Director, Incentive Compensation Operations

Workday • Salt Lake, UT

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Incentive Compensation Operations leads a global team of managers and analysts responsible for accurate, timely, and compliant incentive payouts and for representing incentive programs to the field. The role partners across go-to-market (GTM), Sales, Operations, Finance, Business Technology, People and Purpose, and Legal.

The director oversees compensation plan implementation and administration, including system builds and testing, participant setup, commission calculations, payroll submissions, audits, reconciliations, manual programs, and dispute resolution. The role also owns operational compliance and SOX controls, seller support and help desk processes, reporting, and the technology strategy for variable compensation administration. It defines and executes a roadmap to improve the Compensation Operations function, including process improvements, automation, and AI adoption.

The position is listed with a primary location of USA.CA.Home Office Bay Area and follows Workday’s Flex Work approach: at least half of each quarter is spent in the office or in the field with customers, prospects, and partners. Remote home-office employees may also come together in offices for important occasions. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of experience in variable compensation, operations, or related work.
• At least 5 years of experience in the high-tech industry.
• At least 5 years of people-management experience.
• Experience running and implementing enterprise-level Incentive Compensation Management systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or another business-related field.
• Experience with the Xactly commission system.
• Experience managing ticketing and help desk programs.
• Strong experience managing a global team of managers and analysts.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate about passionately held topics at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to manage and prioritize competing activities and initiatives across the role’s scope.
• Ability to adapt to rapid business and organizational changes in a high-growth environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead a global team of managers and analysts to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant incentive payouts and represent incentive programs to the field.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across GTM, Sales, Operations, Finance, Business Technology, People and Purpose, and Legal.
• Manage compensation plan implementation in compensation system tools, translating plan designs into technical build requirements.
• Own end-to-end User Acceptance Testing for implementation builds.
• Manage annual participant setup in the compensation system and audit it for accuracy, compliance, and alignment to GTM objectives.
• Drive automation initiatives to eliminate manual workflows and enable self-service.
• Track implementation bugs and manage their resolution.
• Oversee commission calculations, accounting, and payout submissions to payroll teams.
• Audit upstream data for anomalies and pursue resolutions; audit monthly payment amounts for accuracy.
• Oversee investigative and reconciliation analyses to resolve issues.
• Participate in dispute resolution and escalation, acting as the intake point in partnership with revenue operations teams.
• Action exception outcomes in a timely manner.
• Manage manual programs, including SPIFF processing.
• Define the technology strategy and ensure appropriate tools and systems are in place to administer variable compensation plans effectively and efficiently.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and internal policies, including execution of SOX compliance controls.
• Provide accurate incentive accruals to Finance.
• Own the ticketing and help desk program, defining intake, routing, resolution processes, and SLAs.
• Define and execute seller-facing experience improvements, including holding office hours.
• Develop automated reporting dashboards to flag compensation inaccuracies and issues.
• Produce variable compensation performance reporting, analyze plan effectiveness, and provide insights to centralized and regional Sales, Finance, and HR leadership.
• Feed observations back to Design and Policy stakeholders to improve end-to-end program effectiveness.
• Define and execute a near- and long-term strategy and roadmap for enhancing the Compensation Operations function, covering people, systems, and processes.
• Drive continuous improvement and scale through process upgrades and AI adoption.

Benefits

• The role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus.
• The role may be eligible for annual refresh stock grants.
• Workday describes its benefits as comprehensive, but specific benefits are not listed in the posting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director