Investment Compensation Specialist

Job Description

Investment Compensation Specialist

Location: New York, NY

Experience: 3-7 years

Industry: Investment Management / Financial Services

A leading investment firm is seeking an Investment Compensation Specialist to join its Compensation team and support the firm's investment professionals and portfolio management population.

This is a highly analytical role sitting at the intersection of finance, compensation, investment management, and data . The individual will be responsible for calculating and analyzing investment compensation, building financial models, developing dashboards and reporting, and improving the processes and infrastructure used to administer complex compensation programs.

The role is particularly well suited for someone with a strong financial foundation who wants to apply their skill set in a more strategic and commercially oriented environment. Candidates do not need to come from a traditional compensation background. Experience in Audit, Accounting, FP&A, Transaction Advisory Services, Corporate Finance, Valuation, Deal Advisory, or another highly analytical finance function can translate well.

Investment & Portfolio Management Compensation

• Support the administration and analysis of compensation programs for Portfolio Managers and other investment professionals .
• Perform complex compensation and incentive payout calculations , ensuring accuracy across individual, team, and firm-level compensation arrangements.
• Analyze investment performance, financial results, compensation arrangements, and other relevant metrics to determine or model compensation outcomes.
• Partner with senior Compensation, Finance, and investment leadership on compensation analysis and decision support.
• Assist with annual and periodic compensation processes, including bonus calculations, accruals, payout modeling, and year-end compensation reviews.
• Maintain detailed documentation surrounding compensation calculations, methodologies, assumptions, and approvals.

Financial Modeling & Analytics

• Build and maintain sophisticated financial models used to analyze investment professional compensation and incentive structures .
• Conduct scenario analysis to understand potential compensation outcomes under different performance assumptions.
• Develop models that translate investment or financial performance into compensation-related outputs.
• Analyze large datasets and identify trends, anomalies, and potential issues before compensation is finalized.
• Perform reconciliations and validation checks to ensure compensation calculations are complete and accurate.

Reporting & Dashboarding

• Develop and maintain dashboards that provide leadership with visibility into compensation, performance, payouts, and related financial metrics.
• Produce recurring and ad hoc reporting for senior management, Finance, Human Capital, and investment leadership.
• Translate complex compensation and financial data into clear, decision-useful reporting.
• Continuously improve the quality, scalability, and usability of compensation reporting.

Process Improvement & Automation

• Identify manual or inefficient compensation processes and develop solutions to automate and streamline workflows .
• Build scalable tools that reduce manual calculations and improve the accuracy and speed of compensation processes.
• Partner with HRIS, Finance, Technology, and other stakeholders to improve data flows and system integrations.
• Establish repeatable controls and validation procedures around compensation calculations and reporting.
• Help evolve the firm's investment compensation infrastructure as the business and investment platform continue to grow.

Qualifications

• 3-7 years of professional experience in a quantitative, accounting, or finance-oriented role.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business, Mathematics , or another analytically rigorous field.

Background may include:

• Public Accounting / Audit
• Transaction Advisory Services / Deal Advisory
• Accounting
• FP&A
• Corporate Finance
• Valuation
• Financial Due Diligence
• Investment Management Finance
• Compensation Analytics
• Financial Reporting
• Other analytically intensive financial roles
• Strong financial modeling skills and demonstrated ability to work with complex calculations and large datasets.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills required.
• Experience creating dashboards or management reporting using Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx , or similar analytics tools is highly valued.
• Experience with SQL, Python, VBA, or other automation/data tools is a plus, but not required.
• Strong understanding of financial statements, accounting concepts, and financial analysis.
• Exceptional attention to detail and comfort working with highly sensitive financial and compensation information.
• Ability to communicate complex quantitative information clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-performance investment environment.
• CPA preferred, but not required.