Total Rewards Leader: Comp & Benefits, Pathways

Whelen Engineering, Inc.; Cedar Lake (CT); On-site; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Whelen Engineering, Inc. in Chester, CT seeks a Total Rewards Manager to lead compensation, job architecture, salary bands, and benefits governance. The role shapes market pricing, merit planning, and Total Rewards strategy as a hands-on functional leader.

You will partner with Finance, HR Business Partners, and HR Operations to administer programs, provide market data, and drive consistent pay decisions, reporting to HR leadership.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive HR experience.
• 3+ years focused on compensation or Total Rewards.
• Experience administering compensation programs, salary structures, and merit processes.
• Experience governing job architecture, levels, and market pricing.
• Strong analytical skills with Excel modeling.
• Ability to partner with HR Business Partners and Finance on compensation decisions.
• Knowledge of benefits programs and vendor partnerships.
• Clear communication of compensation decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day administration and governance of Whelen's compensation programs, job architecture, Career Pathways, and salary structures.
• Maintain job families, levels, titles, and salary bands; evaluate new or changing roles and ensure consistent job mapping and market positioning.
• Conduct market pricing and benchmarking, maintain compensation survey sources, and recommend updates to salary structures and pay practices.
• Maintain practical compensation guidelines and decision tools for offers, promotions, internal moves, retention adjustments, and other pay actions.
• Use the job architecture and salary bands as the foundation for consistent pay and career decisions across the organization.
• Lead the annual merit and salary planning cycle in partnership with Finance, HR Business Partners, and HRIS & HR Operations.

Skills

HR experience

Compensation

Job architecture

Data analysis

Cross-functional partnering

Benefits knowledge

Education

HR credentials (CCP/GRP/SHRM-CP/SCP/PHR/SPHR)

Tools

Workday

Job description

Whelen Engineering, Inc. in Chester, CT seeks a Total Rewards Manager to lead compensation, job architecture, salary bands, and benefits governance. The role shapes market pricing, merit planning, and Total Rewards strategy as a hands-on functional leader.

You will partner with Finance, HR Business Partners, and HR Operations to administer programs, provide market data, and drive consistent pay decisions, reporting to HR leadership.