Director of Compensation

Job Title: Director of Compensation

Industry: Higher Education

Location (city, state): Washington, DC

Assignment Type: Contract, approximately 4–6 months

Pay: $43–$50/hour (depending on experience)

Work Schedule: Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, with a 1-hour unpaid lunch. Full-time, 35 hours/week. This position is onsite three days per week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Benefits: This position is eligible for medical, dental, vision, and 401(k).

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About Our Client:

Our client is a private research university located in Washington, DC, serving a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students. The institution offers a broad range of academic programs and is known for its connection to government, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and other organizations in the nation's capital.

Job Description:

Addison Group is seeking a Director of Compensation to provide interim leadership and strategic support for our client's Total Rewards function during an extended leave. This temporary assignment is expected to last approximately 4–6 months, with the potential for overlap with the current Director.

The Director of Compensation will oversee a team of three compensation professionals and serve as a key advisor to senior leadership, HR partners, and department leaders. This individual will provide guidance on compensation strategy, organizational changes, salary programs, market analysis, and related initiatives while ensuring programs remain aligned with organizational objectives and applicable regulations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction for the organization's compensation function, including team leadership, workload prioritization, and issue escalation.
• Manage and mentor a team of three compensation analysts.
• Advise senior executives, HR leadership, and department heads on compensation decisions, reorganizations, position management, and organizational design.
• Develop, administer, and assess compensation programs designed to support talent attraction, retention, engagement, and business goals.
• Oversee annual compensation activities, including merit planning, salary evaluations, market adjustments, and compensation budgeting.
• Maintain salary structures, job evaluation processes, market pricing practices, compensation policies, and procedures.
• Perform executive compensation benchmarking and higher education market analysis using industry data and compensation surveys.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, IT, and organizational leaders to support compensation programs, processes, and systems.
• Provide compensation guidance related to job architecture, workforce planning, and organizational restructuring.
• Monitor compensation practices for compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment requirements.
• Develop and facilitate compensation training and communications for managers, leaders, and HR business partners.
• Provide compensation analysis and support for employee and labor relations matters, including union-related initiatives when applicable.
• Identify opportunities to streamline compensation processes and improve operational effectiveness.
• Lead or support compensation program design, implementation, administration, market pricing, salary structures, and executive compensation analysis.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field required; Master's degree preferred.
• At least 8 years of progressively responsible compensation leadership experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• Demonstrated expertise across compensation program design, implementation, administration, market pricing, salary structures, and executive compensation.
• Strong financial analysis, modeling, budgeting, data analysis, and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Experience with Workday preferred; experience with Workday Advanced Compensation is a plus.
• Experience with compensation technology and market-pricing platforms such as Payscale/MarketPay, JDXpert, or comparable systems strongly preferred.
• Experience managing merit cycles, organizational design initiatives, and executive compensation analysis.
• Working knowledge of federal and state employment laws and compensation compliance requirements.
• Strong consulting, stakeholder management, executive coaching, communication, collaboration, and leadership capabilities.
• Ability to establish credibility quickly, manage competing priorities, and respond with urgency in a fast-paced environment.

Additional Details:

• Contract assignment expected to last approximately 4–6 months.
• Full-time schedule of 35 hours per week.
• Onsite three days per week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
• One-round interview process with an interview panel.
• Start date: ASAP.
• Overtime may be available at the discretion of the supervisor.

Perks:

• Opportunity to provide strategic compensation leadership within a large, established higher education environment.
• Exposure to executive compensation, organizational design, market pricing, and comprehensive Total Rewards initiatives.
• Leadership responsibility for a dedicated compensation team.
• Collaborative partnership with HR, Finance, IT, and senior organizational leaders.

Addison Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Addison Group provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Addison Group complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. xhyhwjd Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.