Director, Clinician Compensation

Zarminali Pediatrics; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Zarminali Pediatrics seeks a Director of Clinician Compensation to lead enterprise-wide strategy and governance for compensation of physicians and APPs across primary and specialty care. The role shapes long-term pay philosophy, models, and cross-functional operating design to scale with growth and market expansion.

The position partners with Operations, HR, Finance, Legal, and M&A to standardize plans, manage acquisitions, and drive compliant, equitable compensation programs across multi-site

Qualifications

• 8+ years in clinician compensation with enterprise-level leadership.
• Experience designing compensation models (wRVU, guarantees, hybrid, quality incentives).
• Strong knowledge of Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute and FMV concepts.
• Experience with acquisitions/merger integrations and multi-site programs.
• Outstanding executive communication and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise clinician compensation strategy, framework, and governance.
• Design and benchmark compensation models across markets and specialties.
• Collaborate with M&A, Operations, HR, and Finance to standardize plans.
• Oversee onboarding, transition, and true-up processes for compensation.
• Ensure compliance and governance with regulatory requirements.

Skills

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Excel/data analysis

Healthcare compensation design

Multi-market experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration or related field

Certified Compensation Professional (CCP)

Tools

HRIS (Workday, UKG, ADP)

Advanced Excel

Job description

Zarminali Pediatrics is building the nation's leading pediatric multispecialty group, focused on supporting families to shape healthy futures for their children – from birth through adulthood – by completely transforming the way pediatric care is delivered nationwide. We are tackling today's challenges of increased administrative burden on clinicians and a siloed approach to pediatric care through intentional design of care delivery, enhanced by leading technology and collaborative, expert care teams.

Our name, inspired by our founder's daughter's name – Zarmina – means “something that is more precious to you than gold”. We couldn't think of anything that better represents the way parents and caregivers hold the relationship with their children as the most valuable gift, and how we at Zarminali approach care for each child with equal reverence.

We strive for a healthier future for pediatric patients and a happier future for pediatric clinicians nationwide, and we are looking for people to join us in achieving this vision. If you are eager to join a growth stage company and be part of the early team that is shaping the foundation of both the company and the delivery of pediatric care, then this opportunity might be for you!

The Director, Clinician Compensation leads the enterprise-wide strategy, design, and governance of physician and advanced practice provider (APP) compensation programs across primary care and specialty lines of business. This role is the organization's senior authority on clinician compensation, setting the long-term direction for how the organization pays, incentivizes, and structures agreements for its clinical workforce.

The Director builds and owns the enterprise compensation strategy from the ground up – not simply administering existing plans, but architecting the frameworks, governance structures, and cross-functional operating model that allow compensation to scale as the organization grows, enters new markets, and integrates acquired practices. This role partners at the senior leadership level with Operations, Human Resources, Accounting/Finance/Payroll, Legal/Compliance, and M&A/Integration teams, and requires a leader who can operate with significant autonomy, exercise sound judgment in ambiguous or first-of-their-kind situations, and translate complex compensation strategy into operationally sound, compliant programs.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Enterprise Compensation Strategy & Plan Design

• Develop and own the enterprise-wide clinician compensation strategy, setting the long-term philosophy, framework, and roadmap for how the organization compensates clinicians across all lines of business.
• Design, evaluate, and evolve compensation models across the full spectrum of structures – base salary, wRVU-based production, hybrid guarantee/productivity, quality/value-based incentives, panel-based, and specialty-specific arrangements – ensuring the organization can flex across multiple compensation structures as needs vary by market, specialty, and stage of clinician tenure.
• Benchmark compensation programs against national survey data (MGMA, AMGA, Sullivan Cotter) and translate market intelligence into strategic recommendations for executive leadership.
• Model the financial impact of proposed compensation changes, new plan designs, and market adjustments, and present strategic options and trade-offs to senior leadership.

Acquisition & Integration Standardization

• Partner directly with M&A, Operations, and Integration leadership to evaluate, harmonize, and standardize compensation structures for newly acquired practices and clinician groups.
• Lead the due diligence and post-close integration process for clinician compensation, assessing legacy pay structures against enterprise standards and designing transition plans that minimize disruption and retention risk.
• Establish a scalable playbook for onboarding acquired compensation arrangements into the organization's enterprise model, including timelines, governance checkpoints, and change management approaches.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Workflow Ownership

• Serve as the senior cross-functional leader connecting Operations, HR, and Accounting/Finance/Payroll, ensuring clinician compensation processes are accurate, timely, and built to scale across a growing and increasingly complex organization.
• Direct the design and implementation of end-to-end workflows for onboarding clinicians into compensation systems, tracking guarantee periods, transitioning to productivity-based pay, and processing true-ups or plan changes.
• Identify systemic process gaps across departments and lead the build-out of standardized, enterprise-level procedures and governance to reduce risk and manual work.
• Partner with Payroll leadership to ensure compensation calculations – production, bonuses, guarantees, retroactive adjustments – flow accurately and on schedule into pay runs.

Compliance & Governance

• Own governance of compensation arrangements to ensure compliance with Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, fair market value (FMV) standards, and commercial reasonableness requirements.
• Maintain and oversee documentation supporting FMV determinations, partnering with Legal/Compliance on contract language and risk mitigation.
• Establish enterprise standards for consistency and equity across compensation arrangements to protect the organization from legal and reputational risk

Data, Reporting & Analysis

• Own the integrity of clinician compensation data across HRIS, payroll, and production tracking systems.
• Direct the build of executive-level reporting and dashboards providing visibility into compensation trends, production performance, guarantee period status, and total plan costs.
• Oversee regular audits of compensation calculations and payouts to confirm accuracy against contract terms.
• Serve as the executive resource for compensation-related analysis, including new hire offer modeling, contract renegotiations, and strategic planning scenarios.

Contract & Offer Strategy

• Partner with Recruiting, Operations, and Legal at a strategic level to structure compensation terms for new clinician offers, ensuring alignment with enterprise models and market competitiveness.
• Oversee the translation of signed contract terms into operational and payroll-ready compensation structures.
• Guide contract renewal and amendment processes, including compensation model transitions (e.g., guarantee to productivity), across both organically grown and acquired clinician populations.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Healthcare Administration, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of experience in physician/clinician compensation, including demonstrated leadership in designing and evolving compensation strategy at an enterprise level.
• Demonstrated expertise across multiple compensation models (wRVU, guarantee, hybrid, quality-based, panel-based, etc.) and the ability to apply the right structure to the right context.
• Experience supporting compensation for both primary care and specialty clinicians across multiple markets.
• Direct experience integrating or standardizing compensation programs following an acquisition, merger, or similar organizational change.
• Strong working knowledge of healthcare regulatory requirements affecting clinician compensation (Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, fair market value).
• Proven track record building and leading cross-functional partnerships across Operations, HR, and Finance/Payroll, including establishing new processes and governance where none previously existed.
• High level of autonomy and sound independent judgment; comfortable setting direction amid ambiguity and limited precedent.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel/data analysis; experience with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., UKG, Workday, ADP) strongly preferred.
• Excellent executive communication skills, with the ability to translate complex compensation strategy for senior leadership, board-level audiences, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) or similar certification.
• Experience leading compensation strategy in a multi-site or multi-market healthcare organization.
• Deep familiarity with medical group/health system compensation survey data (MGMA, AMGA, Sullivan Cotter).
• Experience leading compensation plan design and implementation through periods of high growth, acquisition, or organizational restructuring.
• People leadership experience managing compensation analysts or specialists.

At Zarminali Pediatrics, we are committed to our empowering clinicians and team members to deliver better pediatric care, altogether. This commitment requires building an inclusive culture and a team that represents the diverse communities we serve.

We believe that when people from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives come together, we create a stronger team and better care for our patients and their families. We realize the importance of an environment where clinicians and team members feel cared for, supported, and valued. We believe in the basics: treating everyone with kindness, respect, and fairness.

We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. This includes, but is not limited to, race, color, sex, gender, age, religion or religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We recruit and hire based on skills, talent, and potential, ensuring everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Together, we strive to build an inclusive and welcoming space where we can achieve our goal of building a happier future for the pediatric workforce.