Director, People Operations & Total Rewards

The Vita Coco Company; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Vita Coco Company in New York, NY is seeking a Director of People Operations & Total Rewards to lead compensation, benefits, payroll, and HRIS across a growing public company. You will partner with Finance, Legal, IT and the Global People Team to design strategies, strengthen controls, and deliver accurate people data for business decisions.

You will manage a small team and report to the Global VP of People, with a work location that can be in NYC or remote for the right candidate.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in People Operations, HR Operations, or Total Rewards.
• Experience leading compensation, payroll, and benefits programs.
• Public company payroll and compensation knowledge.
• UKG HRIS knowledge preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead U.S. Total Rewards and pay analysis with surveys and internal data.
• Design and oversee U.S. compensation processes and merit cycles.
• Shape compensation philosophy, governance and framework.
• Own benefits strategy and vendor management.
• Ensure compliance and scalable programs.

Skills

People leadership

HR analytics

Cross-functional

Compliance knowledge

Tools

UKG HRIS

Job description

Director, People Operations & Total Rewards

New York, NY

Vita Coco is the leading coconut water brand in the world, built on a simple idea: bring better-for-you, natural hydration to more people. Since starting in 2004,we’vegrown into a global business with teams in New York, London, and Singapore, andwe’renow publicly traded on NASDAQ under COCO.

As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp,we’recommitted to supporting farming communities, sourcing responsibly, and building products that are better for people and the planet. We move fast, stay scrappy, and care deeply about doing the right thing.

We’renow looking for someonewho’sexcited to join a growing, purpose-driven company and help shape what comes next.

Our Values:

• Human First: We lead with inclusivity, transparency, and empathy.
• Nothing is Impossible: We experiment, learn, and keep moving forward.
• United by Our Will to Win: We stay aligned, work collaboratively, and push toward shared goals.
• Part of Something Bigger: We’recommitted to uplifting the communitieswe’reconnected to locally and globally

The Director of People Operations & Total Rewards is a strategic and operational leader responsible for building and scaling best-in-class people operations across compensation, benefits, payroll, HRIS, compliance, and people data. This role ensures Vita Coco’s people infrastructure is accurate, compliant, scalable, and employee-centered while supporting our growth as a global public company.

You will partner closely with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team to design and execute benefits and payroll strategies, strengthen internal controls, and deliver reliable people data that informs business decisions. This role manages the People Operations Manager and People Coordinator and reports to the Global VP of People.

Work Location: We’d love our newest coconut to join us in person in NYC, but if you’re a great match for the role, we’d be happy to explore remote work together.

Key Responsibilities

Total Rewards

• Lead U.S. market benchmarking and pay analysis using external surveys and internal data to ensure competitive and equitable compensation programs
• Design and oversee end-to-end U.S. compensation processes, including annual merit cycles, bonus planning, promotions, off-cycle adjustments, and pay equity reviews
• Play a key role in shaping and evolving Vita Coco’s compensation philosophy, frameworks, and governance
• Own benefits strategy and vendor management, including renewals, plan design, and employee experience enhancements
• Ensure compensation and benefits programs are compliant, scalable, and aligned with public-company standards

Payroll & HRIS (UKG)

• Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing
• Serve as system owner for global HRIS (UKG), ensuring system configuration, data integrity, and optimization
• Lead UKG enhancements, integrations, testing, and process automation

Public Company Compliance

• Maintain SOX-aligned controls for payroll, equity, compensation, and people data
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local, and international employment laws and regulations
• Partner with Legal on audits, filings, and regulatory reporting (e.g., proxy statement, equity disclosures, wage and hour)
• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively update policies and practices

People Data & Analytics

• Establish data governance, documentation, and quality standards
• Build dashboards and reporting for headcount, turnover, compensation, payroll, and benefits
• Provide actionable insights to People and business leaders

Operational Excellence & Leadership

• Build scalable processes, documentation, and SOPs
• Lead cross-functional projects with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team
• Manage vendors and contracts related to payroll, benefits, and HR systems
• Mentor and develop team members, fostering a high-performance operations culture

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in People Operations, HR Operations, or Total Rewards
• 5+ years leading compensation, payroll, and benefits programs
• Deep experience with payroll and compensation strategy in a public company
• Strong working knowledge of UKG HRIS (implementation or optimization experience preferred)
• Experience supporting multi-country / global workforces
• Strong knowledge of employment law and compliance frameworks
• Proven people leader

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience applying AI in HR to streamline workflows and improve the employee experience, with skills in HR process optimization and automation

This is a reasonable estimate of the current pay range for this position. The base pay actually offered may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

US Pay Range

$170,000 - $190,000 USD

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in The Vita Coco Company’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A “disabled veteran” is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.