Compensation lead

Watershed • San Francisco, CA

2d • $166,500 - $200,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Watershed is hiring a hands-on individual contributor to lead its global compensation program across the U.S., EMEA, Australia, and Mexico City. The role is the company’s sole dedicated compensation position and owns an established, increasingly complex program. Reporting to the Head of People, the Compensation Lead partners with Finance, People Business Partners, Recruiting, People Operations, business leaders, founders, Legal, and Revenue Operations. The role develops compensation strategy through analysis and recommendations while independently managing program execution, budgeting, planning, education, and rollout.

A major focus is improving compensation tools and planning workflows by replacing manual work with reliable data and well-tested systems. The role manages compensation cycles, global benchmarking, employee and manager education, compensation advising, data quality and controls, and executive compensation implementation. Benefits and sales incentive design are owned by other teams.

The position requires working from an office four days per week where Watershed has an office, except for roles explicitly designated as remote. The job description does not specify this position as remote.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of compensation experience, or equivalent depth of expertise, including hands-on ownership of compensation programs and cycles.
• Experience managing compensation programs at technology companies, including SaaS businesses, and understanding how cash and equity support hiring, performance, and retention.
• Strong compensation fundamentals, including market pricing, survey participation, job matching, salary ranges, cash and equity compensation, and budget modeling.
• Experience implementing or materially improving compensation planning tools, including configuration, testing, rollout, and adoption, and the ability to translate compensation rules into workflows.
• Advanced spreadsheet skills and ability to build and audit complex models.
• Hands-on experience with U.S. compensation practices and experience supporting compensation in at least one other country; ability to learn unfamiliar local requirements and work effectively with regional experts.
• Ability to turn complex compensation concepts into clear employee education, manager guidance, and leadership recommendations.
• Practical fluency with AI tools and prompt engineering; willingness to use them to improve analysis, documentation, and recurring workflows; ability to validate outputs and protect sensitive compensation data.
• Strong project management, attention to detail, and discretion; ability to prioritize independently, follow through, and deliver trusted work.
• Comfort with ambiguity and genuine interest in serving as a hands-on, sole compensation specialist with strong cross-functional partners.
• Must be willing to work from an office four days per week, except for remote roles.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting compensation in Mexico.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve compensation planning tools, models, and workflows to strengthen reliability, usability, and efficiency; identify new capabilities, reduce manual work, and recommend tools and process improvements.
• Run compensation cycles end to end, including timelines, eligibility, cash and equity modeling, budget tracking, approvals, data validation, and final handoffs; partner with Finance and People Operations to implement approved decisions accurately and on time.
• Lead global benchmarking by validating market data and job matches, managing survey participation, maintaining compensation ranges across functions and geographies, documenting assumptions, and flagging outdated benchmarks.
• Help employees understand compensation and equity; equip managers to communicate decisions and recruiters to explain programs to candidates; develop guides, FAQs, training, and cycle communications, and help deliver education across time zones.
• Advise Recruiting, People Business Partners, and leaders on offers, promotions, role changes, and compensation questions, providing clear, data-backed recommendations and explaining trade-offs.
• Maintain accurate compensation records, documented decision rules, appropriate checks, and access controls; improve reporting and reduce recurring manual work using approved automation and AI while protecting employee information and verifying outputs.
• Prepare analyses and models for executive compensation programs, coordinate approvals, and implement approved decisions with the Head of People, founders, Finance, and Legal.
• Coordinate with Finance, Legal, People Operations, and Revenue Operations on local requirements, compensation data, and implementation. Benefits and sales incentive design are owned elsewhere.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed