Head of Compensation & Benefits (US & EMEA)

Croud; Shrewsbury; Hybrid; GBP 69,000 - 84,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive salary package

Job summary

Croud, a global media and data agency, is seeking a Head of Compensation & Benefits (US & EMEA) to own total rewards strategy and payroll operations across North America and Europe.

This role, based in Shrewsbury with hybrid work (3 days in-office), will partner with the CPO to shape job architecture, salary structures and benefit programs, ensuring equitable and compliant rewards. You will oversee external providers, benchmarking, and incentive design to attract top talent.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading Compensation & Benefits or Total Rewards in a multi-country setting.
• Experience designing global or multi-market compensation frameworks including salary structures and benchmarking.
• Knowledge of US/EMEA payroll, taxes and statutory benefits.
• Experience with annual compensation processes and incentive design.
• Familiarity with HRIS, payroll tech and process automation.

Responsibilities

• Design, govern, and implement market-competitive salary structures, bonus schemes and incentives across US & EMEA.
• Lead benefits oversight including RFPs, provider selection, negotiations and global program alignment.
• Oversee payroll governance and multi-country payroll operations with external providers.
• Ensure compliance with US/EMEA employment, tax and benefits requirements and risk management.

Skills

Total Rewards leadership

Global compensation frameworks

US & EMEA payroll knowledge

Payroll governance

Stakeholder engagement

HRIS & payroll tech

Job description

SHREWSBURY, UK(Hybrid Working - 3 days in the office per week)
A benchmarked salary between£68,600 to £83,600. Your salary level is determined by skills and experience within our progression framework.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Croud is an independent global media, creative, and data agency helping our clients make their next best move. We help brands unlock growth with Return on Intelligence - applying innovative intelligence across brand strategy, integrated media, social, creative, and data. We deliver this through our proprietary tech platform, CroudOS, our Croudie network and our award-winning global teams.

Founded in 2011 to reinvent the agency model, Croud combines 600+ in-house digital experts with a global network of 2,900 on-demand marketing specialists. This unique business model enables us to operate with agility, delivering tailored solutions that drive meaningful and measurable growth for our clients in over 120 markets and 60+ languages.

Croud was recently named a Sunday Times Best Place to Work for the second year in a row, and was named Performance Marketing Employer of the Year by PMW

At Croud, we unlock potential by elevating our people, clients, and communities within a rapidly advancing and complex economy. We operate as a unique scaled network of Intelligent, Creative Specialists, enabling us to deliver superior brand outcomes and unlock potential for our people, our clients and our communities.

Our culture is strategically driven and inspired by a shared long-term vision. It is collaborative and connected, with a focus on continuous learning and mutual support.

ROLE OVERVIEW

As Head of Compensation & Benefits (US & EMEA), you will be the strategic lead and operational owner of our total rewards strategy, employee benefits and payroll operations across North America and EMEA.

Reporting directly to the CPO, you will shape and deliver a globally aligned reward framework that supports our business strategy, attracts and retains world-class talent, and enables consistent, competitive and equitable reward practices across our markets.

The role combines strategic leadership across job architecture, market benchmarking, salary structures and incentive design with strong operational oversight. You will have accountability for the end-to-end payroll process, including final checks and sign-off on global payroll runs, ensuring accuracy, compliance and timely delivery.

You will also lead the selection and management of reward and payroll partners, ensuring robust governance and compliance with the legal and tax requirements of the jurisdictions in which we operate. Working closely with senior stakeholders across the business, you will bring together strategy, data and operational rigour to continuously evolve our compensation and benefits offering.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Reward & Compensation Planning

• Design, implement, and govern market-competitive salary structures, bonus schemes, and incentive programs tailored across EMEA and US markets.

• Conduct annual global salary benchmarking, equity, and market adjustments using industry data (e.g., Mercer).

• Co-lead the annual performance, bonus and compensation review cycle, partner with Finance on budget allocation, and model scenario planning.

• Oversee job architecture, grading frameworks, and role evaluation systems across diverse regions.

2. Benefits Management & Provider RFP

• Evaluate, consolidate, and manage external benefits, health, wellness, and pension providers across US (e.g., 401(k), medical options) and EMEA locations.

• Lead RFP processes and contract negotiations to streamline multi-market benefits under unified, cost-effective vendors where appropriate.

• Monitor market practices to ensure regional benefits programs are competitive, inclusive, and compliant with local tax/legal mandates.

3. Payroll Governance & Operational Oversight

• Execute final checks and formal approval on monthly/bi-weekly multi-country payroll submissions prior to release, ensuring 100% accuracy and compliance.

• Manage third-party payroll providers across US and EMEA jurisdictions, establishing strict SLAs and performance benchmarks.

• Oversee payroll operations integration, standardising workflows and reducing manual intervention.

4. Compliance, Tax & Risk Mitigation

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of US (Federal/State) and EMEA regional employment law, statutory tax requirements, and statutory benefits mandates.

• Manage statutory reward reporting processes with help of the People Operations Team, including mandatory disclosures (e.g., Gender Pay Gap reporting where applicable).

• Lead cross-functional alignment with Legal and Finance on tax, audit readiness, and risk management.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We're looking for an experienced Compensation & Benefits / Total Rewards leader who can operate confidently at both strategic and operational levels. You'll be comfortable shaping reward strategy for a complex, international organisation while also being hands-on enough to challenge the detail, spot risk and ensure our payroll and benefits operations are delivered accurately and effectively.

Experience & Expertise

• Significant experience in Compensation & Benefits, Total Rewards or Reward leadership, ideally within a complex, multi-country organisation.

• Strong experience designing and implementing global or multi-market compensation frameworks, including salary structures, job architecture, grading and benchmarking.

• Demonstrable experience managing US and EMEA compensation and benefits, with a strong understanding of the differences between markets and the ability to balance global consistency with local requirements.

• Strong knowledge of market benchmarking, pay structures, incentive and bonus design, and the use of external market data to inform reward decisions.

• Experience leading or significantly contributing to annual compensation, bonus and performance review cycles, including modelling budgets and scenarios in partnership with Finance.

• Proven experience managing employee benefits programmes and providers, including RFPs, contract negotiations, renewals and vendor performance.

• Strong understanding of multi-country payroll operations and governance, including experience managing third-party payroll providers and reviewing payroll outputs for accuracy and compliance.

• Good working knowledge of US federal/state and EMEA employment, payroll, tax and statutory benefit requirements, with the judgement to know when specialist Legal or tax advice is required.

• Experience working with HRIS, payroll and reward technology, with a track record of improving processes, data quality and automation.

• Experience working with senior stakeholders, including C-suite and executive leadership, and the confidence to provide clear, evidence-based recommendations on complex reward matters.

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