Director, Incentive Compensation Operations

Workday; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday is seeking a Director, Incentive Compensation Operations to lead a global team ensuring accurate, timely and compliant payouts for GTM programs. You will partner across GTM, Sales, Finance, Operations and Legal, driving automation and AI-enabled enhancements.

The role requires a decade in variable compensation, at least five years in tech, and strong people management, with a focus on process improvement, controls, and insightful reporting for executives.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years in variable compensation/operations or related experience.
• Minimum of 5 years in high tech industry.
• Minimum of 5 years managing people.

Responsibilities

• Lead a global team of managers and analysts to ensure accurate payouts.
• Oversee end-to-end incentive compensation programs across GTM, Sales, Operations, Finance, and Legal.
• Drive automation and self-service in compensation processes.
• Audit data accuracy, compliance, and payout submissions to payroll.
• Develop automated reporting dashboards and insights for leadership.

Skills

Variable compensation

Operations

People management

Global team leadership

Interpersonal skills

Prioritization

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting, Finance, or other Business-related field

Tools

Xactly

Job description

Your work days are brighter here.

We're obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we're shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you'll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We're in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you'll do meaningful work with Workmates who've got your back. In return, we'll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you've found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.

About the Team

The GTM Incentive Compensation team is responsible for activating business strategy via compensation plans and paying accurately and timely on those plans. The team leads end-to-end sales incentive design, implementation, enablement, and administration for all Workday GTM functions, including Sales, Services, Support, and Customer Experience roles.

About the Role

As the Director, Incentive Compensation Operations, you will lead a global team of managers and analysts to ensure accurate, timely and compliant payouts, and represent our incentive programs to the field. You will collaborate across GTM, Sales, Operations, Finance, Business Technology, People and Purpose, and Legal stakeholders. You will also drive continuous improvement and scale via process upgrades and AI adoption.

• Implementation and Set Up: Manage the implementation of the compensation plan in compensation system tools, including translating designs into technical build requirements.
• Own end-to-end User Acceptance testing on implementation builds.
• Manage annual participant set-up in the compensation system tool and conduct audits to ensure accuracy, compliance, and alignment to GTM objectives.
• Drive automation initiatives to remove manual workflows and unlock self-service.
• Track and manage implementation bugs and resolutions.
• Administration: Oversee accurate commission calculations, accounting, and payout submission to payroll teams.
• Conduct audits on upstream data identifying anomalies and pursuing resolutions.
• Conduct audits on monthly payment amounts to ensure accuracy.
• Oversee investigative and reconciliation analyses to resolve issues.
• Participate in the dispute resolution and escalation process, serving as the intake point in partnership with revenue operations teams.
• Action exception outcomes in timely manner.
• Manage manual programs, including SPIFF processing
• Define the technology strategy to ensure the right tools and systems are in place to effectively and efficiently administer variable compensation plans.
• Compliance and SOX: Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and internal policies, including executing SOX compliance controls. Provide accurate incentive accruals to finance patterns.
• Seller Experience: Own our ticketing and help desk program, defining intake, routing, and resolution processes and SLAs. Define and execute seller-facing experience upgrade initiatives, including holding office hours.
• Reporting: Develop automated reporting dashboards to flag compensation inaccuracies and issues. Produce variable compensation performance reporting, analyze plan effectiveness, and provide insights to centralized and regional leadership across sales, finance, and HR leadership. Feed observations back into Design and Policy stakeholders to improve end-to-end program effectiveness.
• Functional Strategy: Define and execute on a strategy to enhance the Comp Operations function within the broader GTM Incentive Compensation organization, including near- to long-term vision and roadmap for people, systems, and processes.

VISA Sponsorship is not available for this role

About You

Required Qualifications (Required)

• Minimum of 10 years in variable compensation/operations or related experience
• Minimum of 5 years in high tech industry
• Minimum of 5 years managing people

Other Qualifications:

• Experience running and implementing enterprise level Incentive Compensation Management systems
• Bachelor's degree in accounting, Finance, or other Business-related field
• Xactly commission system experience
• Experience managing ticketing and help desk programs
• Strong management experience of managing a global team of managers and analysts
• Excellent interpersonal skills to communicate on passionately held topics at all levels of the organization
• Ability to manage and prioritiz