Sales Incentive Manager

United States Digital Space LLC; United States; Remote; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The company, Inc. seeks a Sales Incentive Manager to own the design and refinement of sales incentive plans across the organization. You will translate business goals into compensation strategies, and partner with Sales, Finance, and HR to implement and govern these plans.

You will build dashboards in PowerBI and Xactly, provide analytics on attainment and payout mechanics, and ensure policy interpretation is clear and actionable for leadership teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in finance, accounting, business, economics, HR, or related field.
• Professional certification in sales compensation is a plus (CCP, AIHR, etc.).
• 5–8+ years of experience in sales compensation, incentive compensation, or revenue operations.
• Experience with incentive compensation platforms and reporting tools (Salesforce, Xactly).
• Strong analytical, forecasting, and scenario analysis skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and refinement of sales incentive plans aligned with company objectives and seller behaviors.
• Develop plan components: measures, weights, thresholds, accelerators, payout mechanics, and special incentives.
• Model scenarios and analyze business impact before implementation.
• Analyze plan effectiveness and ROI on incentive spend.
• Provide leadership with recommendations based on plan performance.

Skills

Sales compensation

Incentive design

Scenario analysis

Forecasting

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, HR, or related field

Tools

Salesforce

Xactly

PowerBI

Excel

Job description

Sales Incentive Manager

the company, Inc. is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth‑focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the company NETWORK, our national publication and local media organizations, and Newsquest, a wholly‑owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and ongoing refinement of sales incentive plans, ensuring alignment with company objectives and desired seller behaviors.
• Develop plan components such as measures, weights, thresholds, accelerators, payout mechanics, and special incentives.
• Evaluate proposed plan changes through scenario modeling and business impact analysis before implementation.
• Analyze plan effectiveness by evaluating seller behavior, attainment distribution, pay‑for‑performance alignment, and ROI on incentive spend.
• Provide recommendations for leadership based on plan performance trends and business outcomes.

• Own the annual incentive planning cycle and support in‑year plan updates as business needs evolve.
• Translate business strategy into practical, supportable compensation plans that can be operationalized with available systems, data, and processes.
• Maintain plan documentation, policy rules, governance standards, and exception management processes to ensure clarity and consistency.

• Partner with key stakeholders to ensure accurate and timely implementation, and operational execution of sales incentive plans.
• Establish strong governance over source data, plan rules, exception handling, policy interpretation, and audit readiness.
• Partner with Finance on investigating and resolving compensation issues, disputes, and discrepancies in a timely and fair manner.

• Develop dashboards on Xactly and PowerBI, regular reporting, and executive‑ready materials on plan performance, commission expense, attainment, and incentive outcomes.
• Clearly communicate plan design, changes, and policy interpretations to Sales, Finance, HR, and business leadership.
• Serve as a trusted subject matter expert on sales incentive plan design, governance, and administration.

• Partner with Sales Leadership, Finance, and HR teams to align incentive plans to company strategy and operational realities.
• Improve processes, controls, workflows, and system capabilities to increase efficiency, transparency, and scalability.
• Conduct market benchmarking and external research to keep plans competitive and aligned with industry practice.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, HR, or a related field.
• Professional certification in sales compensation is a plus (e.g., Certified Compensation Professional (CCP®), Aon Certified Sales Compensation Expert, AIHR Sales Compensation Certificate).
• 5–8+ years of experience in sales compensation, incentive compensation, revenue operations, finance, or sales operations with direct responsibility for incentive plan design and/or administration.
• Experience with incentive compensation platforms and related reporting / planning tools such as Salesforce and Xactly.
• Strong experience with financial modeling, forecasting, and scenario analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and operate successfully in a fast‑paced environment.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• High attention to detail and strong judgment in plan interpretation, policy application, and issue resolution.

Salary

The annualized base salary for this role will range between $110,000 and $130,000. Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications, and experience. Variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and may be applicable based on the role.

EEO Statement

the company, Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a diverse workforce. As such, we will consider all qualified applicants for employment and do not discriminate in connection with employment decisions on the basis of an applicant or employee’s race, color, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, marital status, personal appearance (including height and weight), sexual orientation, family responsibilities, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy status (including childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), education, genetic characteristics or information, political affiliation, military or veteran status or other classifications protected by applicable federal, state and local laws in the jurisdictions where the company employs employees. In addition, the company, Inc. will provide applicants who require a reasonable accommodation, as a result of an applicant’s disability or religion, to complete this employment application and/or any other process in connection with an individual’s application for employment with the company, Inc. Applicants who require such accommodation should contact the company, Inc.’s Recruitment Department at [e-mail]. Applicants must be authorized to work in the applicable location. Applications from outside these regions will be removed from our system after submission.