Compensation Consultant - Sales Performance & Operations

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company; Columbus (OH); Hybrid; USD 97,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision

Life insurance

Short and long-term disability

Paid time off

9 holidays

401(k) with company match

Pension plan

Casual attire

Job summary

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in Columbus, OH seeks a Sales and Performance Consultant to design, implement, and optimize sales incentive plans. You will manage end-to-end compensation processes, analyze data, and build Excel models to support decision-making and accurate payments across product lines.

You will partner with sales, distribution, Finance, HR, and leaders to translate strategy into actionable plans, ensuring affordability, controls, and compliance while driving performance

Qualifications

• Eight years+ in sales performance and operations, compensation, financial services, or business process management.
• Advanced Excel and strong analytical skills for complex calculations, models, forecasts, and reports.
• Detail-oriented with a proven track record of accurate payments across varied plans.

Responsibilities

• Provide end-to-end sales compensation services for multiple product lines.
• Design and update incentive plans with goals, measures, timing, and rules.
• Calculate, validate, audit, and resolve incentive payments; ensure accuracy and timeliness.
• Build and review Excel models, forecasts, and ad hoc reports; analyze data for trends.
• Explain concepts clearly to sales leaders and influence decisions with appropriate controls.

Skills

Sales compensation design

Advanced Excel

Data analysis

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business / Finance

Tools

Excel

Job description

What you’ll do

Partner with NF sales, distribution, Finance, HR, Corporate Compensation, and business leaders to understand strategy and translate it into effective sales incentive plans. Design, document, update, and implement commission and incentive plans across multiple sales product lines, including goals, measures, payout opportunities, timing, rules, and exceptions. Calculate, validate, audit, and resolve commission and incentive payments so associates are paid accurately and on time. Build and review Excel models, forecasts, scenarios, and ad hoc reports; extract and analyze data; investigate trends and anomalies; and recommend improvements. Monitor sales compensation systems and processes; help resolve issues involving licensing, underwriting, accounting, production crediting, and administration; and may facilitate sales software training. Explain complex compensation concepts and recommendations clearly to sales leaders and partners, and confidently influence decisions when business goals must be balanced with affordability, controls, and compliance. Own work end to end: document decisions, coordinate stakeholders, test changes, and follow through to implementation.

What you’ll bring

Hands‑on experience designing, administering, or analyzing sales compensation, incentive compensation, commissions, or related financial services programs; typically 8+ years in sales performance and operations, compensation, financial services, or business process management. Advanced Excel and strong analytical skills, including experience building or validating complex calculations, models, forecasts, and reports. Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to payment accuracy across plans with varied rules, dates, and exceptions. Ability to learn and explain how products, distribution channels, sales goals, budgets, and payment cycles connect. Strong consulting, communication, judgment, problem‑solving, and organization skills; comfortable challenging assumptions and respectfully pushing back with senior leaders.

Why this opportunity

Work across the full sales compensation lifecycle—from strategy and design through administration, audit, and continuous improvement. Gain visibility with sales leadership, HR, Corporate Compensation, Finance, and expense partners. Join a collaborative team that values curiosity, ownership, practical problem‑solving, and doing the right thing for associates. Build a differentiated portfolio at the intersection of compensation design, analytics, operations, and financial services distribution.

Work model

This is a hybrid opportunity based in Columbus, Ohio, with team collaboration in the office typically Tuesdays and Wednesdays. #LI-remote #LI-SM1

Job Description Summary

Do you love discovering operational improvement opportunities? Are you interested in finding new and innovative solutions to drive sales? If you have a natural curiosity, can be both analytical and strategic and want to accelerate your personal and professional growth, we want to know more about you! As a Sales and Performance Consultant, you will provide sales compensation services to business leaders. You will have a chance to create and develop our sales incentive plans. You'll need an eye for detail as you will be responsible to review accuracy sales incentive and commission payments. You'll have the opportunity to build relationships across the organization as you collaborate with leaders and business partners from different areas.

Job Description Key Responsibilities

• Provides sales performance compensation services for multiple sales product lines.


• Prepares our sales incentive plans while collaborating with business leaders to provide solutions.


• Discovers and shares opportunities to enhance plans.


• Ensures sales incentive payments and commissions are processed accurately and timely.


• Ensures sales systems are running accurately with some oversight.


• May facilitate sales software training.


• Consults with business partners regarding sales processes.


• Partners with their leader to insure incentive payments are aligned with plan design.


• Makes recommendations for improving sales effectiveness.


• Conducts sales data extraction from various sources.


• Develops, produces, analyzes, and maintains ad hoc reports.


• Consults with leadership regarding report trends and provides recommendations.


• Collaborates with various business areas in resolving issues with licensing, underwriting, accounting, production crediting, incentive payments and/or administration.


• May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships

Reports to Sales Performance & Operations leader.

Typical Skills and Experiences

Education: Preferred undergraduate degree in business, marketing, insurance or related field. Experience: Typically, eight years of confirmed experience in sales performance and operations environment. Related fields include may include, sales incentive administration, financial services, business process management. Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Proven knowledge on commission and/or sales incentive payment processes. Understands commission/sales incentive plan designs. Confirmed knowledge of sales standards, methodologies, and frameworks. Strong verbal and written communication skills for interaction with sales leadership. Strong analytical ability to research and evaluate sophisticated payment process issues and financial information. Decision‑making skills for problem identification and selection of alternatives. Strong organization and planning skills to set priorities and to plan work. Ability to formulate business questions/problems into analytical questions, and conduct analyses. Ability to operate multiple database and business software on pc. Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence. Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and HR Business Partner.

Values

Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions

Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not eligible) Working Conditions: Normal office conditions. Occasional travel. ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

Benefits

Benefits We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more.

Salaries

National salary range for Consultant, Sales Performance and Operations : $97,000.00-$180,000.00

Expected starting salary range for Consultant, Sales Performance and Operations : $97,000.00 - $145,000.00

Equal Opportunity

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES: We value the partnerships we have built with our preferred vendors. Nationwide does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies. All resumes submitted by employment agencies directly to any Nationwide employee or hiring manager in any form without a signed Nationwide Client Services Agreement on file and search engagement for that position will be deemed unsolicited in nature. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is subsequently hired as a result of the reference or through other means.