Director, Compensation

Zendesk; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 196,000 - 294,000; Full time

Job summary

Zendesk is actively seeking a Director of Compensation to own the strategy, governance, and operational execution of global programs. This role partners with Finance, Legal, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, and Total Rewards to drive workforce planning, pay equity, and budget outcomes.

The leader will build scalable compensation operations, set policy guardrails, and act as final arbiter on escalations and executive pay support, while mentoring the global team and driving

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in global compensation, executive compensation, total rewards, compensation analytics, or enterprise HR leadership.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, including managing managers and scaling teams.
• Strong experience partnering with senior Finance, Legal, Payroll, HR, and business leaders on compensation strategy and execution.
• Demonstrated success building scalable compensation programs, playbooks, and governance frameworks.
• Experience with financial forecasting, budgeting, accruals, and compensation planning related to enterprise workforce programs.
• Deep knowledge of compensation principles, market pricing, pay equity, job architecture, incentive design, and compensation compliance requirements.
• Experience leading vendor strategy, including RFPs, negotiations, and contract review.
• Strong executive presence and ability to communicate complex compensation issues to senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguity while maintaining disciplined accountability.
• Ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting data and turning insights into actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Direct and oversee the global compensation function, including compensation advising, analytics, tools and systems, policy governance, and employee and manager support.
• Develop, modify, and execute global compensation policies, guidelines, and procedures, ensuring alignment with business objectives, compensation philosophy, and organizational values.
• Establish and implement compensation strategies and operating models that support pay decisions, job architecture, promotions, market pricing, and annual compensation cycles.
• Serve as the functional authority on complex compensation matters and provide guidance to business leaders, HR partners, and employees on policy interpretation, exceptions, and competitive pay decisions.
• Partner with Finance, Payroll, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and Total Rewards to support compensation planning, budget allocation, offer design, pay progression, and broader workforce planning.
• Lead compensation analytics and insights, including market benchmarking, pay equity analysis, range penetration, incentive analysis, and executive-ready reporting.
• Own compensation tools and systems, including configuration, workflow design, data integrity, reporting, and process automation to improve scale, accuracy, and user experience.
• Support executive compensation activities, including executive offer packages, annual executive pay review processes, equity support, and coordination of governance and approvals.
• Build forecasting and planning processes for compensation spend, merit cycles, promotions, adjustments, equity refreshes, and other compensation-related investments.
• Analyze market trends, internal compensation data, and best practices to identify opportunities for program optimization, competitiveness, and improved employee experience.
• Drive continuous improvement through process redesign, technology enablement, and standardization of compensation practices across regions and business functions.
• Lead, develop, and mentor the team supporting global compensation operations, establishing priorities and accountability for results.
• Monitor program performance, data quality, escalations, and compliance risks, taking corrective action as needed.
• Own short- to mid-term planning for the function, including annual goals, service delivery priorities, and strategic initiatives.
• Establish KPIs, SLAs, and dashboards to measure compensation cycle effectiveness, turnaround time, decision quality, employee experience, and operational health.
• Build and maintain governance frameworks for compensation decisions, including exception handling, approvals, documentation standards, and audit readiness.
• Partner with leadership to ensure compensation programs support hiring strategy, retention goals, internal equity, and market competitiveness.
• Lead org design, hiring, development, and succession planning for the Global Compensation team.
• Build career frameworks and development paths for compensation specialists and managers, with clear accountability for performance and promotion readiness.
• Manage vendor strategy, including RFPs, negotiations, contract management, and ongoing performance governance for compensation survey providers, analytics tools, and systems vendors.
• Ensure compliance with global compensation requirements, including wage and hour considerations, pay transparency laws, internal controls, and data/privacy obligations, partnering with internal stakeholders to mitigate risk.
• Provide executive-ready reporting and recommendations on compensation trends, risk, cost, and program effectiveness.

Skills

Global compensation

Executive compensation

Total rewards

Compensation analytics

People leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field

Tools

Compensation tools

Systems governance

Vendor management

Job description

Location: Austin, Texas, United States of America | Remote, Washington, United States of America | Remote, Colorado, United States of America | Remote, Illinois, United States of America | Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America

Requisition ID: R35323

Position_Type: Full time

Job Description

Summary

The Director, Compensation owns the strategy, governance, and operational execution of Zendesk’s global compensation programs. This role is responsible for translating compensation into a business advantage by enabling competitive pay decisions, supporting talent retention and growth, and delivering scalable, equitable, and market-aligned compensation practices.

The Director will set the functional roadmap for global compensation advising, compensation analytics, tools and systems, with strong emphasis on data rigor, automation, process discipline, and cross-functional partnership. This leader will partner closely with senior leaders in Finance, Legal, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, Total Rewards, and business executives to drive org-level outcomes that directly impact workforce planning, pay equity, budget management, and talent strategy.

This is a high-impact leadership role accountable for building scalable compensation operations, establishing practical policy guardrails, and serving as the final decision-maker for complex compensation escalations, exceptions, and executive compensation support.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Direct and oversee the global compensation function, including compensation advising, analytics, tools and systems, policy governance, and employee and manager support.
• Develop, modify, and execute global compensation policies, guidelines, and procedures, ensuring alignment with business objectives, compensation philosophy, and organizational values.
• Establish and implement compensation strategies and operating models that support pay decisions, job architecture, promotions, market pricing, and annual compensation cycles.
• Serve as the functional authority on complex compensation matters and provide guidance to business leaders, HR partners, and employees on policy interpretation, exceptions, and competitive pay decisions.
• Partner with Finance, Payroll, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and Total Rewards to support compensation planning, budget allocation, offer design, pay progression, and broader workforce planning.
• Lead compensation analytics and insights, including market benchmarking, pay equity analysis, range penetration, incentive analysis, and executive-ready reporting.
• Own compensation tools and systems, including configuration, workflow design, data integrity, reporting, and process automation to improve scale, accuracy, and user experience.
• Support executive compensation activities, including executive offer packages, annual executive pay review processes, equity support, and coordination of governance and approvals.
• Build forecasting and planning processes for compensation spend, merit cycles, promotions, adjustments, equity refreshes, and other compensation-related investments.
• Analyze market trends, internal compensation data, and best practices to identify opportunities for program optimization, competitiveness, and improved employee experience.
• Drive continuous improvement through process redesign, technology enablement, and standardization of compensation practices across regions and business functions.
• Lead, develop, and mentor the team supporting global compensation operations, establishing priorities and accountability for results.
• Monitor program performance, data quality, escalations, and compliance risks, taking corrective action as needed.
• Own short- to mid-term planning for the function, including annual goals, service delivery priorities, and strategic initiatives.
• Establish KPIs, SLAs, and dashboards to measure compensation cycle effectiveness, turnaround time, decision quality, employee experience, and operational health.
• Build and maintain governance frameworks for compensation decisions, including exception handling, approvals, documentation standards, and audit readiness.
• Partner with leadership to ensure compensation programs support hiring strategy, retention goals, internal equity, and market competitiveness.
• Lead org design, hiring, development, and succession planning for the Global Compensation team.
• Build career frameworks and development paths for compensation specialists and managers, with clear accountability for performance and promotion readiness.
• Manage vendor strategy, including RFPs, negotiations, contract management, and ongoing performance governance for compensation survey providers, analytics tools, and systems vendors.
• Ensure compliance with global compensation requirements, including wage and hour considerations, pay transparency laws, internal controls, and data/privacy obligations, partnering with internal stakeholders to mitigate risk.
• Provide executive-ready reporting and recommendations on compensation trends, risk, cost, and program effectiveness.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in global compensation, executive compensation, total rewards, compensation analytics, or enterprise HR leadership.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, including managing managers and scaling teams.
• Strong experience partnering with senior Finance, Legal, Payroll, HR, and business leaders on compensation strategy and execution.
• Demonstrated success building scalable compensation programs, playbooks, and governance frameworks.
• Experience with financial forecasting, budgeting, accruals, and compensation planning related to enterprise workforce programs.
• Deep knowledge of compensation principles, market pricing, pay equity, job architecture, incentive design, and compensation compliance requirements.
• Experience leading vendor strategy, including RFPs, negotiations, and contract review.
• Strong executive presence and ability to communicate complex compensation issues to senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguity while maintaining disciplined accountability.
• Ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting data and turning insights into actionable recommendations.

Preferred Qualifications

• CCP certification or equivalent compensation credentials.
• Experience supporting executive compensation programs and governance processes.
• Experience with compensation management systems, workflow automation, and reporting tools.
• Experience with pay transparency implementation and global compensation compliance.
• Experience with equity programs, incentive design, and broader total rewards strategy.
• Experience influencing organizational design, hiring strategy, or business planning through compensation insights.

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $196,000.00-$294,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [e-mail] with your specific accommodation request.

About Us

Zendesk is on a mission to simplify the complexity of business and make it easy for companies and customers to create connections.

Our customer experience software unlocks the power of billions of interactions, enabling businesses to build rich, meaningful relationships with their customers.

More meaningful moments. Fewer Zoom calls.

What’s it like to work here? Our offices reflect the global cities we call home, and have spaces for collaboration, quiet, and events.

With our hybrid approach, you’ll experience flexibility and connection, collaboration, and learning with your team.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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