Director, Incentive Compensation

Attentive

1d•$180,000 - $270,000

About The Position

Attentive is seeking a Director, Incentive Compensation to lead incentive planning and operations across eligible go-to-market roles, as well as oversee non-GTM bonus tracking and accruals. The role works with business leaders to develop compensation plans that reward desired outcomes while supporting growth and sound deal economics. It builds and tests compensation models, analyzes plan effectiveness and costs, and presents recommendations and clear financial analysis to senior leadership. The Director owns commission operations from calculation and validation through reconciliation, approval, and delivery to Payroll. The role maintains plan documentation and policies, partners with People, Legal, Accounting, Payroll, FP&A, Revenue Operations, and business systems teams, and improves compensation systems, data quality, and automation. It also leads and develops the compensation team and helps managers and employees understand their plans through rollout materials and ongoing communication.

Requirements

At least 8 years of relevant experience in incentive compensation, incentive design, or related Finance or Revenue Operations roles, with ownership of both plan design and administration.
Experience managing and developing a team; ideally, at least two years of people management.
Experience designing and operating incentive programs in a SaaS, technology, or similarly complex business.
Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including scenario modeling, tracing calculations to their source, and identifying invalid assumptions.
Practical experience with incentive compensation platforms and Salesforce data, with an understanding of how contract terms, bookings, billing, and payouts connect.
Sound business judgment and the ability to constructively challenge proposals while balancing employee motivation, financial discipline, and ease of administration.
Clear communication skills with executives, managers, and employees, including the ability to explain complex plans and difficult payout decisions.
Care in handling sensitive information and attention to detail during busy payout and planning cycles.
Experience with consumption-based revenue, margin-based incentives, and expansion and retention plans.
Direct experience with commission management platforms such as Xactly or equivalent SPM systems.

Nice To Haves

At least two years of people management experience.
Experience with Xactly, the preferred commission management platform.

Responsibilities

Lead annual incentive planning for Sales, Account Management, Customer Success, and other eligible go-to-market roles, defining performance measures, pay mix, payout curves, accelerators, and plan rules with leaders.
Track and report non-GTM bonus plans, including executive bonuses, and work with Accounting on accruals.
Evaluate how pricing, contract terms, customer commitments, usage, and deal margin affect payouts; recommend changes that support growth without encouraging poor deal economics.
Build and test compensation models showing the effects of attainment levels and plan structures on employee earnings and company costs; explain tradeoffs and help leaders make decisions.
Own commission operations, including calculations, validation, reconciliation, approvals, delivery to Payroll, timely and accurate payouts, clear statements, and resolution of questions.
Maintain plan documentation and consistent policies for crediting, ramp periods, guarantees, role changes, adjustments, and exceptions; coordinate controls and approvals with People, Legal, Accounting, and Payroll.
Assess plan effectiveness by tracking attainment, payout distributions, commission costs, and the behaviors plans encourage; distinguish actual results from forecast assumptions and make recommendations.
Improve compensation systems and data in partnership with Revenue Operations and business systems teams, including requirements, testing, and data quality; use automation and AI where they reduce manual work or improve accuracy and customer experience.
Lead and develop the compensation team by setting responsibilities, reviewing work, and coaching team members through complex questions.
Help managers and employees understand compensation plans through rollout materials and ongoing communication.
Partner with FP&A and Accounting on commission forecasts, accruals, reconciliations, and variance explanations; prepare analysis for senior leadership.