Director, Human Resources Total Rewards

Job Overview:

The Director, Total Rewards leads the Total Rewards Center of Excellence, owning compensation philosophy and administration, benefits strategy and delivery, leave administration, payroll operations and compliance, and total rewards analytics across all locations. This role serves as the enterprise leader for compensation, benefits, payroll, and associated vendor relationships, ensuring programs are competitive, compliant, cost-effective, and aligned with business objectives. The Director owns the organization-wide compensation process and job grading framework, approves field compensation decisions that fall outside approved grade ranges, and partners closely with HR Field Operations, HRIS, Finance, and Legal to support effective program administration, regulatory compliance, reporting, and operational excellence. The Director oversees four direct reports: the Total Rewards Analyst, Compensation & Equity Manager, Senior Benefits Administrator, and Senior Payroll Administrator.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the Total Rewards COE: design, implement, and administer the compensation philosophy including job grading framework, salary band structure, merit processes, and equity review cycles.
• Serve as the organization-wide compensation process owner; approve all field compensation decisions that fall outside approved grade min/max ranges.
• Partner with the Director, HR Field Operations on compensation alignment and grade structure reviews to ensure field pay decisions remain consistent with the approved framework.
• Own benefits strategy, design, open enrollment, carrier management, and claims oversight for all employee benefit programs.
• Own leave administration including vendor management, FMLA/STD/LTD tracking, return-to-work coordination, and leave compliance.
• Own payroll operations, governance, and compliance across all sites, including accurate and timely multi-site, multi-shift payroll processing, federal, state, and local tax compliance, direct deposit, controls, vendor management, reconciliation, and audit management.
• Directly manage the Total Rewards Analyst, Senior Payroll Administrator, Compensation & Equity Manager, and Senior Benefits Administrator.
• Provide EEO-1 and ACA compliance data to the Director, People Strategy, Analytics & Compliance for regulatory filing; coordinate on compliance data requirements.
• Partner with HRIS leadership to ensure systems, reporting, data integrity, and technology capabilities effectively support compensation, benefits, payroll, compliance, and total rewards analytics.
• Partner with Finance on quarterly total rewards cost reviews and annual budget reconciliation as required.
• Engage Legal on annual benefits compliance reviews, ERISA matters, ACA regulatory updates, and vendor contract disputes.
• Maintain awareness of compensation equity; conduct annual adverse impact analysis and remediate findings within approved thresholds.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Deep expertise in compensation design including job grading methodologies, salary band architecture, pay-for-performance program design, and market benchmarking.
• Strong knowledge of benefits administration including carrier management, open enrollment operations, ERISA compliance, and ACA reporting.
• Strong working knowledge of HR technology, reporting, and analytics tools, preferably Dayforce; ability to collaborate effectively with HRIS leadership to support Total Rewards and payroll operations.
• Expertise in multi-site payroll compliance including federal, state, and local tax requirements, FLSA compliance, and payroll audit practices.
• Experience in leave administration and vendor management (FMLA, STD, LTD, return-to-work programs).
• Ability to serve as the compensation process authority for the organization — approving exceptions, maintaining framework integrity, and partnering with field HR on compensation decisions.
• Strong analytical skills; experience with compensation equity analysis, adverse impact review, and total rewards financial modeling.
• Proficiency in workforce analytics, compensation reporting, benefits analysis, and cost reporting; ability to leverage HR systems and reporting tools to support business decision-making.
• Excellent financial acumen; experience presenting total rewards program costs and ROI to CFO and senior leadership.
• Strong vendor management skills; experience managing benefits carriers, payroll vendors, and leave administrators.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required.
• Master's degree in HR, Business Administration, or Finance preferred.
• CCP (Certified Compensation Professional), CBP (Certified Benefits Professional), PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience with at least 5 years in a Total Rewards, Compensation, Benefits, or Payroll leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience managing payroll compliance across multiple states and facilities.
• Experience partnering with HRIS teams on technology implementations, upgrades, reporting, or process improvement initiatives in a manufacturing or multi-site environment preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Primarily sedentary office-based role with regular use of computer, phone, and video conferencing.
• Occasional travel to manufacturing sites for audit support, payroll compliance reviews, and open enrollment meetings — estimated 10–15% of time.
• Must be able to sit for extended periods during data review, analysis, and budget planning sessions.
• Ability to access all areas of facilities as needed for audit and compliance activities.