Sales Compensation & Incentives Manager

Relevant Solutions; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Relevant Solutions seeks a Manager, Sales Compensation & Incentives to design and administer compensation plans and cross-sell crediting rules that align seller behavior with margin and growth goals. This role reports to the VP, Commercial Excellence and owns quota, territory setting, payout governance, and incentive modeling.

The position focuses on budget-neutral plans that sharpen incentives for margin, cross-pillar selling, and pay-for-performance.

Qualifications

• Strong financial modeling skills and experience with Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) tools.
• Ownership of comp-plan design with measurable impact on margins.
• Ability to partner across HR, Finance, and Sales and to communicate plans clearly to the field.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, HR, or related field is required.

Responsibilities

• Design role-based plan structures, mechanics, accelerators, and SPIFs aligned to strategy.
• Own the cross-sell crediting rules that reward originators and closers.
• Define crediting mechanics for exception-triggered reassignments; distinguish from standard cross-sell crediting.
• Establish quota methodology and territory definitions in partnership with Sales and Commercial Analytics & Reporting.
• Balance fairness, attainability, and growth ambition.
• Ensure payout governance, accuracy, and audit; maintain plan documents and terms.
• Model plan cost and budget neutrality; analyze pay-for-performance and plan effectiveness.
• Recommend annual plan changes based on outcomes.
• Partner with HR/Total Rewards and Finance on governance, funding, and pay equity.

Skills

Financial modeling

Incentive design

Quota/territory methodology

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, HR, or related field

Tools

ICM tools

Job description

The Manager, Sales Compensation & Incentives designs and administers the compensation plans and cross-sell crediting rules that align seller behavior with margin and growth objectives. Reporting to the VP, Commercial Excellence, this role owns quota and territory setting, payout governance, and incentive modeling.

This role is the behavior lever of the commercial operating system—ensuring that what the company pays for is what it wants sellers to do. Plans are designed to be budget-neutral to current spend while sharpening incentives for margin and cross-pillar selling.

Core Areas of Focus

• Design role-based plan structures, mechanics, accelerators, and Sales Performance Incentive Funds (SPIF) aligned to strategy
• Own the two-sided cross-sell crediting rules that reward originators and closers
• Define crediting mechanics for exception-triggered reassignments (e.g., opportunity redeploy after seller inaction), distinct from standard two-sided cross-sell crediting

Quota & Territory Setting

• Establish quota methodology and territory definitions in partnership with Sales and Commercial Analytics & Reporting
• Balance fairness, attainability, and growth ambition

Payout Governance & Administration

• Ensure sales crediting accuracy, resolve disputes, and administer payout calculation and audit
• Maintain plan documents, terms, and approval records
• Model plan cost and budget neutrality; analyze pay-for-performance and plan effectiveness
• Recommend annual plan changes based on outcomes

Governance & Compliance

• Partner with HR/Total Rewards and Finance on governance, funding, and pay equity; ensure compliant, well-documented plans

Qualifications

• 6–10 years of experience in sales compensation, incentive design, or sales operations, preferably in industrial/B2B
• Demonstrated ownership of comp-plan design and administration with measurable behavior/margin impact
• Strong financial modeling skills; experience with Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) tools
• Working knowledge of quota/territory methodology and crediting logic
• Ability to partner across HR, Finance, and Sales and to communicate plans clearly to the field
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, HR, or related field required

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are a rigorous, detail-driven compensation professional who designs plans that are fair, affordable, and motivating. You connect incentives to strategy, model the downstream cost, and can explain a plan so a seller trusts it.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Relevant Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. Reasonable accommodations may be provided to individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform essential job functions.