Specialist, Compensation

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Who are we:
A professional basketball team and state-of-the-art arena/entertainment venue that specializes in creating memorable experiences for each guest we interact with. Some of our favorite things are live sports, concerts, comedy shows, family shows, and most any other world-class event you can think of, and we're looking for someone who shares the same interests. We live for the fast-paced world of sports & live entertainment, and as such, we work hard, run fast, execute flawlessly, and party it up when it all comes together. Lastly, we strive to deliver wonderful experiences that create lasting memories, and we prefer to surround ourselves with those who are the best at what they do.

Who are you:
An enthusiastic lover of sports, live entertainment, and people. You have true passion for engaging in meaningful interactions and creating memorable experiences for all guests. You strive to be helpful, engaging, and knowledgeable of all things Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. You enjoy being a part of an exciting and dynamic group, and you're committed to continuously enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of your team. Lastly, you enjoy working hard and celebrating hard, and you'd be shocked if guests weren't positively impacted by their interactions with you.

Job Summary: The Specialist, Compensation is responsible for the strategic design, implementation, administration, and continuous improvement of the organization's compensation programs. This role oversees broad-based compensation, job architecture, salary grades, market pricing, sales compensation and commission plan administration, annual compensation cycles, and compensation budgeting and analysis. The Specialist, Compensation partners closely with business leaders, Finance, Payroll, IT, and Revenue teams to ensure compensation programs are competitive, equitable, operationally effective, and aligned with organizational goals. This role also leads compensation analysis and projections, supports organizational design through job description and grading work, and helps streamline and remodel compensation and commission plans as the business evolves.

Compensation Strategy, Program Design, and Administration

• Design, implement, and administer compensation programs, including base pay, short-term incentive plans, annual compensation planning, and salary structure administration aligned with the companies compensation strategy.
• Create and maintain job architecture, salary grades, and pay ranges to support internal equity, market competitiveness, and organizational growth.
• Lead organizational pricing and maintenance of roles, job families, grades, and related compensation structures.
• Partner with business leaders to develop, review, and refine job descriptions to ensure appropriate leveling, scope, and market alignment.
• Conduct market pricing for roles using compensation survey tools and market data sources, including Payscale and the Regional Sports Survey
• Create and administer compensation plans for both existing employees during the yearly cycle and for new hires joining throughout the year.
• Provide compensation guidance to leaders and People and Culture partners on offers, promotions, transfers, reorganizations, market adjustments, and other pay actions.
• Develop compensation guidelines, policies, and governance practices to ensure consistent application across the organization.
• Develop and evolve pay for performance programs by management level

Sales Compensation and Commission Administration

• Administer commission and incentive compensation programs, including support for employees participating in complex sales compensation plans.
• Bring hands-on experience with commissions and complex sales plans, including plan interpretation, payout validation, and issue resolution.
• Partner with Revenue and business leaders to assess, redesign, and streamline compensation and commission sales plans while continuing to meet business objectives.
• Process commission payouts in partnership with Payroll, ensuring calculations, approvals, and payments are completed accurately and on time.
• Work closely with Payroll, IT, and Revenue teams to support systems, workflows, data integrity, reporting, and ongoing administration of commission programs.
• Review commission plan effectiveness and recommend plan remodeling where needed to improve efficiency, transparency, scalability, and performance alignment.
• Maintain documentation, controls, and audit trails related to commission plans, calculations, exceptions, and changes.

Compensation Analysis, Budgeting, and Annual Cycle Management

• Lead compensation analysis and projections, including modeling for merit increases, promotions, organizational changes, new hires, and market adjustments.
• Partner with Finance to develop and manage compensation budgets and forecasts.
• Process and manage the annual compensation cycle, including planning, system preparation, manager guidance, analysis, approvals, and implementation.
• Prepare reports and insights on compensation trends, pay equity, market positioning, compression, salary movement, and budget utilization.
• Manage participation in annual compensation survey's
• Ensure compensation data is accurate, well-maintained, and audit-ready within HRIS and related systems.
• Monitor compensation program effectiveness and recommend improvements based on market data, business needs, and workforce trends.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field.
• 5+ years of progressive compensation experience, including broad-based compensation and incentive compensation administration.
• Demonstrated experience using Payscale for market pricing, benchmarking, and compensation analysis.
• Strong experience administering commissions, including support for complex sales compensation plans.
• Experience remodeling and streamlining compensation and commission sales plans while maintaining alignment with business goals.
• Experience processing commission payouts in coordination with Payroll.
• Experience building or maintaining job architecture, including job descriptions, job leveling, salary grades, and compensation structures.
• Experience conducting compensation analysis, projections, and budgeting support.
• Strong partnership skills with cross-functional stakeholders, especially Finance, Payroll, IT, Revenue, and business leaders.
• Strong analytical, organizational, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain compensation concepts clearly to leaders and employees.
• Proficiency in HRIS systems, spreadsheets, and compensation tools.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

If this opportunity looks exciting to you, please complete the application process. Go Hawks!