Director, Total Rewards & HR AI Transformation

Ayar Labs•San Jose, CA

7d•Remote

About The Position

Ayar Labs is seeking a visionary, highly analytical, and innovative Director of Total Rewards & HR AI Transformation to lead our global compensation, benefits, and operational infrastructure. This is a uniquely high-impact role designed for a forward-thinking Total Rewards leader who views compensation and benefits not just as traditional corporate functions, but as strategic levers to drive business performance, optimize organizational velocity, and build an unmatched employee experience. As a first mover in HR-focused AI automation, you will have a dual mandate: architecture and automation. You will design, scale, and govern world-class total rewards architectures across both private and public company life cycles. Simultaneously, you will champion our artificial intelligence roadmap across people operations, deploying intelligent systems to drive step-function increases in institutional efficiency and execution effectiveness.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, with at least 8+ years focused squarely within Total Rewards (Compensation & Benefits) design and execution.
Proven track record of managing compensation through major inflection points, spanning venture-backed private organizations, pre-IPO transitions, and active public markets governed by rigorous SEC and SOX compliance rules.
Practical experience overseeing compensation frameworks across diverse geographies, including managing regional cost-to-company (CTC) structures, alternative visa constraints (e.g., prevailing wage minimums), and international benefit compliance.
Demonstrable, hands-on experience experimenting with or implementing AI automation, advanced enterprise HCM data architectures (e.g., Bamboo, Paycor, Radford/Aon databases), and business intelligence visualization suites.
Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Economics, Mathematics, Finance, or a related quantitative field.
High integrity, exceptional analytical capabilities, and world-class communication skills.
Expert at distilling hyper-complex financial, mathematical, and regulatory compensation datasets into crisp, compelling strategic narratives for our Board of Directors, executive leadership team, and global workforce.

Nice To Haves

Advanced statistical capabilities; expert-level data modeling; ability to derive macroeconomic insights and strategic roadmaps from highly fragmented compensation and corporate data structures.
Exceptional skill in narrative positioning. Ability to translate dense quantitative modeling into persuasive presentations for board members, and empathetic, accessible communication for employees.
Maintains absolute confidentiality and ethical execution regarding executive compensation, insider equity protocols, performance evaluations, and high-stakes data protection laws.
A natural curiosity and hands-on technological agility to pilot and champion nascent software platforms, AI applications, and unconventional total reward frameworks.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and optimize highly competitive broad-based and executive compensation frameworks (including equity strategy, salary structures, geographic differentials, and variable incentive plans) tailored to both high-growth private structures and public market compliance.
Partner intimately with the Chief People Officer and Compensation Partner to prepare materials for the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Serve as an expert on executive peer groups, market benchmarking, run-rate and overhang metrics, and proxy statement positioning.
Architect cost-effective, scalable global compensation frameworks that align internal equity with local market realities, particularly across major tech corridors (e.g., San Jose / Silicon Valley) and expanding global engineering sites.
Lead systemic audits regarding global pay equity, salary history bans, and transparency mandates, ensuring rock-solid regulatory alignment while maintaining competitive talent positioning.
Design an innovative, modern health and wellness strategy focused on maximizing employee physical, mental, and financial well-being while rigorously managing corporate cost curves.
Leverage data-driven insights to negotiate, audit, and manage health insurance brokers, third-party administrators, 401(k) / retirement fiduciaries, and international perks to extract maximum fiscal value and service levels.
Shift benefits from an administrative chore into a high-satisfaction talent retention asset through automated onboarding, intuitive self-service technologies, and transparent communication campaigns.
Act as the primary architect for integrating generative AI, agentic workflows, and machine learning models into core People Operations infrastructure.
Automate data collection, validation, and submission for complex statutory filings (e.g., local Department of Labor wage filings, equity allocations, and benefit enrollment patterns) to minimize manual overhead and eradicate operational latency.
Deploy AI-driven predictive modeling platforms to flag attrition vectors, model complex salary compression scenarios, project financial outcomes of equity pool refreshes, and provide automated, bespoke compensation planning advice to line managers.