Director of Compensation

AccruePartners; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AccruePartners seeks a senior compensation leader to own and evolve our organization’s compensation strategy. You will collaborate with senior HR leadership, Finance, and business leaders to design competitive, equitable pay structures and governance.

In this role you will translate market data into actionable recommendations, lead annual planning, and develop models to project cost and impact. You will operate at the intersection of strategy, analytics, and hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• Deep compensation experience with analytics, strategy, and program design.
• Proven track record owning or influencing compensation programs in complex orgs.
• Advanced Excel and compensation modeling capabilities; familiarity with survey platforms/HRIS.

Responsibilities

• Develop and strengthen overall compensation philosophy, structure, and governance.
• Lead market pricing and benchmarking to translate data into recommendations.
• Evolve salary structures, pay grades, ranges, and job architecture.
• Analyze compression, internal equity, and market competitiveness to identify actions.
• Build financial models and scenarios to assess cost and impact of changes.
• Lead annual compensation planning activities including merit and promotions.
• Establish methodologies for job evaluation and market matching.
• Collaborate with HR/TA on compensation for hires, promotions, and difficult roles.
• Coordinate with Finance to align with budgeting and workforce planning.
• Create dashboards and analytics to provide leadership visibility on trends and risks.
• Monitor market trends, pay transparency, and governance.

Skills

Compensation strategy

Analytics

Executive communication

Stakeholder management

Excel modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

CCP or advanced compensation expertise (preferred)

Tools

Compensation survey platforms

HRIS tools

Compensation planning technology

Job description

• Join an established organization that is investing in the continued evolution of its people and compensation strategy.
• Partner closely with senior HR leadership and key stakeholders across Finance, Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, Payroll, and business leadership.
• Serve as a trusted compensation subject matter expert, helping leaders make thoughtful, data-driven decisions around pay, structure, internal equity, and market competitiveness.
• Step into a highly visible role with the opportunity to assess the current state, identify opportunities for improvement, and help shape the future compensation strategy.
• Join an HR leadership team looking for deep compensation expertise and a leader who can operate comfortably between strategy, analytics, and execution.

THE TEAM YOU WILL BE JOINING

What They Offer You

• The opportunity to take meaningful ownership of an organization's compensation strategy and help define what the function should look like moving forward.
• A role that goes beyond administering existing programs, with the ability to evaluate, redesign, and improve compensation structures and practices.
• Significant visibility and partnership with senior HR, Finance, and business leadership.
• The ability to use analytics and market intelligence to directly influence compensation decisions across the organization.
• A balance of strategic leadership and hands‑on problem solving, ideal for someone who enjoys both building the strategy and getting into the data behind it.

WHY THIS ROLE IS IMPORTANT

• The organization is looking to strengthen its compensation capabilities and create greater consistency between its current programs and its desired future state.
• This leader will evaluate existing compensation structures, identify gaps, and develop practical recommendations that balance market competitiveness, internal equity, employee retention, and financial discipline.
• Addressing areas of pay compression and ensuring appropriate differentiation between roles and levels will be an important area of focus.
• The Director will help ensure job architecture, market benchmarking, salary ranges, and compensation decisions work together as a cohesive framework.
• Leadership needs a compensation expert who can move beyond identifying issues to modeling solutions, explaining tradeoffs, and helping the organization implement sustainable improvements.

What You Will Be Responsible For

• Assess the current compensation environment and develop recommendations to strengthen overall compensation philosophy, structure, and governance.
• Lead market pricing and benchmarking efforts, translating external compensation data into actionable recommendations for leadership.
• Evaluate and evolve salary structures, pay grades, ranges, job levels, and broader job architecture.
• Analyze compensation compression, internal equity, market competitiveness, and other pay-related trends to identify areas requiring action.
• Build financial models and scenario analyses to understand the cost and organizational impact of proposed compensation changes.
• Lead or support annual compensation planning activities, including merit increases, promotional adjustments, market adjustments, and incentive planning.
• Establish consistent methodologies for job evaluation, leveling, market matching, and compensation decision‑making.
• Partner with HR and Talent Acquisition on compensation for new hires, promotions, retention situations, and difficult‑to‑price roles.
• Partner closely with Finance to ensure compensation recommendations align with budgeting and workforce planning priorities.
• Develop compensation reporting, dashboards, and analytics that give leadership better visibility into trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Monitor evolving compensation practices, pay transparency requirements, and market trends while ensuring programs remain competitive, equitable, and well‑governed.
• Translate complex compensation analysis into clear recommendations that senior leaders and non‑compensation stakeholders can understand and act upon.

THE BACKGROUND THAT FITS

• Deep, progressive experience specifically within compensation, with a career foundation rooted in compensation strategy, analytics, and program design rather than primarily blended compensation and benefits responsibilities.
• Demonstrated experience owning or significantly influencing compensation programs within a complex organization.
• Strong knowledge of salary structures, market pricing, benchmarking, job evaluation, job architecture, leveling, and broad-based compensation practices.
• Hands‑on experience identifying and addressing pay compression, internal equity concerns, market gaps, and structural compensation challenges.
• Exceptional analytical capabilities with the ability to work through large data sets, model scenarios, identify trends, and convert findings into practical business recommendations.
• Experience leading annual compensation planning processes and partnering with Finance around budgeting and cost modeling.
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to confidently present findings, challenge assumptions, and influence compensation decisions.
• Comfortable operating as both a strategic leader and a hands‑on compensation practitioner.
• Advanced Excel and compensation modeling capabilities expected; experience with compensation survey platforms, HRIS tools, and compensation planning technology strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience expected; CCP or comparable advanced compensation expertise is a plus.