Total Rewards And Compensation Specialist

Aston Carter•Petersburg, VA

6d•$70,000 - $90,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Total Rewards and Compensation Specialist leads end-to-end total rewards initiatives, focusing primarily on compensation and benefits strategy, design, and operations. The role designs and refines bonus and incentive programs, evaluates and enhances benefits offerings, and translates complex data into insights that support talent attraction, retention, and organizational performance. Working with cross-functional partners, the specialist promotes pay transparency and internal equity and helps build a scalable total rewards framework for a growing workforce. The position manages compensation processes and benefits strategies, including job architecture, salary reviews, pay equity analyses, plan modeling, vendor evaluations, renewals, benchmarking, and employee communications. It also integrates compensation, benefits, and performance data into strategic recommendations, evaluates emerging trends and technologies, and leads complex projects while balancing organizational priorities, costs, and employee experience. This is a contract role based in South Chesterfield, Virginia, with a hybrid schedule: three days in the office and two remotely each week. Mondays are designated as key in-office team days, with flexibility to work remotely when needed. Standard hours are approximately 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The pay range is $70,000–$90,000 per hour. The anticipated application deadline is October 30, 2026.

Requirements

At least 3 years of progressive experience in Compensation or Total Rewards, with knowledge of compensation frameworks, salary structures, job architecture, and pay equity practices.
Hands-on experience with benefits strategy and operations, including vendor evaluation, renewals, and benchmarking.
Experience designing and administering bonus, equity, and incentive programs.
Ability to interpret and apply market data from providers such as Radford, Mercer, or Option Impact.
Strong business acumen and ability to connect total rewards strategies to organizational goals, financial realities, and employee engagement.
Ability to anticipate business needs and tailor total rewards recommendations to organizational and market contexts.
Proficiency with HRIS software; Workday or similar system experience.
Experience supporting or managing compensation and benefits programs for hourly employee populations.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills, including developing and interpreting reports, analytics, and data-driven insights.
Excellent communication skills and ability to create clear materials explaining compensation and benefits programs.
Bachelor’s degree required.

Nice To Haves

Experience in human resources, benefits administration, or benefits management environments.
Background in process improvement within compensation, benefits, or broader HR operations.
Familiarity with modern compensation technologies and AI-enabled tools for compensation and equity analytics.
Experience collaborating with HR Business Partners, Finance, Recruiting, and Legal.
Comfort working in a growing organization and contributing to the development of new rewards and compensation structures.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and alignment with organizational priorities.

Responsibilities

Assist with full-cycle compensation and total rewards initiatives, from strategic definition through implementation and impact tracking.
Define and execute bonus and incentive program designs aligned with business strategy, equity, and performance.
Collaborate with HR Business Partners, Finance, Recruiting, and Legal to promote pay transparency, equity, and consistent decision-making.
Manage and improve compensation processes, including job architecture, salary review cycles, and pay equity analyses, while supporting compliance with applicable laws and internal policies.
Develop compensation communications and deliver reporting and analytics that help leaders and employees understand pay decisions.
Analyze benefits utilization and market trends to assess the competitiveness and cost-effectiveness of benefits offerings.
Develop annual benefits strategies by modeling plan design changes, premium-sharing scenarios, vendor comparisons, and renewal evaluations.
Evaluate new benefits offerings and propose enhancements that reflect employee needs and business goals.
Support benefits program reviews, benchmarking, and vendor evaluations.
Partner with People, Payroll, or People Operations teams on annual enrollment, employee communications, and benefits data audits.
Provide insights on benefits performance and support cross-functional total rewards projects.
Translate total rewards data into strategic business insights supporting talent attraction, retention, and financial outcomes.
Advise on how compensation and benefits programs affect employee behavior, motivation, and retention to influence enterprise-wide total rewards strategies.
Integrate compensation, benefits, and performance data into a cohesive strategy aligned with business and talent outcomes.
Evaluate emerging total rewards trends and technologies, including AI in compensation and personalized benefits, and recommend test-and-learn pilots.
Deliver reporting, analytics, and communications that help leaders and employees understand total rewards programs and their value.
Improve compensation systems, workflows, data integrity, and equity analytics, leveraging AI and modern compensation technologies where appropriate.
Lead complex total rewards projects independently and build stakeholder relationships while balancing organizational priorities, cost implications, and employee experience.
Refine total rewards processes with internal teams and external consultants to support market competitiveness, scalability, and internal equity.
Perform ad hoc reporting and other duties related to compensation, benefits, and total rewards.