Staff Compensation Manager

Zoox•Foster City, CA

About The Position

The Staff Compensation Manager plays a critical role in shaping and advancing the organizationâ€™s compensation strategy to support business growth, scalability, and talent outcomes. This role is responsible for leading executive (M5+) compensation, driving strategic compensation programs, and developing market-informed approaches that enable the company to compete effectively across geographies and talent segments. Responsibilities include designing and evolving compensation frameworks, supporting complex and high-impact decisions, and delivering forward-looking insights based on market data and internal trends. The role partners closely with senior leadership, People Partners, Finance, and Recruiting to ensure compensation strategies are aligned with business priorities. In addition, this role builds scalable tools, frameworks, and analytical approaches that improve consistency and decision quality across the organization. The Staff Compensation Manager also plays a key role in integrating compensation strategies into broader Total Rewards programs and may serve as a successor path to Head of Compensation as the function continues to scale.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, or a related field (Masterâ€™s degree or relevant certifications are a plus).
8+ years of experience in compensation, with exposure to executive compensation and strategic program work.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience in modeling and data-driven decision-making.
Deep understanding of compensation practices, market benchmarking, and regulatory considerations.
Ability to operate in ambiguous environments and drive clarity through structured thinking.
Strong communication and influencing skills, including the ability to engage with senior leaders.
Proven ability to build scalable tools, frameworks, and processes.
High attention to detail and strong organizational skills.

Nice To Haves

Masterâ€™s degree or relevant certifications

Responsibilities

Lead the design and evolution of executive (M5+) compensation frameworks, including base, equity, and incentive structures- leveraging market insights and robust best practices.
Provide analysis and recommendations to support senior leadership decisions on complex compensation matters.
Ensure executive compensation decisions are aligned with company strategy, internal equity, and external competitiveness.
Lead and support high-impact compensation initiatives such as M&A integration, job architecture evolution, and organizational design changes.
Develop frameworks that enable consistent and scalable approaches to compensation across the organization.
Partner cross-functionally to ensure compensation strategies align with broader People and business initiatives.
Develop and maintain market pricing strategies across roles, functions, and geographies.
Support expansion into new cities and markets by providing competitive, data-driven compensation recommendations.
Analyze external market trends and internal data to inform proactive compensation strategies.
Leverage data to generate insights that inform compensation decisions and highlight risks or opportunities.
Build and refine models to support workforce planning, retention analysis, and compensation scenarios.
Provide structured options and tradeoffs to guide senior leadership decision-making.
Design and implement tools, templates, and frameworks that improve consistency, efficiency, and scalability of compensation processes.
Partner with Compensation Analysts and HRIS to ensure data integrity and effective system integration.
Partner with People Partners, Finance, Recruiting, and business leaders to align compensation strategies with business needs.
Act as a trusted advisor on complex and sensitive compensation topics.
Support integration of compensation within the broader Total Rewards strategy, including alignment with benefits programs.