Global Compensation Director: Strategy & Analytics

Zendesk; Austin (TX); Hybrid; 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

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