Interim Director of Compensation Consultant

The Recruitment Alliance by HRKS; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 166,000 - 277,000; Full time

Job summary

HR Knowledge Source (HRKS) is seeking an experienced Total Rewards leader for an interim engagement with a confidential higher education institution in the Washington, DC area. You will oversee the compensation function, guide a 3-analyst team, and partner with executives to drive market-aligned pay practices.

The role focuses on design, governance, and implementation of compensation programs, including executive benchmarking, market pricing, and compliance with laws.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of progressive compensation leadership experience.
• Expertise in compensation program design, implementation, and analysis.
• Strong consultation, stakeholder management and executive coaching skills.
• Advanced financial analysis, budgeting, data analysis, and Excel abilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership of the compensation function and supervise a team of 3 analysts.
• Manage compensation consulting for executive leadership and department heads.
• Design, administer, and evaluate compensation programs aligned with recruitment and retention goals.
• Lead annual compensation initiatives: merit planning, market adjustments, and budgeting.
• Develop salary structures, job analyses, and market pricing methodologies.

Skills

Compensation leadership

Executive compensation

Market pricing

Salary structures

Excel analysis

Stakeholder management

Labor law knowledge

Team leadership

Workday

Union negotiations

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/Business/Finance

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Workday

Payscale/MarketPay

JDXpert

Job description

About Us

Headquartered in the US Southeast region, HR Knowledge Source (HRKS) is a woman-owned, minority-owned business consulting firm specializing in delivering quality Human Resources (HR) solutions. With over three decades of HR talent management and inclusive workplace culture experience across multiple industries, we are committed to helping our clients design, establish, and deliver premiere HR functions within their own organizations. We offer dedicated support and guidance in every HR functional area.

About the Role

The Engagement

HR Knowledge Source has been retained by a confidential higher education institution in the Washington, DC region to identify an experienced Total Rewards leader for a critical interim consulting engagement. The client serves approximately 2,900 faculty, staff and retirees and requires an execution-ready consultant to provide immediate leadership of its comprehensive compensation function. The Director will lead a team that primarily supports the staff population (approx. 1,700 employees) and collaborates with other departments and teams in support of other employee populations to include faculty, student employees, and retirees.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the compensation function, including supervision, prioritization of work, and escalation support for compensation matters.
• Lead and direct a compensation team of 3 Analysts.
• Manage compensation consulting for executive leadership, HR, cabinet-level stakeholders, and department leaders regarding compensation actions, reorganizations, position management, and organizational design.
• Design, administer, and evaluate compensation programs that support recruitment, retention, engagement, and organizational objectives.
• Lead annual compensation initiatives, including merit planning, salary reviews, market adjustments, and budget projections.
• Establish and maintain salary structures, job analyses, market pricing methodologies, compensation policies, and procedures.
• Conduct executive compensation benchmarking and higher education market analysis utilizing CUPA and other compensation data sources.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Information Technology, and business leaders to ensure effective administration of compensation programs and systems.
• Provide guidance on job architecture, workforce planning, and organizational restructuring efforts.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment laws and compensation regulations.
• Develop and deliver compensation-related training and communication programs for leaders, managers, and HR partners.
• Support labor and employee relations initiatives, including compensation analysis related to union negotiations when applicable.
• Drive process improvements, maintain documentation, and facilitate knowledge transfer throughout the engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field; Master's degree preferred.

Required Skills

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible compensation leadership experience or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in compensation program design, implementation, administration, market pricing, salary structures, and executive compensation analysis.
• Strong consultation, stakeholder management, executive coaching, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
• Advanced financial analysis, modeling, budgeting, data analysis, and Microsoft Excel capabilities.
• Experience leading merit cycles, organizational design efforts, and executive compensation analyses.
• Knowledge of federal and state employment laws and compensation compliance requirements.
• Experience supervising compensation professionals and building effective teams.
• Ability to build credibility quickly and operate with urgency and responsiveness.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Workday preferred; Advanced Compensation experience preferred.
• Experience with compensation systems and tools such as Payscale/MarketPay, JDXpert, or similar platforms strongly preferred.
• Higher education experience preferred.
• Experience supporting unionized workforces or labor negotiations preferred.

Pay range and compensation package

• Duration: 4–6 months
• Location: Washington, DC region — Hybrid (3 days on-site; Tuesday is a core in-office day)
• Hours: Standard 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Reports To: Interim HR Executive Consultant (solid line), and Associate Vice President of Financial Operations (dotted line)
• Client: Confidential higher education institution, Washington, DC region (disclosed to qualified candidates)
• Offers must be contingent on the successful completion of professional reference and background checks.
• Confidentiality is strictly maintained.

Equal Opportunity Statement

HR Knowledge Source (HRKS) is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic.