Director, Total Rewards & Payroll (REQ921)

Spartech•Maryland Heights, MO

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Spartech is hiring a hands-on Director to operationalize and run its compensation philosophy, architecture, and annual calendar across an approximately 800-employee, 11-facility organization. The Chief People Officer owns the design of the philosophy and governance model in partnership with the CEO and Board of Directors; this role owns the systems, processes, data, and day-to-day execution. Responsibilities include maintaining grade structures and salary bands, market refreshes, annual merit and incentive cycles, manager calibration, internal equity and exception governance, payroll oversight, and support for the Compensation Advisory Group. The role partners with Finance and the operating business, working with a lean HR team and external partners for surveys and selected projects while retaining ownership of execution and outcomes. The Director will execute the compensation architecture and annual calendar; administer merit, promotion, and short-term incentive processes; maintain internal-equity, pay-transparency, retention, and exception processes; coach managers and plant leaders; partner with Finance on budget and workforce-cost planning; manage market-survey data; oversee payroll operations and process improvements; and prepare materials for the Compensation Advisory Group. The position is based in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Spartech offers competitive salary, incentives, and benefit programs, with most benefits starting on day one.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive experience in compensation and total rewards.
Hands-on ownership of job architecture, band maintenance, annual merit and incentive cycles, and exception governance in a mid-sized, multi-site industrial or manufacturing environment; mixed hourly and salaried experience is preferred.
Ability to operationalize a written compensation philosophy—including median base with earned total-cash upside, hard differentiation, and safety/conduct gates—rather than design one from scratch.
Experience running a disciplined annual calendar and calibration process in which managers who do not complete the work do not award increases.
Ability to operate as a team of one, combining strategic execution with hands-on work, and partner effectively with a Chief People Officer, Finance, and plant leaders.
Strong analytical skills, including Excel modeling, HRIS reporting, and survey data analysis.
Experience maintaining confidential band books and exception logs.
Excellent coaching and influence skills with managers and plant leaders, and ability to enforce consistent standards without adding bureaucracy.
Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Finance, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a private-equity portfolio company or similar industrial turnaround environment.
CCP or equivalent certification.
Experience overseeing payroll accuracy and process improvement.
Experience in an industrial or manufacturing environment with mixed hourly and salaried employees.

Responsibilities

Maintain and refresh the single grade structure, market reference points, and salary bands on a 12-month cycle, including off-cycle updates when role-family or plant entry rates change materially.
Partner with the Chief People Officer to understand business shifts and areas for targeted compensation strategies.
Run the annual compensation calendar, from August strategy alignment through July mid-year review, ensuring scorecards, objectives, calibration, merit loading, bonus determinations, and employee conversations are completed on schedule and within budget.
Operationalize merit and promotion guidelines so increases reflect performance and criticality while providing appropriate discretion across ratings.
Administer the short-term incentive framework, including pool funding rules and proration, and ensure individual objectives are set by the end of Q1 and visible in one system for measurement.
Establish and run recurring annual internal-equity reviews and pay-transparency decisions consistent with the compensation philosophy.
Maintain the exception and approval log for decisions outside bands, policy, or cycle, and prepare exception materials for the Compensation Advisory Group.
Administer the two-track retention framework, maintain the named critical high-performer list, and enforce conditions and reporting requirements for diving-catch exceptions.
Enforce approval requirements for offers above midpoint and ensure offers above maximum are treated as exceptions with guidance and/or development plans.
Coach supervisors, managers, and plant leaders on the compensation philosophy, objective writing, calibration standards, and limits on commitments they may make.
Require completion of calibration sessions before ratings are accepted and return incomplete files.
Partner with Finance on merit and bonus pool modeling, scenario planning, and workforce-cost governance within approved budgets.
Translate plant-level principles—including local entry rates, standardized shift differentials, overtime as a staffing tool, and learn-and-do progression—into a simple, consistent plant standard.
Manage participation in industrial and manufacturing salary surveys and translate results into band and entry-rate updates aligned with peer-set and local-versus-national market rules.
Maintain the survey inventory and peer-set definition, and manage annual market-data spending within the established planning range.
Monitor critical-role and scarce-skill markets so range corrections are proactive.
Oversee payroll operations, whether processed by the existing team or a vendor, with a focus on accuracy, multi-state compliance, and reducing employee-visible defects.
Identify and implement process improvements that support the annual calendar and exception reporting without adding administrative burden.
Prepare concise books and materials for the Compensation Advisory Group's November, February, and July meetings, covering market movement, band refresh outcomes, diving-catch log, planned retention list, and cycle-run confirmation.
Ensure the Compensation Advisory Group sees executive and management outcomes and exceptions, but not plant-level rates or individual names below the Executive Leadership Team.