Principal Compensation Business Partner

Synopsys; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Synopsys invites a Compensation Business Partner to join its engineering and technical organizations. You will analyze compensation programs, benchmark roles against semiconductor, EDA, and high-tech peers, and influence design to align with business priorities.

You’ll work with People Partners, Legal, and Finance to implement data-driven solutions that attract and retain top engineering talent. You will leverage SuccessFactors, Excel, and Power BI to deliver market-competitive salary structures

Qualifications

• Experience in benchmarking and compensation program design.
• Experience running year-end compensation planning, merit/bonus cycles, and market data submission.
• Ability to develop salary ranges and support planning for technical orgs.

Responsibilities

• Provide compensation expertise and detailed analysis to engineering and technical leaders.
• Partner with People, Legal and Finance to align compensation with priorities.
• Support design, change management, and communication for compensation programs.
• Build relationships with HR and business partners.
• Design data-driven recommendations for retention, promotions, and leveling for technical roles.

Skills

Benchmarking

Compensation design

Merit/bonus cycles

Salary ranges

Excel

Power BI

SuccessFactors

CCP certification

Tools

SuccessFactors

Excel

Power Query/BI

Job description

We Are

Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

As a Compensation Business Partner for Synopsys' engineering and technical functions, you will collaborate with People Partners and engineering leaders to deliver competitive and analysis-driven compensation programs aligned with our compensation philosophy and values. You will build effective cross-functional relationships, use your analytical skills to strengthen your recommendations, and influence change using a proactive and consultative approach. You will build strong business acumen and develop a deep understanding of R&D, IP development, and engineering roles, career paths, product and development cycles, and talent markets while leading relationships, communication and engagement with stakeholders to provide insights for the design and implementation of compensation plans that align to key business priorities. You will thrive in dynamic, globally distributed environments, adeptly leading and managing multiple projects, and collaborating across teams to ensure timely and effective execution of compensation initiatives. Your exceptional project management and organizational skills, ability to adapt and thrive during times of change and transformation, including integration and organizational redesign, and strategic mindset will help you build trust across the organization.

What you'll be doing

• Providing compensation expertise and detailed analysis to engineering and technical leaders on all aspects of compensation programs.
• Partnering with the People, Legal and Finance teams to ensure the compensation structure aligns with business priorities
• Supporting design, change management, and communication efforts associated with our compensation programs and practices.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with key partners within HR and the business.
• Building strong business acumen and developing a deep understanding of Synopsys' roles, programs, and processes while leading communication and engagement with stakeholders to design and implement compensation plans to drive key business priorities
• Designing proactive data-driven recommendations to support retention, recognition, promotions, transfers, job matches, and job leveling, including for critical and hard-to-fill technical roles such as R&D, IP design, AI/ML, applications, and security engineering.
• Benchmarking technical roles against semiconductor, EDA, and high-tech peers across key global engineering locations, and recommending market-based actions for emerging and scarce skills.
• Advising on technical career architecture, including individual contributor and management tracks (e.g., Principal Engineer, Architect, Fellow), leveling consistency, and pay progression across engineering job families.
• Partnering on retention and incentive strategies for critical technical talent, including targeted equity, retention awards, milestone- or program-based rewards, and counteroffer guidance.
• Leading and managing multiple projects simultaneously with a high degree of initiative.
• Supporting compensation programs cross-functionally and collaboratively, across teams within HR and the business.
• Utilizing SuccessFactors for compensation-related processes.
• Applying advanced technical expertise in Excel, Power Query/BI, and other data analysis functions.

The Impact You Will Have:

• Driving the strategic goals of the organization through effective and market competitive incentive design that supports innovation, product roadmaps, and engineering execution.
• Ensuring competitive and equitable salary structures that attract and retain top engineering and technical talent in highly competitive global markets.
• Enhancing the effectiveness of compensation programs through data-driven insights.
• Fostering trust and credibility across various working teams in COEs, Total Rewards, the People Partner team and our engineering and technical leadership.
• Supporting redesign of compensation programs that align with organizational goals and contribute to the overall success and sustainability of Synopsys.

What You'll Need:

• Experience in benchmarking and compensation program design, running company year-end compensation planning, merit/bonus cycles, submitting market data, developing salary ranges, and supporting the business in their planning and jobs, ideally supporting engineering, R&D, or technical organizations in semiconductor, EDA, software, or high-tech.
• Experience with technical job architecture, dual career ladders, and equity/long-term incentive programs for a global technical workforce (e.g., US, India, China, Europe, and Asia-Pacific).
• Advanced technical expertise in Excel, Power Query/BI, and other data analysis functions.
• Strong compensation analysis and modeling capabilities.
• Strong analytical skills, project management, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency with SuccessFactors (a plus).
• CCP or other relevant certifications (a plus).

Who You Are:

• Creative problem solver with an ability to break down problems.
• Ability to adapt and thrive during times of change and ambiguity.
• Strong communicator and collaborator, able to build credibility with senior engineering leaders and translate complex compensation concepts into clear recommendations.
• Detail-oriented and highly organized.
• Proactive and able to take initiative.
• Curious about technology and motivated to understand how engineering teams work, including the impact of AI on technical roles and skills.

At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.

In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. Your recruiter can share more specific details on the total rewards package upon request. The base salary range for this role is across the U.S.