Fast Facts

WGU is seeking a Compensation Partner who will play a vital role in developing and managing global compensation strategies to attract and retain talent while ensuring competitive equity and alignment with business goals.

Responsibilities: Responsibilities include partnering with business leaders on compensation issues, designing and implementing compensation strategies, conducting benchmarking analysis, and maintaining job structure standards.

Skills: Candidates should have strong knowledge of compensation programs, excellent analytical skills, and familiarity with HRIS systems, particularly Workday.

Qualifications: A Bachelor's degree and 7 years of relevant compensation experience are required, with a preference for candidates holding an MBA or certification in compensation practices.

Location: This position is based in Salt Lake City, United States.

Compensation: $106700 - $165400 / Annually

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Grade: Professional 312Pay Range: $106,700.00 - $165,400.00

Job Description

Summary

The Compensation Partner works across all aspects of global compensation programs and provides strategic analysis to support critical decisions for retaining and attracting talent. This role blends strong technical compensation experience with a business partner's mindset. This role develops and executes effective compensation strategies, conducts strategic analysis, and designs, implements, and manages global compensation solutions. They play a key role in establishing Total Rewards as a key differentiating factor in the ongoing transformative compensation journey. This role will partner with colleagues across the organization and with senior leaders to ensure that our compensation strategies remain competitive and aligned with industry standards and our business goals. The Partner will administer, recommend, and review compensation policies, procedures, and programs.

Job Duties

• Effectively partners with Business Leaders, P&T Business Partners, and Talent Acquisition Partners to manage, consult, and resolve compensation issues (new hire offers, promotions, internal transfers, retention, etc.)
• Designs and implements the compensation philosophy, strategy, policies, and programs which align with and support our organizational goals, ensure market competitiveness, and reward high performance. As part of a Global Compensation team, builds and maintains salary ranges for new countries as necessary.
• Establishes, oversees, and maintains job structure standards. Establishes job descriptions and job evaluation systems to ensure fair and equitable pay practices. Establishes, updates, and maintains job description database.
• Maintains job architecture and ensures data integrity of job codes, job leveling, job titles, salary ranges, and other related compensation elements within the Workday HRIS system.
• Conducts competitive benchmarking and analysis to evaluate compensation programs, policies, and processes. Monitors and analyzes external compensation trends and develops innovative solutions. Analyzes and recommends changes to existing salary structures, policies, and procedures.
• Participates in strategic projects such as evolving the job architecture, assessing the compensation of critical talent, reviewing the effectiveness of compensation programs and policies, and analyzing compensation outcomes to draw conclusions and make recommendations for further consideration.
• Plays a key role in the creation, consultation, and review of compensation policies and processes.
• Conducts research and analysis (quantitative and qualitative) of compensation issues including market trends, pay plan designs, and incentive programs.
• Ensures FLSA exemption compliance working with legal and management as needed on assessing and classifying jobs.
• Administers the annual pay for performance compensation process. Provides analytical support in complex aspects in the development of merit budgets, salary structure modifications, and incentive plan data gathering and reporting.
• Provides recommendations and guidance in the analysis of salary surveys, other market analysis, salary planning activities, benchmarking, internal and external equity studies, and job evaluations. Participates in salary surveys and analyzes results to ensure compensation programs remain competitive. Consolidates information and provides overview of market trends and best pay practices.
• Provides advice, guidance, and support to all levels of management on compensation-related issues. Develops and communicates compensation education materials on philosophy, strategy, and applicable programs. Develops and presents compensation-related training programs to managers and staff.
• Provides direction and guidance to more junior compensation staff members.
• Supports other members of the People & Talent team as needed to complete projects and keep others informed.
• Stays current on the latest trends and developments in the field of compensation.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

KSAs

• Strong knowledge of compensation, performance, motivation, and rewards programs.
• Advanced knowledge and experience participating in compensation salary surveys.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills.
• Ability to oversee completion of departmental projects and day-to-day work.
• Strong research skills in a variety of medium to remain up to date on compensation surveys, trends, and laws.
• Current knowledge of all human resources areas required (including Federal and state employment laws, FLSA, ADA, EEO, compensation, etc.).
• Strong written, verbal and presentation skills
• Ability to work with all levels of the organization.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with demonstrated flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Demonstrated ability to apply excel and other data management and analysis tools in researching and analyzing various types of data.
• Expertise in building compensation systems, compensation ranges, working with market data, and scaling processes with company growth.
• Experience working with and applying compensation techniques, job evaluation, salary survey practices and methodologies, salary program development, job documentation, the elements of total rewards, and target setting concepts.
• Experience applying the principles of the Fair Labor Standards Act and its applicability to the job evaluation process.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment, multi-tasking, being self-driven and with attention to detail.
• Advanced Excel skills with the ability to effectively analyze data and develop or automate repeatable reports, metrics, and models.
• Well versed in Office 365.
• Experience working with HRIS systems.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
• Ability to travel to and attend summits as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a science, business, or other related field
• 7 years of related Compensation experience
• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• M.B.A.
• Experience with Workday
• Experience with Compensation tools and systems e.g. Pave, Radford, Towers, Mercer, CUPA-HR, WGM, etc.
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) Designation
• PMP or CSM Certification

Job Description Disclaimer: This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, however management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.