Research Lead Specialist

Compensation & Total Rewards Lead

Location: Preferred Boston, MA or New York, NY | Open to Remote Candidates
Employment Type: Contract
Duration: Through End of Year
Schedule: Standard business hours with flexibility

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Compensation & Total Rewards Lead to support a large-scale market benchmarking and internal compensation review initiative focused primarily on the United States and Canada. This role will play a critical part in evaluating salary structures, total rewards programs, and compensation alignment to ensure competitiveness, internal equity, and market accuracy across actuarial consulting populations.

The ideal candidate will bring a strong background in compensation analysis, benchmarking, and total rewards strategy within actuarial, insurance, consulting, or professional services environments. This position requires someone who is highly analytical, detail-oriented, collaborative, and comfortable working independently while handling sensitive and confidential compensation data.

This is an excellent opportunity for a compensation professional who enjoys data-driven decision making, market analysis, and partnering with leadership to develop actionable compensation recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

Market Benchmarking & Compensation Research

• Conduct comprehensive salary, bonus, and total rewards benchmarking analysis across actuarial consulting markets including Life, P&C, and Health
• Identify appropriate peer groups, compensation surveys, and benchmarking sources
• Analyze compensation trends tied to actuarial credentials, exam progression, years of experience, and specialization areas
• Evaluate market competitiveness and compensation positioning across multiple practices and levels

Salary Framework Development

• Develop structured compensation ranges and salary guidelines based on:
  
  
  • Practice area
  • Job family
  • Experience level
  • Actuarial credential progression (ASA, FSA, exams, etc.)
• Support development of compensation frameworks and total compensation positioning strategies
• Assist in creating scalable compensation structures aligned with business objectives

Internal Compensation & Equity Analysis

• Review and analyze current compensation data across teams, roles, and geographies
• Assess internal equity, pay progression, and alignment with market benchmarks
• Identify outliers, compensation compression, and inconsistencies that may require adjustment
• Partner with HR leadership to prioritize recommendations based on business impact, budget, and risk considerations

Total Rewards Evaluation

• Review broader rewards offerings including benefits, incentive structures, and exam support programs
• Recommend enhancements to improve competitiveness, retention, and employee experience
• Support ongoing compensation and rewards initiatives across the organization

Reporting & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Present findings and recommendations to HR leadership and senior stakeholders
• Develop dashboards, compensation bands, reports, and executive-level presentations
• Create documentation and tools to support ongoing compensation management and decision-making

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in compensation, total rewards, HR analytics, finance, or related HR functions
• Strong compensation-focused background with experience in market benchmarking and compensation analysis
• Experience supporting actuarial, insurance, consulting, or professional services environments required
• Familiarity with actuarial career paths and credential structures including ASA, FSA, and actuarial exam progression
• Advanced Excel skills required, including:
  
  
  • Pivot tables
  • Modeling
  • Large data set analysis
  • Compensation reporting and analysis
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint and presentation development
• Experience evaluating compensation outliers, internal equity, and salary alignment
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities
• Ability to work independently and manage confidential information with professionalism and discretion

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with compensation survey data and benchmarking tools
• Background supporting compensation strategy or total rewards initiatives within consulting or actuarial organizations
• Experience creating compensation frameworks, salary bands, or total rewards recommendations
• Experience presenting compensation findings and recommendations to senior leadership

Work Environment

• Collaborative and professional team environment
• Flexible work schedule with preference for candidates located near Boston or New York offices
• Remote candidates will also be considered
• Opportunity to support strategic compensation and total rewards initiatives within a highly analytical and business-focused environment

Interview Process

• Two interview rounds with leadership team members
• Ideal start date: ASAP