Senior Compensation Specialist

Sentara Health; Virginia; Hybrid; USD 101,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition Assistance

Employer Match 401k/403B

Paid Time Off

Staff bonus opportunities

Job summary

Sentara Health seeks a Senior Compensation Specialist to drive market analyses, job evaluations, and pay reviews. You will advise leadership on compensation strategy, structure, and pay decisions, aligning programs with market, internal equity, and business needs.

The role collaborates with Talent Acquisition and HR partners to support offers and workforce planning. With 5+ years in compensation and advanced Excel skills, you’ll influence annual processes, governance, and data-driven insights

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive compensation experience including market pricing and job evaluation.
• Experience supporting Talent Acquisition with complex offer strategy and negotiations.
• Ability to interpret compensation philosophy, policies, and governance.
• Advanced Excel modeling and large dataset manipulation.
• Experience with HRIS and compensation planning tools (Workday & MarketPay).

Responsibilities

• Lead complex market analyses, job evaluations, and organizational pay reviews.
• Provide expert recommendations on compensation strategy, structure and pay decisions.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition, HRBPs and leadership to support hiring and retention.
• Support annual compensation processes with data validation and governance.

Skills

Market pricing

Job evaluation

Internal equity analysis

Advanced Excel

HRIS data analysis

Offer strategy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR / related field

Tools

Workday

MarketPay

Job description

City/State Norfolk, VA Work Shift First (Days) Overview: The Senior Compensation Specialist serves as a strategic and consultative partner to HR and business leadership, responsible for delivering advanced compensation analysis and guidance across the organization. This role plays a critical part in ensuring compensation programs are market competitive, internally equitable, and aligned with organizational strategy, workforce needs, and financial objectives. Operating with a high degree of independence, the Senior Compensation Specialist leads complex market analyses, job evaluations, and organizational pay reviews, providing expert recommendations on compensation strategy, job structure, and pay decisions. This position partners closely with Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, and leadership to support hiring strategies, workforce planning, and retention initiatives. The role also supports annual compensation processes through rigorous data validation, auditing, and insight generation, ensuring accurate and effective program outcomes. The Senior Specialist translates complex data into clear, actionable guidance and contributes to continuous improvement of compensation practices, tools, and governance frameworks.

Education Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Analytics, or related field Certification/Licensure Preferred: Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) Experience Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in compensation, including market pricing, job evaluation, and internal equity analysis Demonstrated experience supporting Talent Acquisition with complex offer strategy and negotiations Proven ability to interpret compensation philosophy, policies, and governance frameworks in complex situations Experience developing data-driven insights and recommendations for HR and business partners Advanced Excel skills, including modeling, scenario analysis, and large dataset manipulation Experience working with HRIS and compensation planning tools (Workday & MarketPay preferred)

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, and benefits. The base pay range for full-time employment is $101,337.60 - $151,860.80 annually. Additional compensation may be available for this role, such as shift differentials, standby/on-call pay, shift premiums, extra-shift incentives, or bonus opportunities. Compensation within the range may vary based on qualifications, experience, location, market conditions, and business needs. Note: If an annual salary is posted, it is based on a full-time colleague working 2,080 hours annually.

Sentara offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; 401(k)/403(b) with employer match; paid time off (vacation, sick time, and holidays); paid parental and military leave; educational assistance or student loan repayment; and voluntary benefits.

Benefits:

• Caring For Your Family and Your Career
• Medical, Dental, Vision plans
• Adoption, Fertility and Surrogacy Reimbursement up to $10,000
• Paid Time Off and Sick Leave
• Paid Parental & Family Caregiver Leave
• Emergency Backup Care
• Long-Term, Short-Term Disability, and Critical Illness plans
• Life Insurance
• 401k/403B with Employer Match
• Tuition Assistance – $5,250/year and discounted educational opportunities through Guild Education
• Student Debt Pay Down – $10,000
• Pet Insurance
• Legal Resources Plan
• Colleagues have the opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus if established system and employee eligibility criteria is met.

Sentara Health is an equal opportunity employer and prides itself on the diversity and inclusiveness of its close to an almost 30,000-member workforce. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging is a guiding principle of the organization to ensure its workforce reflects the communities it serves. In support of our mission “to improve health every day,” this is a tobacco-free environment. For positions that are available as remote work, Sentara Health employs associates in the following states: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Sentara Health is a Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina based not-for-profit integrated healthcare provider that has been in business for over 131 years. Offering hundreds of sites of care including 12 hospitals, PACE, home health, hospice, medical groups, imaging services, therapy, outpatient surgery centers, and an 858,000 member health plan. The people of the communities that we serve have nominated Sentara “Employer of Choice” for over ten years. U.S. News and World Report has recognized Sentara as having the Best Hospitals for 15+ years. Sentara offers professional development and a continued employment philosophy!