Partner Rewards & Experience

NewsBreak; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 119,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Parental leave

Commuter benefits

Team activities

Job summary

NewsBreak is expanding its HR team to build the rewards and people-ops engine for a fast-growing, multi-business environment. You will own annual performance cycles, compensation reviews and equity programs, while shaping policies and benefits across the company.

You'll also lead onboarding, engagement surveys and cross-functional initiatives with Legal, Finance and business leaders, turning data into action in a dynamic startup setting.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in compensation, benefits, or HR COE.
• Experience building salary bands, benchmarking, and equity programs.
• End-to-end management of annual performance and merit cycles.
• Knowledge of US benefits regulations (FMLA, COBRA).
• Hands-on administration of US benefits via external vendors.
• Engaging writer and clear presenter; translate policy into culture.
• High integrity with confidential data and discretion.
• Growth mindset in a fast-growing start-up.
• Bachelor's degree in HR or related field.

Responsibilities

• Review salary bands against market data and adjust ranges.
• Build and maintain job architecture: families, levels, leveling.
• Run annual equity refresh and administer equity program with Finance/Legal.
• Track benefits cost, utilization and renewal trends.
• Own the annual performance and merit/bonus/equity cycles.
• Design and run 360 feedback; calibration meetings.
• Own the promotion process: criteria, nominations, approvals.
• Own annual compensation review and budgeting guidelines.
• Administer health, welfare and retirement plans.
• Manage vendor SLAs, escalations, invoices, filings.
• Draft and maintain HR policies; update handbook.
• Partner with Legal on policy changes and communication.
• Design onboarding and measure new-hire experience.
• Design engagement surveys and track action plans.

Skills

HR experience

Compensation

Benefits admin

Equity program

Performance reviews

Policy drafting

Communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR

Tools

Workday

Lattice

Job description

Mountain View, California, United States

About NewsBreak

Founded in 2015, NewsBreak is the Content Intelligence platform shaping the future content economy. With over 40 million monthly active users, our flagship platform delivers highly personalized local news and information powered by advanced AI, recommendation systems, and adtech.

Recognized by Fast Company as #32 on the Top Workplaces for Innovators, we're proud to be Great Place to Work certified and home to a dynamic team of technologists, product innovators, and business leaders who are passionate about solving meaningful challenges at scale.

Together, we reached unicorn status in 2021, and we remain committed to continuing this high-growth trajectory with the right team to fulfill our mission: building the infrastructure layer for content intelligence.

If you’re inspired to dream big, innovate fast, and make a difference, we’d love to hear from you! For more information, visit www.newsbreak.com/about

About the Role

As a core member of our growing HR team, you will help build NewsBreak's HR infrastructure from the ground up, supporting both our main business and newly incubated businesses. You won't just design and implement conventional HR programs; we want you to think outside the box and keep finding new ways to attract and retain top talent.

As Partner Rewards & Experience, you will build and run the engine behind how we rewards, develops and listens to people. You will own the annual performance and compensation review, benefits administration, total rewards infrastructure, HR policies, and employee experience such as onboarding experience and engagement.

We believe our policies, pay structure and benefits are a reflection of our culture. Rolling out a policy or a performance cycle can be purely operational: stating the facts clearly and moving on. We are looking for someone who goes further, a cultural ambassador within the HR who brings the values behind each program to life.

This is a builder role in a fast-moving start-up company. You will turn recurring cycles into reliable, well-documented processes, and turn people data into insights leaders act on. You will work closely with HR leaders, Finance, Legal and business leaders.

What you'll do

• Total Rewards infrastructure
  • Review salary bands against market benchmark data and recommend range adjustments.
  • Build and maintain job architecture: job families, levels and leveling guidelines.
  • Run the annual equity refresh and administer the equity program (grants, vesting, employee communication) with Finance and Legal.
  • Track benefits cost, utilization and renewal trends for plan design.
• Annual performance & compensation review
  • Own the annual performance review cycle: calendar, system setup, manager and employee enablement, completion tracking.
  • Design and run 360 feedback, facilitate performance calibration meetings
  • Own the promotion process: criteria, nominations, calibration and approvals.
  • Own the annual compensation review: merit, bonus and promotion budgets, guidelines matrix, modeling and manager recommendations, work in both Workday or any other related system/tools
• Benefits administration
  • Administer health, welfare and retirement plans; lead annual open enrollment, carrier and broker coordination, and plan renewals.
  • Manage vendor SLAs, escalations and invoice reconciliation.
  • Coordinate benefits plan filings and notices (e.g., ACA reporting, COBRA) with the vendor and broker.
• Own HR policies including drafting, updating and maintaining the employee handbook and HR policies (compensation, leave, time off, expenses, remote work etc).
• Partner with Legal on policy review and communicate changes clearly to employees and leaders.
• Go beyond the facts when presenting policies, performance and pay programs: use case studies and real examples to show the culture and values behind them.
• Employee experience & culture
  • Design and deliver new-hire onboarding covering business, products, mission and culture; coordinate leader speakers and measure new-hire experience.
  • Design and run the company-wide engagement survey; analyze results, share insights with leadership, and track action plans to completion.

What you'll bring

Required

• 7+ years in compensation, benefits, or HR COE
• Direct experience working on building and administrating salary band, benchmarking, bonus and equity program
• Experience managing annual performance and merit/bonus/equity refresh cycle end to end.
• Working knowledge of benefits regulations (e.g., FMLA, COBRA).
• Hands-on experience administering US benefits programs through an external vendor/broker.
• Engaging, high-energy presenter and clear writer; able to bring pay, performance and policy programs to life for employees and executives, not just explain the facts.
• High integrity and discretion with confidential data.
• A growth mindset: eager to learn, take on new areas and broaden your exposure in a fast-growing start-up environment.
• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, Finance, Economics or related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred

• immigration knowledge
• Experience in a high-growth tech or media company, including global or multi-country teams.
• Savy with Claude, ChatGPT, and love to explore AI tools to build for efficiency
• Experience with systems and platforms such as Workday, Lattice
• CCP, CBP or SHRM-CP/SCP certification.
• Bilingual English / Mandarin is a plus for working with global teams.

Base salary range: $119,000 – $179,000 (USD, annual)

We offer a competitive benefits package:

• Health, dental, and vision care for you and your family
• Top-tier 401(k) plan with company matching
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• FSA and commuter benefits programs
• Team activity budget

The US base salary range for this full-time position is listed below. Pay may vary based on a number of factors including job-related skills, level, experience, geographic location and relevant education or training. At NewsBreak, we design our overall rewards package to attract top talents. Depending on the position, the role may also be eligible for discretionary bonus and options.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in NewsBreak’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.