Compensation Lead

Perplexity•San Francisco, CA

1d•$150,000 - $230,000

About The Position

Perplexity is hiring a Compensation Lead to build its compensation function and manage its day-to-day execution. The role will develop programs and processes that support hiring, recognition, and retention, balancing longer-term structure with timely individual compensation decisions. The goal is a competitive, financially sound, and understandable compensation approach without unnecessary complexity. The Compensation Lead will assess existing practices, data, and tools; develop compensation philosophy and market-positioning recommendations; establish salary ranges and market benchmarks across functions and locations; and partner with People and business leaders on role scope and leveling. The role will serve as the primary partner for offers, promotions, pay adjustments, and compensation questions, and will design and coordinate compensation reviews from planning through accurate implementation. The role will model the cost and employee impact of proposed salary and equity changes, advise leadership on trade-offs, assess pay compression and potential inequities, and build usable processes and guidance for recruiters, managers, and employees. It will also own compensation records, benchmarking resources, reporting, and quality checks, using approved automation and AI tools where appropriate while protecting employee information and verifying results.

Requirements

Experience establishing or substantially rebuilding compensation frameworks and processes with limited infrastructure, and remaining accountable for running them after launch.
Hands-on experience with market pricing, salary ranges, cash and equity programs, compensation reviews, and individual pay recommendations.
Ability to build and audit models, reconcile imperfect data, explain assumptions, and assess when benchmarks are or are not suitable comparisons.
Ability to turn analysis into clear recommendations, discuss trade-offs with leadership, and constructively challenge approaches that are not working.
Ability to set priorities, build workable processes, manage urgent requests, and maintain progress on longer-term work through independent, hands-on execution.
Comfort designing compensation programs and personally checking the underlying data.
Ability to handle sensitive information carefully and explain compensation decisions clearly to recruiters, managers, and employees.

Responsibilities

Assess existing compensation practices, data, and tools; prioritize gaps and recommend compensation philosophy, market positioning, and cash and equity guidelines.
Develop salary ranges and market benchmarks, establishing a consistent approach to pricing roles across functions and locations.
Partner with People and business leaders on job scope and leveling, and explain the usefulness and limitations of market data.
Own day-to-day compensation decisions for offers, promotions, pay adjustments, and compensation questions; evaluate recommendations against market data, internal equity, and budget, and establish clear exception approval paths.
Design and run compensation reviews, including the calendar, planning models, manager guidance, and approval process.
Coordinate with Finance, People Operations, Payroll, and equity partners to ensure decisions are accurately implemented.
Model the cost and employee impact of proposed salary and equity program changes; present recommendations and trade-offs to leadership and execute approved decisions.
Assess pay compression and potential inequities across teams, levels, and locations; partner with People leadership and Legal on reviews and recommend actions.
Establish decision records, recruiter and manager guidance, and clear explanations of compensation programs; improve recurring workflows to support consistent decisions.
Establish reliable compensation records, select and manage benchmarking resources, and improve reporting and data quality checks.
Use approved automation and AI tools when helpful, with appropriate protection of employee information and verification of results.