Head of Compensation

Compensation Manager

At Clay, People Operations is about creating the environment where people can do the best work of their careers. We're growing fast, and how we pay people sits at the center of how we attract, motivate, and retain the talent that gets us there.

In this role, you'll own Clay's compensation function and build it for our landscape. You'll bring deep technical foundations and prior experience, but you won't copy and paste a system from your last company. Clay has a special culture, and our compensation philosophy and processes need to fit how we actually operate. You'll partner closely within the People team, and with Finance and leaders across the business to design programs that are thoughtful and fair.

This is a hands-on role where you'll balance technical depth with good judgment, knowing when to add structure and when to stay flexible. Above all, you'll bring genuine care for getting pay right and take full ownership of the work.

What You'll Do

Build the Foundation: Philosophy & Architecture

• Own Clay's compensation philosophy and salary structures, and evolve them as we scale
• Build pay programs designed for Clay's business, talent market, and stage
• Own market benchmarking and survey strategy, keeping our bands current, defensible, and grounded in how we actually compete for talent
• Partner on GTM compensation, including the design of variable pay and incentive structures that drive the right outcomes across our revenue-generating teams
• Build the system of record for comp at Clay: what we pay, why we pay it, and how it holds together as we grow

Make It Real: Programs & Cycles

• Design and run cyclical compensation processes, including reviews, promotion and adjustment decisions, and offer approvals
• Own equity program design and partner with Finance on administration
• Partner with Revenue Operations on the administration of variable compensation, ensuring plans are accurately implemented, calculated, and paid
• Build Clay-native comp workflows and tooling, using technology to make comp programs easier to run, from offer visualization to recruiter-facing lookups that put the right data at people's fingertips

Build Confidence: Communication & Enablement

• Translate compensation concepts into clear guidance that managers and employees can use and understand
• Equip managers and recruiters to have confident, informed conversations about pay
• Advise the People team and business leaders on comp questions tied to hiring, retention, and promotion

What You'll Bring

Experience & Expertise

• 8+ years in compensation with significant hands-on program design experience, ideally including time at a scaling company
• Deep technical foundations across base pay, variable pay, and equity. You understand the mechanics behind the programs, not just how to administer them
• Experience working with variable compensation programs, including sales and GTM incentive plans
• Experience building or substantially rebuilding compensation structures, leveling frameworks, and review processes from scratch
• Fluency with equity compensation
• Experience with multi-country compensation, including the UK and Europe, is a plus

Core Competencies

• Foundations over templates: you understand why programs work the way they do, so you can build something that fits Clay rather than reaching for what worked somewhere else
• Systems thinker who can hold the strategic vision and the operational detail at the same time
• Genuinely energized by the intersection of data, judgment, and the craft of paying people fairly
• Exceptional communicator: you can make complex comp situations clear for employees, managers, and leaders, and you build trust while doing it
• Comfortable with ambiguity. A lot of what you'll build doesn't exist here yet
• Bias toward action, balanced with sound judgment on where pay decisions carry real risk