Compensation & Benefits Director

Cognite - AI for Industry; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

401(k) with employer matching

Health, dental, vision & disability覆盖

Job summary

Cognite is seeking a Compensation & Benefits Director to own the global compensation philosophy, strategy, and governance. This high-impact role collaborates with the CHRO, CFO, and leadership to scale pay programs across geographies, align incentives with performance, and ensure rigorous governance.

You will lead end-to-end execution, leverage HRIS and benchmarking tools, and partner across People & Organization to drive talent retention and market competitiveness.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in Compensation, Total Rewards, or related disciplines.
• Expertise in international compensation practices and executive pay.
• Proven leadership in a high-growth technology or SaaS environment.
• Experience designing and governing compensation frameworks across geographies with compliance.

Responsibilities

• Own global compensation strategy and architecture across base salary, bonuses, equity, and incentives.
• Design and refine equity, incentives, and performance alignment with business goals.
• Lead end-to-end compensation execution: annual reviews, bonus processing, equity planning, promotions.
• Partner with HRBP, Finance, and leadership to ensure alignment with budgeting and forecasts.
• Provide reporting for audit, compliance, and board-ready materials.

Skills

Global compensation

Executive pay

Data analytics

Stakeholder management

AI literacy

HR technology

Financial acumen

Tools

Pave

Radford

HRIS

Job description

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI, and data solutions that solve the world’s hardest, highest-impact problems. With unmatched industrial heritage and a comprehensive suite of AI capabilities, including low-code AI agents, Cognite accelerates the digital transformation to drive operational improvements.

We thrive in challenges. We challenge assumptions. We execute with speed and ownership. If you view obstacles as signals to step forward - not backwards - you’ll feel right at home here.

Our Moonshot is bold: Unlock $100B in customer value by 2035, and redefine how global industry works. Join us in this venture where AI and data meet ingenuity, and together, we will forge the path to a smarter, more connected industrial future.

We are seeking a Compensation & Benefits Director to serve as the global owner of Cognite’s compensation philosophy & strategy, and operational governance. This is a high-impact, business-critical role at the intersection of strategy, financial rigor, and employee experience.

Our global footprint spans the US (Phoenix, Houston, and multistate presence), Norway, India (Bangalore), Japan, Western Europe, and the UAE — with continued growth through new entities and global hiring. How we reward, deploy, and develop our talent across these markets is central to our ambition.

You will evolve the compensation and benefits frameworks that reinforce performance culture, attract and retain world-class talent, and scale with Cognite’s growth. You are a hands-on subject matter expert and genuine team player — equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and rolling up your sleeves to get things done. You will report directly to, and partner closely with, the VP, People Operations & Rewards, while serving as the subject matter expert to the CHRO and CFO alongside the broader People & Organization team.

How you’ll demonstrate Ownership

1. Global Compensation Strategy & Architecture

• Own and evolve Cognite’s global compensation philosophy and strategy, ensuring alignment with business growth, talent strategy, and shareholder value creation.
• Architect scalable compensation frameworks across base salary, annual bonus, equity, and long-term incentive programs.
• Evolve our compensation structures for new and existing geographies, ensuring market competitiveness, regulatory compliance, and alignment with local market dynamics.
• Drive performance differentiation through compensation design, linking directly to Cognite’s performance frameworks, ratings, and career architecture.
• Monitor global market trends, emerging compensation practices, and evolving pay transparency regulations — proactively adjusting Cognite’s approach to remain competitive and compliant.
• Ensure compensation governance frameworks are robust, auditable, and scalable across all geographies — appropriate for a company building toward public-company readiness.
• Prepare clear, structured materials for Board and Compensation Committee reviews.

2. Equity, Incentives & Performance Alignment

• Design and continuously refine annual bonus structures and incentive frameworks across technical, commercial, and leadership populations.
• Partner with HRBP, business Operations, Finance, and executive leadership to ensure incentive models and commission structures align with Cognite’s global Compensation strategyDevelop compensation models tied to career architecture, creating clear progression pathways and meaningful reward differentiation across levels and functions.

5. Operational Excellence & Compensation Execution

• Own the end-to-end operational execution of global compensation programs: annual review cycles, bonus processing, equity planning, and promotion-related adjustments.
• Manage and scale automated compensation processes leveraging platforms such as Pave, Radford, and Cognite’s HRIS to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and governance.
• In alignment with HRBP, partner with Finance Partners to align compensation planning with headcount budgets & financial forecasts
• Ensure all compensation processes, records, and decisions meet compliant auditability and controls standards
• Define and track key Compensation including market positioning, pay equity, compa-ratio distribution, retention impact, and incentive effectiveness.
• Interpret workforce analytics to proactively inform compensation strategy, identify talent risk, and surface actionable insights for senior leadership and the Board.
• Provide internal and external reporting and people data for respective audit and compliance requirements
• Enhance our practices in accordance with global pay transparency regulations and leverage data across HRIS, Finance, and benchmarking platforms to maintain a clear, real-time picture of Cognite’s compensation competitiveness.

7. Cross-Functional Partnership & Stakeholder Leadership

• Serve as a trusted subject matter expert and advisor to the CHRO, CFO, and senior leadership on all compensation, equity, and mobility matters.
• Partner closely with People Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, and Finance to ensure the compensation strategy is embedded in hiring, performance, and planning processes.
• Collaborate across the People & Organization team as a genuine, hands-on partner — sharing knowledge, supporting others, and building the function’s credibility through delivery.
• Build effective partnerships with regional People Ops teams to ensure compensation & benefits is correctly reflected in our system (data accuracy and data management)

The Impact you bring to Cognite

You are a rare combination of strategic thinker and operational executor — someone who can design the architecture and run the engine. You bring credibility at the Board level and the willingness to be in the detail when it matters.
Hands-on operator: you lead from the front, roll up your sleeves, and take personal accountability for outcomes — you do not outsource the detail.
Strong collaborator and genuine partner across People & Organization, Finance, and the business — able to build trust quickly and lead through influence.
Exceptional executive presence: structured, clear, and confident in front of the CHRO, CFO, and Board.
Strong financial and analytical acumen — able to build models, stress-test scenarios, and translate data into clear, actionable recommendations.
Strong AI literacy and HR technology acumen, with experience leveraging modern tools to drive efficiency and insight in the rewards function.
High ownership mindset: you thrive in ambiguity, move with urgency, and hold yourself and your team to a high standard.

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in Compensation, Total Rewards, or related disciplines, with global scope and direct program leadership.
• Expertise in international compensation practices and frameworks including executive pay, and incentive design — with experience managing equity pools, and Board-level reporting.
• Proven background in a high-growth technology or SaaS environment, including advisory experience at C-suite or Board level.
• Experience designing and governing compensation frameworks across multiple geographies, including pay transparency and compliance requirements.

Preferred Experience

• Familiarity with Global Mobility, including EOR models, tax, pay, and cross-border compliance requirements.
• Experience with compensation benchmarking platforms such as Pave, Radford, or similar tools.
• Experience designing compensation for technical, AI, and engineering talent markets.
• Experience supporting a company through IPO preparation, public-company transition, and/or M&A processes.

A snapshot of our many perks and benefits as a Cogniter

• * Competitive compensation
• * 401(k) with employer matching
• * Competitive health, dental, vision & disability coverages for employees and all dependents
• We’re globally recognized domain experts with an international presence that spans Phoenix, Houston, Oslo Tokyo, Bengaluru, and Abu Dhabi.

Cognite is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment at work and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive the same level of consideration for employment.

Around Cognite

We are a global team shaping the future of industrial AI. Our people-first culture values bold thinking, collaboration, and transparency. We’re committed to giving every employee a voice, and we support growth with programs, mentors, and opportunities to thrive.