Manager, Global Sales Commissions

Couchbase; Raleigh, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous Time Off Program

Wellness Benefits

Financial Planning—Retirement program

Ergonomic and WFH setup

Food & Snacks for in-office employees

Job summary

Couchbase is seeking a Manager, Global Sales Commissions in Raleigh, NC. The role leads modernization of the global sales compensation program and scales automated workflows to support a rapidly growing organization.

You will partner across Sales, RevOps, FP&A, Accounting, Payroll, and IT to ensure accurate plans and timely payments. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in sales compensation management, strong Excel and analytics skills, and a track record of managing offshore teams and

Qualifications

• 8+ years in sales compensation management, sales finance, or financial analytics.
• Experience leading global commission operations and transformation initiatives.
• Direct experience managing offshore teams (e.g., in India) and external advisers.

Responsibilities

• Modernize and scale commission administration into a highly automated global model.
• Oversee end-to-end administration of global sales compensation plans with 100% payout accuracy.
• Collaborate with RevOps, Sales Leadership, FP&A, Accounting, Payroll, and IT to align compensation strategies and data pipelines.
• Develop commission communication materials and train Sales and Field Operations; handle complex plan questions and escalations.

Skills

Sales compensation management

Financial analytics

People management

Stakeholder alignment

Excel proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration

Tools

Xactly

Excel

Job description

Couchbase, the operational data platform for AI, empowers businesses to succeed by bringing data to life in new ways. Major market-leading companies rely on Couchbase for mission critical operational, analytical, mobile and AI workloads. Built to replace legacy infrastructure and fragmented data services, Couchbase empowers enterprises with a unified platform architected for performance, flexibility and global scale.

With Couchbase, organizations bring their data to life, launching game-changing customer experiences, exploring the limitless potential of AI, and seamlessly extending applications from the cloud to the edge and beyond. Couchbase’s AI-ready technology and enterprise partnership model eliminate complexity and reduce total cost of ownership, enabling teams to stay agile, innovative and secure.

Couchbase believes data should never slow you down, but act as the foundation for your next breakthrough. Discover why Couchbase is trusted to help the world’s biggest players scale, move fast and stay resilient, no matter what’s next on their roadmap. Visit couchbase.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Location: Raleigh, NC (hybrid, 3 days/week in office)

Reports To: Director of Global Payroll & Equity

As the Manager, Global Sales Commissions, you will lead, modernize, and scale the administration of our global sales compensation program. In this pivotal position, you will drive strategic process transformation—establishing robust, automated, and efficient commission workflows from the ground up to support our rapidly growing organization.

You will serve as a primary strategic partner across Sales, RevOps, FP&A, Accounting, Payroll, and IT to ensure commission plans are administered accurately, complex adjustments are handled swiftly, and payments are delivered seamlessly. If you are a collaborative leader who thrives in a dynamic environment and excels at navigating financially and operationally critical decisions, we invite you to make a lasting impact with our team.

What You'll Do

Strategy & Process Transformation

• Modernize & Scale: Drive continuous process improvement and operational change to elevate commission administration from legacy methods into a streamlined, highly automated, and scalable global model.
• Policy & Frameworks: Draft, establish, and maintain comprehensive commission-related policy and procedure documentation.

Operations & Execution

• End-to-End Execution: Oversee the end-to-end administration of global sales compensation plans with meticulous attention to detail, maintaining 100% payout accuracy and on-time distribution.
• Agile Adjustments: Rapidly process plan modifications, crediting adjustments, compensation exceptions, and mid-year plan updates with high precision.
• Governance & Audit: Ensure all variable pay operations strictly adhere to internal standards; execute daily financial controls and serve as the primary operational liaison for external audit requests.

Systems & Analytics

• Software Management: Supervise and optimize our commission software environment (Xactly), partnering with internal IT and external consultants to implement new functionality, updates, and custom rules.
• Reporting & Insights: Build monthly/quarterly reporting, prepare commission and sales incentive payment summaries, execute what-if financial scenario analyses, and deliver plan effectiveness insights to executive leadership.
• Team Leadership: Directly manage, coach, and performance-manage a dedicated team of Commission Analysts based in Bangalore, India, alongside external implementation consultants.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner seamlessly across RevOps, Sales Leadership, FP&A, Accounting, Payroll, and IT to align compensation strategies, financial impacts, data pipelines, and system integrations.
• Enablement & Support: Develop commission communication materials and train members of Sales and Field Operations; serve as a diplomatic point of contact for resolving complex plan questions, payment inquiries, and escalations.

What You'll Bring

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years of progressive experience in sales compensation management, sales finance, or financial analytics, with a proven track record leading global commission operations.
• Transformation Track Record: Demonstrated success building, standardizing, or transforming commission operations and driving adoption across matrixed teams.
• People Management: Prior success managing direct reports, offshore teams (specifically in India), and external advisory resources.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Proven ability to manage and align a wide array of senior stakeholders across Sales, RevOps, Finance, Payroll, Accounting, and IT.
• Technical & Analytical Mastery: Expert-level capability in Microsoft Excel and experience analyzing complex, multi-tiered payout structures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Systems Expertise: Hands-on proficiency with Xactly or similar enterprise commissions tools.
• Agility & Precision: High degree of agility with the ability to execute fast turnaround times on plan adjustments without sacrificing precision.
• Executive Communication: Strong business acumen with the ability to translate technical compensation data into actionable executive presentations and strategic recommendations.
• Professional Skills: Exceptional communication, analytical, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills; highly motivated, detail-oriented, and adaptable in a fast-paced environment.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.

Base Pay Range

$140,000 - $148,000 USD

At Couchbase, we believe innovation thrives when diverse perspectives are at the table. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds—including women, people of color, LGTBQIA+ professionals, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. If you see a role that excites you, but don't meet every qualification, we still encourage you to apply.

Studies show underrepresented talent is less likely to apply unless they meet all the criteria. We encourage you to apply if you're excited about the role and can bring strong contributions to our team.

If you require reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process, please let your recruiter know—we're happy to support you.

We value diverse educational and career backgrounds. If your experience aligns with the role's goals—even if it doesn't follow a traditional path—we'd love to hear from you.

Why Couchbase?

Modern customer experiences need a flexible cloud database platform that can power applications spanning from cloud to edge and everything in between. Couchbase’s mission is to simplify how developers and architects develop, deploy and consume modern applications wherever they are. We have reimagined the database with our fast, flexible and affordable cloud database platform Capella, allowing organizations to quickly build applications that deliver premium experiences to their customers– all with best-in-class price performance. More than 30% of the Fortune 100 trust Couchbase to power their modern applications and build innovative new ones. See our recent awards to learn why Couchbase is a great place to work. We are honored to be a part of the Best Places to Work Award for the Bay Area and the UK. Couchbase offers a total rewards approach to benefits that recognizes the value you create here, so that you in turn may best serve yourself and your family. Some benefits include:

• Generous Time Off Program - Flexibility to care for you and your family
• Wellness Benefits - A variety of world class medical plans to choose from, along with dental, vision, life insurance, and employee assistance programs*
• Financial Planning - Retirement program* and Business Travel Insurance
• Fun Perks - An ergonomic and comfortable in-office / WFH setup. Food & Snacks for in-office employees.
• And much more!

*Note: some programs are not applicable to all countries. Please discuss with a Couchbase recruiter to learn more.

Couchbase is committed to being an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans’ status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Join an impact initiative group and experience the amazing feeling of Couchbase can-do culture.