Sr. Manager, Sales Incentive Compensation

Wheels Up • ,

2d • $160,000 - $180,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Sales Incentive Compensation leads the enterprise strategy, governance, design, administration, and optimization of sales incentive compensation programs across the organization. This role serves as a senior strategic advisor to Executive Leadership, Sales, Finance, HR, and Legal to ensure compensation programs effectively drive profitable growth, reinforce business priorities, mitigate risk, and deliver measurable return on investment.
The role requires extensive expertise in incentive compensation strategy, organizational consulting, analytics, governance, external market benchmarking, financial modeling, and operational leadership. The Senior Manager will lead complex compensation initiatives, oversee enterprise plan administration and governance, influence executive decision-making, and drive continuous improvement in compensation effectiveness, scalability, and operational excellence. This role may also lead and develop a team responsible for compensation administration, analytics, and program execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Finance, Business, Economics, Analytics, or related field.
• 7-10 years of progressive experience in sales incentive compensation, total rewards, sales operations, finance, consulting, or compensation advisory environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in: Enterprise sales incentive compensation strategy and design, Governance, compliance, and risk management, Commission operations and administration, Compensation analytics and financial modeling, Executive consulting and stakeholder management, Incentive plan ROI evaluation and optimization.
• Proven experience advising executive and senior sales leadership in complex organizational environments.
• Strong understanding of market pricing methodologies and external sales compensation benchmarking practices.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide compensation initiatives and cross-functional projects.
• Advanced expertise in Excel-based financial modeling, compensation analytics, and scenario analysis.
• Experience with sales compensation and analytics platforms such as: Xactly, CaptivateIQ, Varicent, Anaplan, Salesforce, Power BI, Tableau.
• Strong analytical, financial, and business acumen with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in public company, highly regulated, or complex matrixed organizations.
• Background in consulting, advisory, or large-scale enterprise compensation environments.
• Experience supporting enterprise, strategic, or complex sales organizations with sophisticated compensation structures.
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation preferred.
• Experience presenting to executive leadership and/or Compensation Committees preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise strategy, design, and evolution of sales incentive compensation programs across multiple business units, channels, and revenue-generating functions.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Executive Leadership on compensation strategy, sales productivity, performance differentiation, and incentive investment optimization.
• Develop and maintain enterprise compensation philosophies, frameworks, and governance standards aligned with organizational growth objectives and financial targets.
• Lead annual and mid-year compensation planning cycles, including executive recommendations, financial modeling, competitive assessments, and Board or Compensation Committee materials as needed.
• Drive cross-functional alignment between Sales, Finance, HR, Legal, and Operations regarding compensation priorities and execution.
• Design and implement sophisticated commission, bonus, and incentive structures supporting enterprise, strategic, and complex sales organizations.
• Provide strategic consulting to senior sales leadership regarding compensation effectiveness, quota methodologies, territory design, productivity metrics, and organizational performance.
• Lead advanced ROI analyses, scenario modeling, and compensation investment evaluations to support executive decision-making.
• Assess plan effectiveness using internal analytics, market intelligence, and participant behavior trends, recommending enhancements that improve business outcomes and scalability.
• Evaluate emerging market practices and industry trends to maintain competitive and effective compensation programs.
• Establish and oversee enterprise governance frameworks supporting compliant, scalable, and auditable incentive compensation administration.
• Ensure adherence to wage and hour regulations, internal controls, plan documentation standards, SOX requirements (if applicable), and audit expectations.
• Partner closely with Legal, Internal Audit, Payroll, and Finance to mitigate compensation-related risks and manage exception governance processes.
• Lead compensation governance reviews, policy development, and audit support activities.
• Provide oversight for end-to-end incentive compensation administration, including calculations, validations, approvals, accruals, and payout processes.
• Drive operational excellence through process redesign, automation, controls enhancement, and systems optimization initiatives.
• Ensure integrity and alignment of compensation data across CRM, HRIS, payroll, financial, and compensation systems.
• Oversee resolution of escalations, disputes, and complex compensation exceptions with appropriate governance and executive visibility.
• Lead enterprise analytics related to quota attainment, compensation expense, sales productivity, payout trends, and revenue performance.
• Utilize internal and external market data to benchmark compensation programs and evaluate competitiveness and effectiveness.
• Develop executive-level dashboards, insights, and reporting packages that support strategic decision-making.
• Analyze compensation effectiveness relative to revenue growth, profitability, margin contribution, retention, and organizational ROI.
• Lead, mentor, and develop compensation analysts, administrators, and/or other compensation professionals.
• Establish team priorities, governance standards, operational procedures, and service-level expectations.
• Build organizational capability in compensation analytics, consulting, governance, and operational execution.
• Influence and collaborate effectively across senior leadership teams and cross-functional stakeholders.

Benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement
• Competitive 401(k)
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Complimentary access to mental health and wellness counseling through Spring Health
• Financial planning assistance through BrightDime
• A variety of additional programs and services in support of your total well-being
• Discretionary annual incentive program

What This Job Offers

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