Sr Associate, Sales Operations

Tempus AI•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Tempus AI is seeking a Senior Associate to act as a strategic partner to the oncology and neuropsychiatry commercial leadership teams. This role moves beyond tactical administration to serve as the operational anchor for incentive strategy, sales analytics, and performance optimization. You will own the end-to-end incentive compensation cycle, spanning plan design, quota setting, payout calculation, and CEO Circle administration, for the somatic field organization (OCAE, CAA, and neuropsychiatry roles), and pair it with the business analytics that explain field performance. You will bridge the gap between raw data and commercial strategy, enabling leadership to make informed, agile business decisions that accelerate growth and optimize field force effectiveness. You will own the operational integrity of our compensation and reporting frameworks while providing proactive, data-driven insights that directly influence business outcomes.

Requirements

BA/BS in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or related quantitative field.
5+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, Operations Analyst, or in sales operations, including at least 2 years working directly on incentive compensation, quota setting, or sales performance analytics.
Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and draw actionable insights.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels, including presenting to sales leadership.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including building and maintaining models others rely on.
Experience working with BI tools such as Looker, Tableau, or Alteryx and/or proficiency in SQL, Python, or other analytical languages.
Experience working with CRM tools such as Salesforce.
Ability to work independently, owning a deliverable from ambiguous request to finished answer, and as part of a team in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy with the judgment to know when a number is wrong before anyone else sees it.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize effectively.
Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to identifying and resolving issues.

Nice To Haves

Life-science or diagnostics experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the structural integrity of incentive compensation plans, leveraging advanced modeling to drive desired sales behaviors while ensuring financial sustainability.
Translate commercial strategy into tailored incentive programs that are competitive, compliant, and clearly communicated to the field organization.
Conduct market and competitor benchmarking to keep plan design aligned with life-science industry standards.
Partner with Finance, HR, and Legal to confirm plans are affordable, defensible, and compliant with applicable regulations before they go to the field.
Design and administer special incentive programs and the annual CEO Circle award, including criteria design, eligibility tracking, standings communication, and final selection.
Serve as a subject matter expert, proactively analyzing performance trends to refine compensation design, quota allocation, and resource distribution.
Build challenging, fair, and achievable quotas for representatives and managers across the somatic and neuropsychiatry field teams, using historical performance, market potential, and territory-level opportunity.
Develop and maintain the data-driven allocation models that distribute the national goal down to area, region, and territory, and stress-test them for equity before release.
Review and adjust quotas through the year for territory changes, market shifts, and business objectives, documenting the rationale for every change.
Communicate quota expectations and attainment tracking to the field clearly enough that a rep can explain their own number.
Drive strategic discovery by proactively mining complex datasets to identify underlying growth drivers, market trends, and emerging business risks.
Translate raw data into clear, succinct, and executive-ready narratives that provide the "so what" behind performance trends.
Build and maintain robust BI dashboards covering product volume trends, account retention, and ordering-provider behavior and reporting ecosystems that empower leadership to make real-time, data-backed decisions.
Connect data across the warehouse, CRM, and finance sources to isolate performance drivers and quantify business impact.
Use CRM reporting (Salesforce) to turn around ad-hoc requests from field sales and commercial leadership.
Maintain the systems and reporting that track territory, product, and sales-team metrics as alignments and the portfolio change.
Lead the execution of compensation cycles, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and timely delivery for the field organization.
Run the payout process end to end: calculate incentive payouts against plan, reconcile and audit results each cycle, and resolve rep and manager inquiries or disputes.
Automate manual steps in the comp and reporting cycle to cut cycle time and reduce error rates.
Act as a trusted advisor and conduit between commercial leadership, finance, and operations to resolve complex operational challenges.
Continuously audit and improve internal processes to minimize friction, enhance scalability, and maintain data integrity across CRM and sales systems.
Mentor junior analysts and set the documentation and QC standard for the team's recurring deliverables.