Director, Total Rewards & HRIS

Treeline Biosciences; Watertown (MA); On-site; USD 206,000 - 235,000; Full time

Job summary

Treeline Biosciences in Watertown is seeking a Director, Total Rewards & HRIS to build and run compensation, benefits, and HR systems for a growing biotech organization.

You will shape the compensation philosophy, lead benchmarking, ensure pay equity, and manage HRIS administration, data integrity, and executive reporting for leadership and the Board. The role blends hands-on execution with strategic partnership and strong compliance focus.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in compensation, benefits, and/or HRIS.
• 3+ years in total rewards leadership.
• Biotech, pharma, or life sciences experience preferred.
• Equity compensation knowledge (options/RSUs).
• Hands-on HRIS implementation/administration (e.g., ADP).
• Experience preparing compensation materials for board/comp committee.
• Advanced Excel skills for compensation analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain compensation philosophy, pay structures, and job leveling.
• Lead annual compensation benchmarking using industry surveys (e.g., Radford).
• Prepare executive compensation analyses for Board Compensation Committee.
• Conduct regular pay equity audits and address gaps.
• Manage annual merit cycle and off-cycle review processes.
• Review offers to ensure alignment with pay bands and internal equity.
• Benchmark benefits programs and manage statutory compliance across jurisdictions.
• Own benefits renewal process, negotiate with carriers, and lead open enrollment.
• Manage relationships with benefits brokers and vendors; oversee contracts.
• Support administration of retirement (401(k)) programs.
• Oversee I-9 and work authorization documentation for audit readiness.
• HRIS & data: onboarding/offboarding, data integrity, and cross-system reporting.

Skills

Total rewards leadership

Compensation

Benefits management

HRIS

Pay equity

Executive compensation

Excel

Data analysis

Communication

Project management

Tools

ADP

HRIS platforms

Job description

We are seeking a Director, Total Rewards & HRIS to help build and run the compensation, benefits, and HR systems infrastructure for our growing biotech organization. In this role, you will help shape our compensation philosophy and pay equity practices, implement and maintain our core HR systems, and ensure our people data and rewards programs are well-documented and audit-ready.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives on a team where they'll do hands‑on execution as well as strategic partnership, and wants their work to directly influence how the company evaluates and rewards its people as we scale.

What You'll Do

• Partner with senior leadership to design and maintain the company's compensation philosophy, pay structures, and job leveling framework across research, clinical, and corporate functions
• Lead annual compensation benchmarking using industry-standard biotech/life sciences surveys (e.g., Radford Global Life Sciences Survey)
• Partner with senior leadership and Finance to prepare executive compensation analyses and materials for the Board Compensation Committee
• Conduct regular pay equity audits and propose solutions to address any identified gaps proactively
• Manage the annual merit cycle and off-cycle compensation review processes
• Review and recommend compensation for new hire offers to ensure alignment with pay bands and internal equity
• Benchmark benefits programs against biotech/life sciences market data and make recommendations to keep offerings competitive, alongside managing statutory compliance across all jurisdictions
• Own the annual benefits renewal process, including evaluating and selecting carriers/plans, negotiating rates and terms, and leading open enrollment execution and employee communications
• Manage relationships with benefits brokers and vendors, including contract negotiations and ongoing service management
• Support administration and oversight of the company's retirement (401(k)) program
• Serve as the point of escalation for employee benefits issues and leave‑related matters (e.g., short‑term/long‑term disability, FMLA, and other leaves), coordinating with carriers, and leave administrators as needed to ensure smooth resolution

HRIS & People Data

• Own administration of the company's core HRIS platform, ensuring it scales for multi‑country compliance and reporting needs
• Manage onboarding and offboarding processes within the HRIS and related systems, ensuring new hires and departing employees are accurately and promptly reflected across HR, benefits, and payroll‑adjacent platforms
• Ensure accuracy and consistency of employee records across systems, including data that feeds into financial and SEC disclosures
• Build reporting and dashboards to support headcount planning, attrition analysis, and compensation modelling for leadership and the Board
• Serve as the internal systems expert, managing integrations between HRIS, benefits, and other people systems
• Ensure I‑9 and work authorization documentation is complete, accurate, and organized for audit purposes

Compliance & Public Company Readiness

• Support preparation of compensation‑related disclosures for SEC filings
• Maintain audit‑ready documentation to support SOX internal controls testing related to compensation and benefits data
• Monitor pay equity, pay transparency, and pay data reporting obligations applicable to a public company, and help ensure the company stays ahead of them
• Monitor multi‑country pay and benefits compliance requirements, partnering with EOR/PEO providers and outside counsel as needed
• Serve as a key HR point person for compliance reviews or other due diligence workstreams as needed

What You Bring

Required:

• 8+ years of progressive experience in compensation, benefits, and/or HRIS, including at least 3+ years in a total rewards leadership capacity
• Prior experience at a biotech, pharma, or life sciences company
• Working knowledge of equity compensation programmes (options/RSUs) and how they factor into total rewards benchmarking
• Hands‑on experience implementing or administering an HRIS platform (e.g., ADP)
• Demonstrated experience preparing compensation materials for board/comp committee audiences
• Excellent analytical skills with high attention to detail; advanced Excel skills for compensation analysis and benchmarking
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex compensation and benefits concepts for employees, managers, and executive audiences
• High degree of discretion and sound judgment in handling confidential and sensitive employee data
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams (e.g., merit cycle, open enrollment, HRIS projects, audits)
• Ability to thrive in a small, lean HR team — comfortable driving execution independently while partnering closely with senior leadership on strategy

This position is classified as exempt. The anticipated annual base salary range for candidates who will work in Watertown is $206,400 - $234,520. The final base salary offered to the successful candidate will be dependent upon several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, and other factors. Treeline Biosciences is a multi‑state employer, and this salary range may not reflect positions that work in other cities or states.

Notice to Search Firms/Third-Party Recruitment Agencies (Recruiters)

The Human Resources team manages the recruitment and employment process for Treeline Biosciences. To protect the interests of all parties involved, Treeline Biosciences will only accept resumes from a recruiter if an executed search agreement directed to the particular position or positions is in place at the start of the recruitment effort. Unsolicited resumes sent to Treeline Biosciences from recruiters do not constitute any type of relationship between the recruiter and Treeline Biosciences and do not obligate Treeline Biosciences in any way to pay fees should we hire from those resumes. Recruiters are requested not to contact or present candidates directly to our hiring manager or employees.