A compensation and benefits director is liable for the establishment, application and management of salary, bonus and benefits packages for the employees of an organisation.
What does a compensation and benefits director do?
Compensation and benefits directors predominantly work with and report into the senior management but contribute to and form a key part of the HR department. Alongside implementing the rewards and benefits policies within an organisation, ensuring that these programmes support the business objectives and meet all legal requirements is a vital part of the role.
The continual evaluation of a company’s compensation and benefits packages, including base pay, incentive pay, health and welfare benefits, and retirement benefits is a fundamental part of this role. Compensation and benefits directors will be expected to manage budgets and have an understanding of company aims and business profitability.
Sample compensation and benefits director responsibilities
As a compensation and benefits director, you can expect to have responsibility for the following:
- Developing and implementing the reward strategy, including: salary benchmarking, pension arrangements, benefits management and annual compensation events such as bonus and salary review
- CABs capability and ability to advise senior managers and HR on all issues relating to this
- Accountability for all policies relating to internal transfers. This will include knowledge of immigration, expatriate taxation and mobility practices
- Being the trustee of several benefits arrangements (pensions, life assurance and healthcare)
- Responsibility for salary reviews to ensure relevant market benchmarking and consistency of application. This will include liaising with 3rd party suppliers
- Having the latest market knowledge, including recent tax inferences particularly in relation to benefits and pay
- Designing and implementing relevant and intuitive compensation schemes
Compensation and benefits director skills and competencies
Compensation and benefits director ideally come from a business, HR, payroll or finance background, although this is not essential. However, five or more years of managerial experience and a bachelor’s degree is normally required.
Compensation and benefits directors will be expected to be proficient in the following:
- Highly commercial and able to align reward policy to business objectives
- Experience of managing a team of people
- Excellent project management skills
- A very high degree of analytical skills
- Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables
Compensation and benefits director salary expectations
The average salary for a compensation and benefits director in the UK is £70,000. It is not unusual for compensation and benefits directors to earn more than £100,000. This role is one of the highest paying HR jobs in the UK.
Find out more
If you’re interested in finding out more about becoming a compensation and benefits director, consider the following:
- Search for compensation and benefits director jobs
- Get advice on developing your career
- Read more about developing business leadership