Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Total Rewards Operations Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Total Rewards Operations Manager leads day‑to‑day execution and continuous improvement of compensation, benefits, equity and incentive programs. This role ensures accurate, compliant administration of pay and benefits through HRIS and payroll interfaces, drives data‑driven decision making and market benchmarking, manages vendor relationships, and partners closely with HR business partners, Legal, Finance and business leaders to align total rewards to company strategy and talent goals. The ideal candidate is an operations‑oriented rewards professional with strong technical skills, process discipline and experience translating programs into scalable, auditable operational runs.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Total Rewards Analyst / Compensation & Benefits Analyst
HRIS Analyst with compensation or benefits focus
Payroll or Benefits Operations Lead

Advancement To:

Senior Manager, Total Rewards Operations
Director of Total Rewards / Compensation & Benefits
Head of Total Rewards / VP, Total Rewards

Lateral Moves:

HRIS Product Owner or Manager (Workday/Oracle/ADP)
Compensation Strategy Manager
Benefits Strategy & Vendor Management Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end‑to‑end operational management of global compensation programs, including base salary administration, merit/bonus cycles, salary increases, promotions, market adjustments, and off‑cycle changes, ensuring accurate system updates, approvals and payroll integration.
Administer equity and long‑term incentive programs (RSUs, stock options, PSUs), including award processing, vesting schedules, exceptions, new hire grants and terminations, and coordinate with Stock Administration, Finance and external equity administrators to ensure accurate equity accounting and reporting.
Design and execute the annual compensation cycle: build compensation budgets, develop merit increase and bonus guidelines, produce manager tools and communications, validate merit matrix usage and perform reconciliation to budget and headcount.
Own benefits operations and enrollment processes in partnership with Total Rewards/Benefits leads and external vendors, including new hire enrollment, life event changes, COBRA/continuation, leave coordination, and benefits reconciliation to payroll and finance.
Operate and maintain HRIS compensation and benefits configurations (Workday, Oracle HCM, ADP, BambooHR or equivalent): maintain business processes, security, integrations, calculated fields, and tested releases to ensure data integrity and process efficiency.
Build, maintain and validate payroll and HRIS interfaces: lead monthly payroll file reconciliation, troubleshooting of interface errors, payroll adjustments, and coordinate with payroll vendors and internal Finance teams to ensure on‑time, accurate payroll runs.
Conduct market benchmarking and compensation analyses: aggregate external market data, prepare salary structure updates, maintain pay grades/bands, and provide competitive insights to support business compensation decisions and budgeting.
Create and deliver clear, audience‑appropriate communications, manager playbooks and training for compensation and benefits processes, self‑service tools, and rewards policies to ensure consistent, compliant execution across the business.
Establish, document and continuously improve standard operating procedures (SOPs), process maps and service level agreements (SLAs) for all rewards operations to scale the function and reduce operational risk.
Manage third‑party vendor relationships and contracts (payroll providers, benefits carriers, equity administrators, survey vendors), lead vendor selection, negotiate SLAs and ensure vendor deliverables meet quality and compliance expectations.
Implement and manage quality control and audit processes for rewards transactions: run reconciliations, root cause analysis, remediation plans and quarterly or ad‑hoc audits to mitigate financial, tax and compliance risk.
Serve as primary operational partner to Finance for compensation expense forecasting, accruals, payroll tax and benefits accounting, and annual audit requests; support month‑end and year‑end close activities related to payroll and equity.
Lead cross‑functional projects and system implementations or upgrades (HRIS, payroll, equity administration, compensation planning tools): manage project plans, testing, UAT coordination, data conversions and go‑live readiness.
Provide complex total rewards data analysis and reporting (headcount, comp spend, merit distribution, equity exposure), build dashboards (Tableau, Power BI) and ad‑hoc analyses to support executive decision‑making and workforce planning.
Manage escalations and complex casework (compensation disputes, equity exception requests, benefits appeals), partnering with Legal and HR Business Partners to resolve issues fairly and in compliance with policy.
Ensure global compliance with local, state and federal compensation, benefits and tax regulations (FLSA, ACA, ERISA, GDPR where applicable) and coordinate with tax and legal teams on cross‑border pay or equity issues.
Drive continuous improvement and automation through RPA or workflow enhancements, templates and self‑service enablement to improve accuracy, cycle time and employee experience.
Coach and manage a small operations team or functional specialists, set priorities, provide 1:1 development, and ensure workload balance and SLA adherence.
Maintain total rewards policies, review and recommend policy updates, approval matrices and governance around pay decisions, special awards and off‑cycle compensation.
Support M&A activity from a rewards operations perspective: run diligence on plans and liabilities, plan integration steps for payroll, benefits and equity, and execute post‑close operational conversions.
Lead confidential compensation planning for executive and high‑potential talent, including special retention awards, variable pay design and approval workflow management.

Secondary Functions

Support ad‑hoc and recurring reporting requests for HR leadership, Finance and People Analytics; synthesize findings into actionable recommendations.
Participate in strategy discussions to define future state rewards operating model and roadmap, translating strategic priorities into operational deliverables and timelines.
Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to operationalize sign‑on, relocation and onboarding compensation decisions to ensure accurate, timely offers and pay setup.
Partner with Legal and Compliance to respond to audits, investigations and regulatory inquiries relating to pay equity, benefits compliance and payroll taxes.
Assist in vendor RFPs, evaluate total cost of ownership for HR technology, and provide operational input for tool selection.
Serve as an internal SME on compensation rules, equity mechanics and benefits enrollment processes to improve cross‑functional understanding.
Drive adoption of manager self‑service compensation tools and awards approval workflows by providing training, drop‑in sessions and feedback channels.
Support diversity, equity & inclusion initiatives by producing pay equity analyses, identifying risk areas and implementing remediation plans with HRBPs and leaders.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Compensation program design and salary structure management: deep experience administering base pay, merit cycles, bonuses and market adjustments.
Benefits administration and vendor management: hands‑on experience with medical, retirement, leave administration, COBRA and global benefits programs.
Equity plan administration: practical knowledge of RSUs, stock options, performance units, vesting schedules and equity reporting requirements.
HRIS and payroll systems expertise: day‑to‑day configuration and transactional experience with Workday, Oracle HCM, ADP, Ceridian or similar systems.
Payroll reconciliation and payroll tax fundamentals: experience managing payroll integrations, reconciliations, retro adjustments and payroll tax issues.
Data analysis & reporting: advanced Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP), SQL querying, and dashboarding experience in Tableau, Power BI or similar.
Job evaluation methodologies and market benchmarking: familiarity with Hay, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson or other job evaluation frameworks and market survey vendors.
Project management and implementation: proven track record running HRIS and rewards system projects, UAT, data conversion and change management.
Audit readiness & internal controls: experience designing controls, SOPs and conducting compensation/benefits audits.
Regulatory knowledge: working knowledge of FLSA, ACA, ERISA, GDPR (where applicable), payroll tax rules, and global mobility considerations.
Compensation planning tools: experience with compensation planning modules and tools (Anaplan, Salary.com, Workday Comp Planning, CompAnalyst).
Process automation and workflow tools: familiarity with RPA, Workday Studio, integrations, or similar automation platforms.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills; able to build credibility with senior leaders across Finance, Legal and HR.
Excellent verbal and written communication: translate complex rewards data into clear guidance and decision‑ready deliverables.
High attention to detail and commitment to data integrity; meticulous with reconciliations and audit trails.
Problem solving and analytical mindset; comfortable performing root cause analysis and recommending durable solutions.
Project leadership and organizational skills; able to manage multiple priorities, deadlines and complex projects concurrently.
Confidentiality and ethical judgment; handles sensitive compensation and benefits information with discretion.
Coaching and team leadership; capable of developing direct reports and elevating team performance.
Change management and training aptitude; comfortable driving adoption of tools and process changes.
Customer service orientation; responsive to HRBP and employee inquiries and focused on improving employee experience.
Adaptability and resilience; thrives in dynamic environments undergoing rapid growth or transformation.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration (MBA) or related field preferred.
Professional certifications preferred: CCP (Certified Compensation Professional), CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist), SHRM‑SCP, SPHR.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources Management
Finance, Accounting or Business Administration
Data Analytics or Information Systems (for HRIS emphasis)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5–8+ years total rewards experience with at least 2–4 years in an operations or lead role; or 7–10 years for broader global responsibilities.

Preferred:

8+ years of progressive total rewards experience, including demonstrated experience managing compensation and benefits operations, HRIS/payroll integrations, vendor management, and leading cross‑functional projects. Prior experience in fast‑growing, global technology or professional services companies is a plus.