Head of Total Rewards

Nutanix; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Nutanix is looking for a Global Head of Total Rewards to design and implement a comprehensive rewards strategy across compensation, equity, and benefits. The role requires a seasoned leader with over 12 years of hands-on experience in Total Rewards, specifically in high-growth environments.

You will partner closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to enhance the company's rewards practices, ensuring alignment with market competitiveness. The position supports a hybrid work model, focusing on collaboration within our Santa Clara office.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in Total Rewards with a strong focus on compensation.
• Strong experience in sales compensation within a high-growth SaaS or technology company.
• Ability to advise senior leaders on complex decisions.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve global compensation framework and philosophy.
• Own design and evolution of sales compensation plans.
• Manage equity program design and administration.

Skills

Total Rewards Strategy

Compensation Design

Sales Compensation

Equity Programs

Analytical Skills

Job description

Global Head of Total Rewards

About the Role: We are hiring a Global Head of Total Rewards to build, run, and evolve our global rewards strategy across compensation, equity, benefits, and sales compensation. This is a high‑ownership, senior individual contributor role reporting to the CHRO. You will operate as the company's end‑to‑end rewards expert, responsible for both designing the strategy and ensuring strong execution through close partnership. You should be equally comfortable:

• Building compensation frameworks from first principles
• Designing executive and sales compensation packages
• Driving cycles and decisions through cross‑functional teams
• Advising senior leaders when the answer is not obvious

This role is not just about maintaining programs. It is about bringing coherence, rigor, and modern thinking to how rewards works at Eightfold as we scale globally.

What You Will Do

• Compensation & Rewards Strategy: Design and evolve a global compensation philosophy and framework aligned to performance, growth, and market competitiveness. Partner with People Operations and Finance to drive annual compensation cycles, shaping planning, benchmarking, calibration, and budget alignment. Advise executive leadership on pay decisions, leveling, and market positioning, especially in ambiguous or high‑stakes situations. Build clear, practical guidance for managers to make consistent and high‑quality compensation decisions. Prepare and present Board‑level compensation materials in partnership with the CHRO.
• Sales Compensation (Critical Focus Area): Own design and evolution of sales compensation plans across segments and roles. Partner closely with Sales, Revenue Operations, and Finance to align plans with GTM strategy, growth goals, and margin considerations. Model plan economics, quota structures, and payout curves with a strong point of view. Ensure plans are simple, motivating, and drive the right behaviors, not just mathematically correct. Act as a trusted partner to GTM leadership, not just a program manager.
• Equity & Executive Compensation: Own end‑to‑end equity program design and administration, including refresh cycles and new hire packages. Partner with Legal and Finance on equity strategy, dilution planning, and IPO readiness. Design and advise on executive compensation packages with sound judgment and market awareness. Improve how equity is communicated so employees understand its value.
• Benefits & Global Programs: Evolve a global benefits strategy that balances employee experience, cost, and scalability. Partner with People Operations on administration and vendor management, ensuring programs are competitive and compliant. Continuously evaluate programs and make practical, data‑informed improvements.
• Systems, Data, and AI‑Forward Thinking: Partner with People Operations to bring structure to rewards data, tools, and workflows. Use data and emerging AI capabilities to improve decision quality, efficiency, and insights in rewards. Act as an internal thought partner on how rewards can evolve in a skills‑based, AI‑driven talent model. Where relevant, help Eightfold dogfood its own platform and inform future product direction.

What We Are Looking For

• 12+ years of experience across Total Rewards, with strong depth in compensation and at least two of the following: equity, benefits, sales compensation.
• Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor who both designs and drives execution through others, without relying on a large team.
• Strong experience in sales compensation design in a high‑growth SaaS or technology company.
• Experience with equity programs and executive compensation, ideally in a pre‑IPO or scaling environment.
• High level of business judgment and comfort advising senior leaders on complex or ambiguous decisions.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to build and interpret compensation models.
• Ability to bring structure to ambiguity and improve partially defined systems.
• Clear, practical communicator who can simplify complex topics and influence decisions.
• Interest in how AI and data will reshape talent and rewards, even if you have not directly used AI in this domain yet.

How You Operate

You are a builder and an operator. You don't wait for perfect inputs and you don't over‑engineer. You take ownership and are comfortable being the go-to expert in the room. You bring a strong point of view, but adapt based on data and context. You care about both quality of thinking and quality of execution. You thrive in environments where the pace is high and the problems are not fully defined.

Hybrid Work at Eightfold

We embrace a hybrid work model that blends remote and in‑person collaboration. Employees near our Santa Clara, CA or Bangalore and Noida, India offices work in‑office twice a week.