Senior Manager, Compensation & Total Rewards — Hybrid

The Andrew W Mellon Foundation; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work schedule

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

The Mellon Foundation is seeking a Senior Manager, Compensation to lead the design, implementation, and ongoing management of the organization’s total rewards programs. Reporting to the Director, Total Rewards, this role drives compensation frameworks, salary structures, and governance to ensure market-competitive, equitable pay aligned with the Foundation’s mission.

The position collaborates with HR, Finance, Payroll, and external consultants to deliver scalable processes, analytics, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Economics, or related field.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in compensation, total rewards, HR consulting, or a related field.
• Experience designing or enhancing compensation programs, job architecture frameworks, salary structures, and compensation policies.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional projects from planning through implementation.
• Strong expertise in compensation benchmarking, market pricing, job evaluation, and workforce analytics.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience with HRIS platforms and reporting tools.
• Exceptional analytical, communication, consulting, and stakeholder management skills.
• High degree of discretion, judgment, and commitment to confidentiality; CCP certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Director, Total Rewards to build and implement the Foundation's compensation strategy, philosophy, programs, and governance framework.
• Lead the development and maintenance of compensation structures, salary ranges, job families, career levels, and compensation guidelines.
• Design and document scalable compensation processes that support organizational growth and evolving workforce needs.
• Develop and maintain compensation policies, procedures, and decision-making frameworks that ensure consistency, transparency, and compliance.
• Support the development of Board and executive leadership compensation materials and analyses.
• Serve as the project manager for major compensation initiatives, including job architecture development, market pricing projects, compensation program redesigns, pay equity assessments, and annual compensation cycles.
• Build project plans, timelines, stakeholder engagement strategies, communication plans, and implementation frameworks for compensation initiatives.
• Coordinate cross-functional workstreams involving HR, Finance, Payroll, Legal, HRIS, and external consultants.
• Lead the design, implementation, and ongoing management of the Foundation's job architecture and leveling framework.
• Conduct job evaluations, organizational assessments, and position reviews to ensure consistency and internal equity.
• Establish and maintain methodologies for market pricing and compensation benchmarking.
• Analyze workforce data to identify compensation trends, compression concerns, pay equity considerations, and competitive positioning.
• Oversee day-to-day compensation processes and ensure operational excellence across compensation transactions and programs.
• Ensure compensation data integrity across HRIS, payroll, and reporting platforms.
• Provide guidance on compensation actions including hiring, promotions, transfers, reorganizations, and retention considerations.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to managers and HR colleagues on compensation policies, practices, and decision-making.
• Support and oversee annual compensation planning processes, including merit, promotional, and market adjustment programs.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, automation, accuracy, and scalability of compensation administration.
• Monitor compensation-related regulatory requirements and emerging best practices.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation and governance controls for compensation programs and decisions.
• Develop dashboards, reporting tools, and executive-level presentations that provide insights into compensation effectiveness and trends.
• Deliver training, education, and communication materials that improve manager understanding of compensation practices and philosophy.
• Build strong partnerships across Finance, Payroll, HRIS, Legal, and business functions to support effective program execution.

Skills

Advanced Excel skills

HRIS experience

Stakeholder management

Strong communication

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/related field

CCP certification preferred

Tools

HRIS platforms

Reporting tools

Job description

The Mellon Foundation is seeking a Senior Manager, Compensation to lead the design, implementation, and ongoing management of the organization’s total rewards programs. Reporting to the Director, Total Rewards, this role drives compensation frameworks, salary structures, and governance to ensure market-competitive, equitable pay aligned with the Foundation’s mission.

The position collaborates with HR, Finance, Payroll, and external consultants to deliver scalable processes, analytics, and