Global Compensation Lead

Watershed; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Watershed is seeking a senior compensation specialist to own and evolve our global compensation program. You will lead planning, benchmarking, and education, partnering with Finance, Recruiting, and People Operations to balance competitiveness, performance, and financial discipline.

You will manage end-to-end cycles, ensure data integrity, and drive automation while collaborating with global teams across US, EMEA, Australia, and beyond. This hands-on role reports to the Head of People.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in compensation or equivalent depth of expertise.
• Experience managing compensation programs at technology companies, including SaaS.
• Strong compensation fundamentals: market pricing, survey participation, job matching, salary ranges, cash and equity compensation, budget modeling.
• Experience implementing or improving compensation planning tools and translating rules into workflows.
• Advanced spreadsheet skills and ability to build/audit complex models.
• Hands-on experience with US compensation practices and familiarity with at least one other country (Mexico a plus).

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve compensation planning and tools; develop tools, models, and workflows.
• Run compensation cycles end to end: timelines, eligibility, budgeting, approvals, data validation.
• Lead global benchmarking: validate data, maintain ranges across functions/geographies.
• Build compensation understanding: educate employees, guide managers, train recruiters.
• Advise partners on offers, promotions, changes; provide data-backed recommendations.
• Maintain accurate records and rules; improve reporting with automation and AI.
• Execute executive compensation programs in collaboration with Head of People and Finance.
• Coordinate with global partners on local requirements and data.

Skills

Compensation expert

Advanced spreadsheets

AI tools & prompt engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Job description

Watershed is seeking a senior compensation specialist to own and evolve our global compensation program. You will lead planning, benchmarking, and education, partnering with Finance, Recruiting, and People Operations to balance competitiveness, performance, and financial discipline.

You will manage end-to-end cycles, ensure data integrity, and drive automation while collaborating with global teams across US, EMEA, Australia, and beyond. This hands-on role reports to the Head of People.