Compensation Manager

Salt Lake City Corporation•Louisville, KY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Compensation Manager is a strategic, forward-thinking leader responsible for designing and administering the City’s compensation and job classification programs. This role oversees pay structures, job classification, market analysis, incentive programs and compensation analytics that inform key workforce decisions. The Compensation Manager ensures compensation programs are competitive, equitable, legally compliant and aligned with organizational goals. As the City’s lead compensation expert, this role provides data-driven insights and recommendations to support compensation decisions and labor negotiations, helping shape sustainable and fiscally responsible wage strategies.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Human Resources, Public Administration, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field and five to eight years of progressively responsible Human Resources experience including compensation administration.
Ability to perform complex modeling, salary benchmarking, and quantitative research to maintain equitable pay structures.
Knowledge of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), EEOC, and state/local employment laws specific to the public sector.
Skill in administering and interpreting employee compensation plans, union contracts, and city policies from a compensation perspective.
Expertise in managing Human Resource Information Systems (e.g., Workday, SAP, or PeopleSoft) and Excel for data visualization.
Ability to translate complex data into clear reports for city leadership and explain compensation decisions to diverse employee groups.

Nice To Haves

Master of Public Administration (MPA) or Master of Business Administration (MBA).
Direct experience in public sector/government HR is highly preferred.
Certified Compensation Professional (CCP).
SHRM-CP/SCP, SPHR, or IPMA-SCP (International Public Management Association for HR) certification.

Responsibilities

Leads the development, implementation, design, and maintenance of the city's official classification and compensation plans.
Conducts ongoing audits of job descriptions to ensure accurate classification and alignment with city-wide job structures.
Supervises a team of analysts and specialists, providing daily oversight of their workloads and performance.
Leads annual market salary surveys and equity studies to ensure the city remains competitive in attracting and retaining talent.
Manages, coordinates, and supports the city’s Citizens Compensation Advisory Committee (CCAC), including draft and transmittal of the Committee’s annual report due March 1 of each calendar year.
Collaborates and provides strategic guidance and recommendations to departments in order to forecast costs for pay plan changes and operate within allocated program budgets.
Serves as the lead subject matter expert to provide recommendations, real-time data and technical advice to the primary labor relations negotiator regarding the feasibility of wage and benefit proposals.
Drafts and reviews proposed contract language related to wage scales, shift differentials, and other pay allowances to ensure technical accuracy and administrative feasibility.
Coordinates with Finance and Budget teams to ensure that all proposed wage settlements align with the city's long-term fiscal plans and legislative funding mandates.
Directs the implementation of newly negotiated wage tables into payroll and HRIS systems, ensuring accurate application of pay grades and effective dates.
Interprets and translates ratified collective bargaining agreements into actionable pay rules within the HRIS system.
Effectively builds and maintains relationships of trust with peers, outside partners, vendors, and third-party compensation providers.
Performs other duties as assigned.