What are the responsibilities and job description for the Compensation & Benefits Director position at Established Search?
A private-equity-backed, global medical device manufacturer is seeking a Director, Global Benefits & Compensation to take end-to-end ownership of total rewards delivery across North America, EMEA and APAC. This role sits within a lean global HR function and carries genuine accountability for execution. The successful individual will be expected to operate close to the detail while partnering effectively with senior stakeholders across HR, Finance, Legal and the wider leadership team.
Overview
The Director, Global Benefits & Compensation will lead the design, governance and day-to-day execution of compensation and benefits programmes globally. While the role carries strategic responsibility, it is intentionally hands-on and requires strong technical capability, system fluency and comfort owning complex processes personally.
Key Responsibilities
Global compensation
- Full ownership of annual compensation processes, including merit, bonus and incentive cycles, from modelling through to delivery.
- Oversight of job architecture, levelling and market pricing, ensuring alignment with internal equity, external competitiveness and budget constraints.
- Development and maintenance of robust Excel-based models to support workforce planning, labour cost forecasting and scenario analysis.
- Close partnership with Finance on AOP, forecasting and cost governance.
- Support for M&A, integration and restructuring activity, including harmonisation and pay modelling.
- Oversight of pay equity, transparency and regulatory considerations across relevant jurisdictions.
Global benefits
- Operational leadership of benefits programmes across regions, with particular depth required in the US.
- Management of renewals, open enrolment cycles and ongoing vendor relationships (brokers, carriers and administrators).
- Ownership of compliance, audits and remediation activity, including ERISA-related requirements in the US.
- Acting as escalation point for complex benefits issues and payroll-adjacent queries.
Leadership and collaboration
- Reporting directly to the CHRO and acting as a trusted partner to HRBPs and senior leaders globally.
- Line management and development of a small team (including contract resource), while retaining direct accountability for delivery.
- Continuous improvement of processes, controls and documentation in a PE-backed, performance-driven environment.
Candidate Profile
- 12 years’ experience in compensation and benefits / total rewards, with clear evidence of hands-on ownership of core processes.
- Strong technical grounding in compensation (job evaluation, market pricing, incentives and pay modelling).
- Advanced working knowledge of ADP, including direct system use.
- High-level Excel and analytical capability, with confidence producing data that will be scrutinised by Finance and leadership.
- Deep understanding of US compensation and benefits regulation; working knowledge of statutory and market practices across EMEA and APAC.
- Experience operating effectively in a private-equity-backed or similarly high-accountability environment.