward & Performance to play a key role in shaping and delivering our approach to executive reward, performance and equity globally.

Reporting to the Vice President, Global Talent Reward, this is a senior and influential role with exposure across our Executive Team, People & Culture Committee and broader global People & Culture community. You'll combine deep reward expertise with commercial judgement, strong stakeholder influence and the ability to turn complex remuneration concepts into clear, practical solutions.

What you'll do

This is a broad role spanning strategy, governance and execution.

You'll take end-to-end responsibility for key executive remuneration processes, including supporting the People & Culture Committee, preparing remuneration-related papers and managing actions arising from the Committee. You'll also lead the remuneration components of Cochlear's Annual Report and Notice of Meeting, partnering closely with Finance, Legal and Investor Relations.

You’ll also:

• Lead the management, review and communication of Cochlear's global executive incentive plans, including the Cochlear Executive Incentive Plan and Short-Term Incentive Plan.
• Co-develop Cochlear's Executive Total Rewards & Performance strategy, ensuring our approach remains competitive, sustainable and aligned with business and cultural priorities.
• Monitor executive remuneration trends and market competitiveness, bringing strong external thinking and insights from the ASX environment.
• Provide strategic and operational leadership across executive base pay, incentives, superannuation/pension and other rewards.
• Oversee the design, management and administration of Cochlear's global equity plans, including LTI, Deferred STI, Special Awards and employee share plans.
• Partner across Legal, Finance, Tax, Payroll and People & Culture to ensure reward and equity processes are robust, effective and compliant.
• Manage external partners and providers, ensuring leaders have access to high-quality market data and advice.
• Lead and contribute to global projects that continuously improve how we approach reward and performance.

What you'll bring

We're looking for someone who knows their craft, but importantly, can also influence, simplify and connect the dots.

You'll bring significant experience across performance and reward, remuneration and benefits, and reward strategy development, together with hands-on experience managing executive remuneration.

You’ll also bring:

• (Approximately) 10 years' experience in Performance & Reward / Remuneration & Benefits and Reward Strategy development with the ability to integrate with broader People and culture strategies
• Strong conceptual and analytical capability, with confidence working with complex data and financial information.
• Experience developing and improving systems and processes.
• Strong organisational awareness and the ability to build credibility and influence across senior stakeholder groups.
• The ability to lead significant projects with a high degree of autonomy.
• A pragmatic mindset. You can move comfortably between strategic thinking and getting into the detail when it matters.
• Experience and exposure working in an ASX listed business would be advantageous.

What will set you apart

The strongest candidates for this role won't simply have excellent technical reward knowledge.

They'll be able to translate complexity into clarity, balance executive and shareholder perspectives, challenge constructively and build trust with senior stakeholders. They'll understand that great reward strategy isn't just about designing programs. It's about ensuring those programs reinforce the performance, behaviours and culture the organisation wants to create.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of executive reward, performance, governance and business strategy, with genuine global scope.

You'll have the opportunity to influence some of Cochlear's most important reward and performance programs while working collaboratively across People & Culture, Finance, Legal, Tax, Payroll and Investor Relations.

At Cochlear we value and welcome the unique contributions, perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds of our employees and aim to build a culture that celebrates and leverages these differences, creating a sense of belonging and enabling our people to realise their full potential. We offer flexible working arrangements, and we understand flexibility is not the same for everyone. We're open to a conversation about what flexibility means for you.

Desired Skills and Experience

Executive Reward, Equity Plans, Global Reward Governance, ASX Exposure, Short Term Incentive Plans