Manager Compensation

ESCO Technologies; Missouri; On-site; USD 140,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

ESCO Technologies is seeking a Manager of Compensation to lead strategic compensation programs ensuring market competitiveness and internal equity. This role includes job architecture oversight and governance of incentive plans, partnering with HR and Finance.

The ideal candidate will have 5-8 years of compensation experience, advanced Excel skills, and a deep understanding of regulatory requirements. A Bachelor's degree in a related field is required, and familiarity with UKG is preferred.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of progressive compensation experience including merit planning and incentive plan design.
• Strong experience with market pricing, job architecture, and compensation analytics.
• Deep working knowledge of FLSA and wage-and-hour requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead benchmarking for compensation strategy and recommendations.
• Design and own the company-wide job architecture.
• Administer equity compensation program in compliance with regulations.

Skills

Compensation strategy

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Finance, or Business

Tools

Excel

UKG

Job description

The Manager Compensation is a hands-on, strategic role responsible for designing, administering, and governing the company’s compensation programs to ensure market competitiveness, internal equity, regulatory compliance, and alignment with business strategy. This role owns company-wide job architecture and market pricing, oversees incentive and equity programs, supports Board of Director compensation activities, and leads annual merit and incentive planning cycles. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical skills, sound judgment, and ability to influence stakeholders across HR, Finance, Legal, and executive leadership

Key Responsibilities

Compensation Strategy & Benchmarking

• Lead benchmarking activities for all corporate and executive positions using third-party surveys and internal benchmarks.
• Analyze pay competitiveness, internal equity, and compression to inform compensation strategy and recommendations.
• Provide guidance on offers, promotions, and off-cycle compensation decisions.
• Develop and maintain salary structures, ranges, and geographic differentials as applicable.

Job Architecture & Job Evaluation

• Design, implement, and own the company-wide job architecture, including job families, levels, career paths, and standard titles.
• Develop and execute company-wide job evaluation and leveling methodologies to ensure consistency and scalability.
• Educate stakeholders on job architecture and leveling principles.

Annual Merit Planning Cycle

• Lead annual merit increase planning, including UKG salary planning module setup, merit increase guidelines, and manager training.

Annual Incentive Program

• Support the design, governance, and administration of the annual incentive program.
• Partner with executive leadership, finance and HR to ensure incentive plans align with business objectives and financial outcomes.
• Oversee annual incentive plan cycles, including plan communications and payout calculations.

Equity Plan Administration

• Administer equity compensation program, including grants, vesting and forfeitures, in partnership with Payroll, Tax, Legal, Finance, and external administrators.
• Ensure compliance with plan documents, accounting standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Support equity-related audits, reconciliations, and reporting.
• Provide equity education to employees and stakeholders as needed.

Board Of Director Compensation

• Administer the director compensation plan, ensuring timely and accurate payment of annual and deferred awards.

Proxy Reporting & Disclosure

• Support proxy statement compensation table reporting, including Summary Compensation Table, Pay versus Performance and CEO pay ratio disclosures.

Stakeholder Partnership & Compliance

• Partner closely with HR, Tax, Finance, Legal, Payroll, and external vendors.
• Ensure compensation programs comply with applicable laws and regulations.
• Provide ongoing compensation education and consultation across the organization.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Finance, Business, or a related field.
• 5–8 years of progressive compensation experience, including merit planning, incentive plan design and equity compensation administration.
• Strong experience with market pricing, job architecture, and compensation analytics.
• Deep working knowledge of FLSA and wage-and-hour requirements, with demonstrated ability to apply regulations to exempt/non-exempt classification, pay practices, and compliance risk mitigation.
• Experience with public company compensation, proxy reporting, and SEC disclosures.
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with compensation planning tools and HRIS platforms, UKG preferred.
• Ability to communication complex compensation concepts to diverse audiences.

Preferred

• International compensation experience supporting multi-country employees (e.g., salary structures/geographic differentials, currency/FX considerations, and coordination with in-country HR/Payroll/Finance partners).
• Experience supporting executive and Board-level compensation.
• CCP (Certified Compensation Professional) or progress toward certification.
• Experience partnering closely with Payroll, Finance and Legal teams.

Core Competencies

• Analytical rigor and exceptional attention to detail
• Sound judgment and discretion
• Strong communication and influencing skills
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• High level of integrity and confidentiality

Compensation Information

Base Salary Range: $140,000 - $155,000 USD (Annually)